Scream actor Skeet Ulrich talks about his audition for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Ulrich played the main antagonist, Billy Loomis, in the original 1996 Scream and reprised his role in the 2022 reboot. After his latest appearance in Scream VI, it is not yet clear if he will return for the upcoming Scream 7. However, Matthew Lillard, who played Billy’s accomplice Stu Macher, was recently confirmed to join the cast, suggesting Ulrich could return as well.

At a MEGACON Orlando panel with Lillard, where ScreenRant was in attendance, Ulrich shared that he was almost cast for the upcoming Nolan blockbuster The Odyssey. The actor revealed that he was shortlisted as one of the final three actors who were up for an undisclosed role. While he put heart into the material, the role went to someone else. Check out what he said below:

It’s not easy at all [having a life full of rejection]. I just read for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. It got down to me and two other dudes, and I found out last night it ain’t me. But, yeah, it’s almost a weekly experience of putting yourself out there for things and hoping and falling in love with material, then having to move on. There are big wins, so that makes it palatable, but it’s a lot of rejection.

But when you do what you love, which I think is one of the most important things that you can do in this world — how many of you are artists, actors and singers and writers and painters? Yeah, it’s not an easy life, but you’re doing what you love to do. So, when you get those moments that you get to do it, it makes everything else fall away. I think it’s crucial that you find what you love to do. My kids are now almost 24, and it’s something I’ve really instilled in them, that they find that thing that they truly, truly love to do, and that they never give up once they find out what that is in pursuing it. So, I hope that you can do that, as well.

Don’t hold Hollywood as the standard of success for if you’re a filmmaker, in any regard. The success is you finding that you love it and doing it in any way you can, whether that’s making movies with your phone, or with your friends or whatever. It’s no different for us. People just put up a lot of money for us to have really cool toys to make those things with, but it’s the same love and the same pᴀssion that you have for it. It’s no different than what Matt and I have.

What This Means For The Odyssey

The Odyssey Might Have Added A New Cast Member

The confirmed cast for The Odyssey reunites Nolan with several previous collaborators: Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer), Matt Damon (Oppenheimer, Interstellar), Robert Pattinson (Tenet), Elliot Page (Inception), Himesh Patel (Tenet), Bill Irwin (Interstellar), and Anne Hathaway (Interstellar). The all-star cast also features Jon Bernthal, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, John Leguizamo, Samantha Morton, and Charlize Theron, who will all be working with the director for the first time. So far, there’s no information on what roles they’ll play.

The Odyssey is a classic piece of literature by Homer that tells the 10-year journey of Odysseus as he travels home after the Trojan War. Based on the fact that Ulrich didn’t find out about losing the role until “last night“—with the panel occurring on Friday, February 7—it’s very possible that the film has just added a new cast member to the ensemble. Nolan’s movies typically have large casts, with his most recent, Oppenheimer, enjoying perhaps his biggest. Clearly, The Odyssey is looking to have a comparable ensemble.

Our Take On Skeet Ulrich’s Missed Odyssey Role

Sad, But Probably For The Best

Ulrich has played a variety of characters, from Jughead’s father on Riverdale to a serial killer in Scream. While it’s hard to say which role he auditioned for in Nolan’s 2026 blockbuster, based on the size of the cast and the story itself, it might have ended up being a smaller role. It’s sad that the Scream actor won’t be part of Nolan’s star-studded cast, but the decision was probably for the best.

Finding the right actor for the right role is a crucial part of the game, and the Oscar-winning Nolan has a track record of finding the perfect actors for his best films. His historical epic Oppenheimer won the best ensemble award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to seven Academy Awards. With filming for the Sicilian portion slated to start in two months, it seems that the ensemble for The Odyssey is also very close to being complete.