Reese Witherspoon Passed On One Role That Could Have Changed Everything

Here is a fun what-if: Reese Witherspoon, of Legally Blonde and Monsters vs. Aliens fame, could have been the face of one of the biggest horror franchises ever. Yep, she was in the mix to play Sidney Prescott in Scream. She passed. Neve Campbell got the part. The genre changed. Everyone's life moved on. But the what-if is still juicy.

How close did Reese get, and why did she bail?

Back in the mid-90s, when she was still relatively unknown, Witherspoon was reportedly eyed to lead Scream as Sidney Prescott. According to WhatCulture, she turned it down because she didn’t want to do a horror movie. And to this day, she still hasn’t jumped into straight-up horror.

To be fair, in 1996 — the same year Scream hit theaters — Witherspoon released two projects that live next door to horror: Freeway and Fear. Both are thrillers. The way The Things tells it, she figured Scream would be just another scary movie. Which, in hindsight, is the exact opposite of what happened.

Meanwhile, Scream blew the doors off

Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s meta-slasher wasn’t just a hit — it recharged the whole genre. On a budget of about $15 million, Scream pulled in roughly $173 million at the box office (via The Numbers). That spark turned into a full-on machine: six films so far (with a seventh on the way), a TV series, merch, and games. The franchise has stacked up over $910 million worldwide in total.

Would Scream have changed Reese’s trajectory?

Probably. If she had said yes, the big breakout would’ve landed a few years earlier. Instead, she became a household name by 1999 off the back of Cruel Intentions and then really cemented it with Election and Legally Blonde. So no, turning down Scream didn’t derail anything — but it might have fast-tracked some of it.

• Scream — $173 million worldwide (via The Numbers) — 78% on Rotten Tomatoes
• Fear — $20.6 million worldwide (via The Numbers) — 47% on Rotten Tomatoes
• Freeway — $295,493 worldwide (via The Numbers) — 76% on Rotten Tomatoes

Neve Campbell was the right call anyway

Sometimes the casting gods get it exactly right. Campbell’s Sidney threads a tricky needle: vulnerable without being a pushover, tough without turning into a cartoon. That grounded, quiet strength is why people actually cared whether Sidney made it to the end credits — and kept caring. Campbell carried the role through every sequel except the sixth, and with a seventh movie in development, she’s set to put the boots back on.

The bottom line

Witherspoon didn’t want to do horror, passed on Scream, and still built an A-list career. Scream wasn’t just another scary movie, though — it reinvented the game and made stars out of its cast. So did Reese miss out on an earlier rocket ride? Probably. Did she need it? Clearly not.

If you want to revisit where all this started, Scream is streaming on Paramount+.