Scream VI star Mason Gooding was told his character would die in the last movie

In Scream VI, Mason Gooding's Chad Meeks-Martin coins the term "the Core Four" for the friend group (played by himself, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jenna Ortega, and Melissa Barrera) who have moved to New York after surviving the Ghostface-orchestrated mayhem of Scream (2022). But the Core Four was almost the Core Three, given that the original plan was for Gooding's character to perish in the fifth Scream movie.

"I was kind of bait-and-switched," says the actor. "The script that I got the first time around said I died. I don't think you necessarily go into a Scream movie expecting to live every time. I just kind of accepted my fate. It wasn't until we began filming Scream 5 that I was told that I was going to survive and make it to the next one."

Philippe Bossé/Paramount Pictures Mason Gooding in 'Scream VI'

Gooding recalls being "shocked for a few different reasons" when he read the script for Scream VI by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.

"I didn't necessarily know that the 'Core Four' dynamic was going to take on the level of intimacy that it did, so to speak," he teases. "Nor did I think I was going to be as thrown off by the killer reveal as I was. People will see why when they watch the movie."

Gooding's Scream VI costar Dermot Mulroney recently told EW that the film features "gorier, longer" kills, and Gooding confirms the movie has an abundance of the red stuff.

"I think this was the bloodiest Scream from a gallon-to-gallon standpoint of blood used," he says. "And that, I think, speaks to the level of viscera in and around the movie, some of which I am subjected to myself. I can say from experience the moniker of 'bloodiest Scream' holds up. But what I've always loved about [the first] Scream is the care and love that the movie seems to embody in its theme and messaging. It's not a nasty horror film; it has a certain level of empowerment in its main characters and final girl that I really appreciate as a horror fan. So it was very nice to see that echo through in this Scream as well."

Gooding is predictably tight-lipped about whether his character perishes this time around but insists that fans should not feel bad for him if Ghostface does turn Chad into a ghost.

"What's cool about Scream is, you're happy either way," he says. "You either get a cool death or a really cool opportunity to come back, so either way I kind of win-win."

Scream VI slashes into cinemas March 10.

Pick up a copy of Entertainment Weekly's Ultimate Guide to Scream, available online.

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