Casey Becker is a fictional character from the ''Scream'' franchise, first appearing in the 1996 film ''

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

''. The character was created by Kevin Williamson and originated by American actress

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

. Casey was subsequently played by

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. After appearing in television commercials, her first starring role in a feature film came with the teen comedy ''License to Drive'' (1988), followed by the critically acclaimed ...

in ''

Scream 2 ''Scream 2'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Timot ...

'' for its movie-within-a-movie scenes. Casey and Steve Orth, her boyfriend, are among the first characters to be killed in the franchise, in what has been called "one of the most famous scenes of all time."

Appearances

Casey Becker first appears in ''Scream'' for the first 12 minutes of the film. In 1997's ''

'', the second installment the ''Scream'' franchise, the character appears in a

film-within-a-film A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...

titled ''Stab''. In October 2020, Barrymore unofficially revived the character for a short video skit titled ''What if Casey Becker from Scream Lived?'' on ''

The Drew Barrymore Show ''The Drew Barrymore Show'' (often shortened to ''Drew'') is a first-run syndicated American talk show hosted by actress Drew Barrymore. The show is distributed by CBS Media Ventures and debuted on September 14, 2020. In April 2022, the show w ...

'' in which she gets texts from the

killer A killer is someone or something that kills, such as a murderer or a serial killer. Killer may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Killer (''Home and Away''), a character from ''Home and Away'' * Killer Kane, ...

on her cell phone, but ignores him.

Casting and development

Williamson created the character when he started the script. Initially, filmmakers did not think to cast a well-known actress for Casey's part, as the character dies in the opening of the film. Barrymore was initially cast as lead character

Sidney Prescott Sidney Prescott is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Scream'' franchise. The character was created by Kevin Williamson and is portrayed by Canadian actress Neve Campbell. She first appeared in ''Scream'' (1996) followed by four ...

in ''Scream'' (eventually played by

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice. Following a series of minor ...

), but opted to take the role of Casey instead to break the trope of high-profile actresses never dying in horror films. Barrymore stated: Casey's scenes were shot over five days as a bottle episode. At first,

Dimension Films Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and relea ...

studio did not appreciate Casey being killed, and almost fired director

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...

over the scene. In the Japanese dubbed version of the film, voice actress

Megumi Hayashibara is a Japanese voice actress, singer, lyricist and radio personality from Kita ward in Tokyo and is affiliated with self-founded Woodpark Office. One of the most prominent Japanese voice actresses since the 1990s, Hayashibara is best known for he ...

dubs Barrymore’s lines. In ''Scream 2'', Casey is played by

Fictional biography

Casey Becker is a 17-year-old Woodsboro teenager and the former girlfriend of Stu Macher. After receiving a taunting and threatening phone call, she is ordered to answer horror film trivia questions to save the life of her 18-year-old boyfriend, football player Steve Orth (portrayed by actor Kevin Patrick Walls). When Casey answers incorrectly, Steve is disemboweled on her porch and she is asked another question to save her own life. When she refuses to answer, Ghostface chases her down and kills her, leaving her disemboweled and hanged from a tree, where she is discovered by her father Mr. Becker.

Reception

Since Barrymore was featured so heavily in promotional materials, the character being killed off was a "huge shocker that let the audience know that ''Scream'' was a film where all bets were off." ''

WhatCulture WhatCulture Ltd. is an online entertainment news website and magazine which was launched in 2010. The site offers news in the field of professional wrestling, television, films, video games, and board games. History Originally started by Peter ...

'' stated Casey was "the tone-setter for ''Scream'' and for the larger ''Scream'' franchise." In his book ''Abject Terrors: Surveying the Modern and Postmodern Horror Film'', author Tony Magistrale describes Casey as "...as beautiful female who does everything in her power to enable her victimization and participate in her own slaughter. When offered to huge arrows pointing in different directions - "safety" and "danger" - as the killer pursues her, aseychooses the latter path, and when provided a choice of weapons to counter the crazed killer, she eschews both gun and knife in favor of a banana." In his 2017 book ''Scream'', author Steven West dissects the character, the way she acts in the film, and her appearance, writing "Drew Barrymore's previously exploited sex appeal... is deemphasized

ith an The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

unbecoming bob

wig A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...

..." Writing for ''

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'' in January 2022, Renaldo Matadeen stated Casey was "''Scream''s most iconic victim". ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

s Robert Brian Taylor called the appearance of Casey and her killing as "the defining point of the franchise." ''The Nerd Stash'' named Casey's killing as their number one "best kill" of the series. ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

'' ranked Casey as number 5 on their top 40 ''Scream'' characters list, behind Dewey Riley (4), Randy Meeks (3), Sindey Prescott (2), and

Gale Weathers Gale Weathers is a fictional character of the Scream (franchise), ''Scream'' film series, created by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and portrayed by Courteney Cox. The character first appeared in ''Scream (1996 film), Scream'' ( ...

(1). As the ''Polygon'' list was released in 2019, it does not include characters from 2022's ''

'' film.

Accolades for performances

Barrymore's performance as Casey earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 1996

23rd Saturn Awards The 23rd Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film and television in 1996, were held on July 23, 1997. She lost the award to

Alice Krige Alice Maud Krige (; born 28 June 1954) is a South African actress and producer. Her first feature film role was in ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981) as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon. She played the dual role of Eva Galli/Alma Mobley i ...

who played the

Borg Queen The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. The Borg are Cyborg, cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a Group mind (science fiction), hive mind called "the Collective". The Borg ...

in '' Star Trek: First Contact''. While Graham's part in ''Scream 2'' was a

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British television, ...

, her performance received positive reviews. ''

E! News ''E! News'', previously known as ''E! News Daily'' and ''E! News Live'', is the entertainment news operation for the cable network E! in the United States. Its former on-air weekday newscast debuted on September 1, 1991, and primarily reports ...

'' considered her one of the best ''Scream'' franchise cameos, and ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

'' called it a "prominent cameo". ''Giant Freakin Robot'' called Graham's performance one of her "memorable bit roles". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' stated she "...upped her teen-cool stakes

ith the The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

wink-wink role" and that "her talent outshone her co-stars." ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' stated along with

Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...

(who played Sidney Prescott) and

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor known for his roles in films such as '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), ''My Dog Skip'' (2000), ''Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' (2001), ''Id ...

(who played Billy Loomis), Graham was "wickedly deadpan" in her performance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Casey Female characters in film Female horror film characters Fictional characters from California Fictional murdered people Film characters introduced in 1996 Scream (film series) Scream (franchise) characters Teenage characters in film Characters created by Wes Craven