Reese Witherspoon | Sidney Prescott – Scream

In the world of horror movies, the first Scream movie undoubtedly ranks among the genre’s most iconic entries. A slasher feature mixed with some satire, poking jabs at the horror genre’s tropes and clichés, the film has Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich starring as its lead couple, Sidney Prescott and Billy Loomis, respectively.Before they got the part, though, the crew had other choices to give the acting credit to.

For Sidney, they had another star in mind: Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon sadly declined the offer since she was already committed to another project, which just so happened to be another horror flick, titled Fear – it was also released the same year as Scream. Meanwhile, for Sidney’s boyfriend Billy, Joaquin Phoenix was initially set to play the part, though he also declined. Well, at least the two had the chance to finally portray a couple in 2005’s highly-acclaimed Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line.