Kirby Reed was not among the familiar faces that returned for the sequel Scream 7, but the actress behind her would be thrilled to return to the franchise at any time.
Hayden Panettiere first appeared as the fan favorite character in Scream 4, with Kirby’s acerbic wit and devoted horror fandom winning audiences over before the character faced mortal peril in the climax that left her ultimate fate in question.
At least, that is, until Kirby’s return in Scream VI, where she’s revealed to have put her traumatic past to good use as a special agent for the FBI.
It turns out, though, that Panettiere has largely been responsible for Kirby’s longevity in this film series since the very start of her journey with Scream.
The actress details her life in her new memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, delving into her history as a child actor and beyond. That also includes her work in Scream, with THR pointing out Panettiere’s no-kill clause in a new interview- something that seems extremely rare for a franchise known for dispatching its characters with grim ease.
“You can ask,” she tells THR. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.
“And there are loopholes. It took a couple films for them to bring me back into the Scream franchise. And obviously, I wasn’t in the last one, but I’m still alive and kicking in that universe so I would be thrilled to come back whenever.”
Scream 4 director and franchise originator Wes Craven also confirmed Panettiere’s no-kill clause when speaking to press for the film’s home release in 2011, but it’s largely a fact that’s quietly slipped by unnoticed until Panettiere’s memoir resurfaced that detail.
As the actress points out, though, being unable to kill Kirby Reed does present narrative obstacles and loopholes to workaround to preserve the element of surprise in a film series structured as mystery whodunnits.
Kirby Reed was set up as a red herring in the events of Scream VI, prompting a near-fatal confrontation with that film’s true Ghostface killers. Naturally, thanks to that handy clause, Kirby could return at any time.
And Panettiere is more than willing.
