Timothy Olyphant has had a long and storied Hollywood career over the past two and a half decades, with two of his most lauded roles yet in this year’s “Full Circle” and “Justified: City Primeval.” But the actor likely wouldn’t have landed his big roles like Raylan Givens on “Justified” without crucial early ones like “Scream 2.” In a recent conversation on the Bingeworthy podcast, Olyphant talked about the notorious production of Wes Craven‘s 1997 sequel, one shrouded in secrecy due to a leaked script that revealed the identity of the movie’s killers.
After the success of the original “Scream,” Dimension rushed to put a sequel into production as soon as possible. And Craven obliged, working at a turnover that had “Scream 2” hit theaters just under a year after the first one premiered. But scribe Kevin Williamson had to rewrite his screenplay after it somehow leaked, and that forced Craven to develop and shoot scenes on the fly without the cast knowing how the story would ultimately conclude. But Olyphant’s casting was a big break and he relished the opportunity. “I’m not going to lie to you, I was a little overwhelmed by that experience,” the actor said about shooting the film. “I had barely worked prior to that movie. I’m very grateful for that opportunity.”
As it turned out, no one in the “Scream 2” cast knew who the killers in the film were as they were shooting; at least, no one except Olyphant. “I remember auditioning for the part and then being told, ‘Oh, there’s a little bit more to the part and then I was told I needed to come back and do [more] for the part, and I was like, ‘Oh, and then [realizing], I’m the killer, ok,” the actor recalled. “And then I got the gig, and I knew I was the killer, and I didn’t know sh*t about show business then, so I showed up to the table read, and I just remember marveling at all these people I knew, and seen their work, and I was like a kid in a candy store.”
But Olyphant kept quiet about his character Mickey’s identity as the killer, even though he didn’t have to. “I was taking in all this incredible talent and as I remember it,” he continued, “Sarah Michelle Gellar came up to me and said, ‘Who do you think the killer is?!?” And I was like… ‘I don’t know.’ [laughs], and in the back of my mind, i was like, ‘she doesn’t know who the killer is!’ And we did the read-through, and we got through that part of the script and it said, ‘more to come later,’ and we didn’t finish the ending.”
“I don’t even remember someone telling me, ‘Hey, no one else knows, and you need to pretend you don’t know!'” Olyphant continued. “I just remember kind stumbling across it. But yeah, also, they were also taking that secret very seriously. As a total smart-ass at the time, the movie came out at the same time as “Titanic” and I was like ‘everyone knew the ending of that and that movie still did well,’ but yeah, I get it.”
But Mickey’s identity as one of the movie’s killers remained a secret until release, and “Scream 2” was another smash hit for Dimension and Wes Craven, taking in $172.4 million off a $24 million budget. And Olyphant remains grateful for the role. “I was lucky to come out of it unscathed and still be working ’cause I didn’t know what I was doing,” Olyphant told the Bingeworthy hosts. “I’m sure I made a shitload of [bad] decisions while making it, but I guess I’m still here.”
“Justified: City Primeval” is airing on FX now.
– Additional reporting by Mike DeAngelo
