Rose McGowan’s Tatum Riley is just one of the characters to be killed off in the firstScreammovie, but the actress has an ingenious way to get herself recast in the horror franchise. Released in 1996, Wes Craven’sScreamturned contemporary horror cinema on its head. Its meta commentary on the genre was something nobody was doing, andScreamhas been credited with singlehandedly revitalizing horror cinema. Centered around a group of self-aware slasher movie teens,Scream’s cast is full of young ’90s talent, including McGowan, Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, and, of course, Drew Barrymore.
Though Neve Campbell’s final girl, Sidney Prescott, is the heart of the story,McGowan shines as Tatum Riley, Sidney’s best friend and the younger sister of Woodsboro Deputy Sheriff Dewey. Like many best friends to final girls, Tatum is the salty to Sidney’s sweet. She’s popular and in a relationship with Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard). Tatum is loyal and smart, but when she violates one of the golden horror movie rules, she pays with her life. One ofScream’s most iconic deaths, there’s no way Tatum is returning to the franchise — but that doesn’t mean Rose McGowan can’t.
Rose McGowan Thinks Scream’s Tatum Should Have A Revenge-Seeking Twin
McGowan Has Said She Would Come Out Of Retirement To Return To The Scream Franchise
ThoughTatum Riley dies bloody, she doesn’t go quietly into the good night. After going on a solo beer run to the garage, Tatum finds herself trapped inside with Ghostface, and the fight is on. She hits Ghostface with a freezer door and throws beer bottles at him. Unfortunately, when she tries to escape, Tatum gets stuck in the cat flap. Ghostface recovers from their brawl andhe activates the garage door, crushing Tatum to death.
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Tatum could have been a one-note stereotype, but Rose McGowan’s spunky, layered performance made her one of thebestScreamcharacters to only appear in one movie. However, in an interview withIndiewire, McGowan shared her idea for how she could return to the franchise:
I always thought Tatum should’ve had a twin that came back and was like ‘hell to the no,’ and had dark hair, and revenged her… In a perfect world, I thought that would’ve actually been a really smart element. She could still do that.She could still have a twin that was maybe institutionalized and got out and is like, ‘It’s on.’She could’ve been the family shame because the family was kind of perfect.
This is a clever idea, and McGowan would be natural as the family black sheep/woman nobody believes.Though McGowan is on a permanent hiatus from acting, she confirmed in the interview that she would return to theScreamfranchise if asked: “I would play the sister who was institutionalized and who came out and wreaked havoc.” As a series,Screamhas been doing just fine, withScream 7set for release in 2026. But no matter the directionScreamgoes, they should take the Tatum actress up on her pitch, because a havoc-wreaking McGown is just too good to pass up.
What Is Rose McGowan’s Favorite Scream Scene?
The Tatum Actress Likes The Quiet Porch Scene Between Her & Sidney
When mostScreamfans think of Tatum Riley, they think of her knockdown-dragout death scene with Ghostface. However, while it’s an iconic moment in the horror franchise, it’s not Rose McGowan’s favoriteScreamscene. Instead, she is partial tothe quieter scene when Tatum and Sidney are hanging out on the porch, discussing whether Sidney’s late mother could have been having an affair with Cotton Weary. McGowan said (viaCollider):
I know a lot of people who think the garage scene and that is certainly an incredible scene. But for me, there’s a quiet scene that was on the porch with just Sidney and Tatum . And it’s this quiet moment and I remember Kevin Williamson , the writer, screenwriter who was so great, he said, ‘That was just like a transition throwaway scene just to get me from this scene to this scene, but turned out to be one of my favorite scenes in the movie .’ And he said it to me, like right after filming and that always meant a lot to me.
Rose McGowanhasn’t always gotten the recognition she deserves for being such a talented actress, making it all the more impactful thatScreamwriter Kevin Williamson acknowledged how special that Tatum moment was. IfScreamever uses McGowan’s idea and casts her as Tatum’s institutionalized twin, it’s likely the character wouldn’t get many quiet scenes — but quiet or loud, she deserves to return to the franchise she helped make so iconic.
Scream
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1996’s Scream follows a teenage girl who is targeted by a masked killer a year after her mother’s murder who uses horror movies as a deadly game against her and her friends.
