Neve Campbell Returns to Her Final Girl Roots in Red Cross’ Blood Drive Horror Campaign
The cameo in the American Red Cross’ blood donation campaign comes after Neve Campbell announced her “very difficult decision” not to return for the upcoming Scream 6
Neve Campbell isn’t quite done with the horror genre.
The Scream star, 48, channeled her inner Sidney Prescott as she appeared in a bloody brilliant campaign for the American Red Cross, urging people to donate blood with a clever nod to horror films.
She finds herself in a familiar scenario in the one-minute campaign video, starting up the stairs of a creepy old house in the middle of the night before turning back to the camera.
“Why am I running from the killer instead of grabbing something big and sharp? Dumb,” Campbell says before heading in the other direction.
In another shot, she rummages through kitchen drawers looking for a weapon. “So lame. Lots of people need blood, whether they’re fighting cancer or giving birth or say, potentially getting stabbed,” she adds.
The Party of Five alum then grabs a baseball bat before hiding out from the killer and dropping some knowledge: “Fifty percent of Americans like watching blood get spilled in horror movies. What’s scary is that only three percent donate it. When was the last time you donated blood?”
Directed by Matt Spicer (Ingrid Goes West, Dollface, Angelyne), the ad features several beloved horror tropes with some self-aware dialogue about not wasting blood.
Campbell’s new project comes after she announced her “very difficult decision” not to return for the upcoming sixth installment in the Scream franchise, after starring in the first five films.
“Sadly I won’t be making the next Scream film. As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream,” she said in a statement. “I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”
After starring in Wes Craven’s original 1996 teen slasher, she last returned for the fifth installment, which premiered earlier this year. From Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, it was the first film in the franchise to not have Craven attached, after he died of a brain tumor in Aug. 2015.
Several of her franchise peers, including David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Matthew Lillard and Jamie Kennedy, have shown their support for her decision.
Fellow legacy star Courteney Cox has since confirmed her return to the franchise, and she was spotted on the movie’s Montreal set this month. She previously gave an update to the Just for Variety podcast in December after getting the script.
“I haven’t read it yet, I just got it…” she said at the time. “I’m excited to read it, and I know they’re going to start filming… I think, in June, in Canada.”
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to say anything. Let me tell you the killer!” Cox, 58, joked.
Although Cox’s ex-husband and fellow OG costar Arquette, 50, will not be back for Scream 6, newcomers Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding will be back after making their debuts in Scream (2022). Hayden Panettiere is also returning to the franchise after appearing in 2011’s Scream 4.
Find out where to donate blood at the American Red Cross.
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