Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
Fun fact: Campell wasn't the first choice to play Sidney. Originally producers wanted either Reese Witherspoon, Alicia Witt, or Brittany Murphy for the role. The film's writer, Kevin Williamson, wanted Molly Ringwald — who turned down the role because she was 27 at the time and thought she was too old to be playing a high schooler.
Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
Fun fact: Even though Cox was already a big star at the time because of Friends, she had to convince the film's director, Wes Craven, to cast her in the movie. He didn't believe she could be "bitchy enough" to play Gale.
Jamie Kennedy as Randy
Fun fact: Kennedy found shooting the movie to be an easy experience since he had just come off filming Romeo + Juliet, which was very physically demanding and intense.
Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis
Fun fact: The character of Billy is an allusion to the movie Halloween. He is partially named after the character of Dr. Sam Loomis. (Funny enough, Dr. Loomis was also an allusion himself, named after Sam Loomis, who was Marion Crane's boyfriend in the movie Psycho).
Matthew Lillard as Stu Mache
Fun fact: In a 2011 interview with EW, Lillard revealed he got really scared when he read the script for the first time, saying, "I distinctly remember going 'I don’t want to read this, it’s freaking me out.' It had that kind of visceral impact on the first read. I remember closing the book and reading it the next day. I totally closed it and re-read it the next day."
Rose McGowan as Tatum Riley
Fun fact: McGowan hated the blonde hair she had for the role. She dyed her brunette hair that color as a way to make her character look different than Neve Campbell's.
David Arquette as Dewey Riley
Fun fact: Dewey was supposed to die in the film. In fact, Wes Craven shot two alternate scenes with the character for the ending: one where he dies and one where he lives. Early test audiences didn't react well to the likable character being killed so Craven decided to let him live.
Drew Barrymore as Casey Becker
Fun fact: Barrymore had originally signed on to play Sidney, but five weeks before shooting started she changed her mind and asked to play the smaller role of Casey — she correctly thought it would surprise the audience more to see the bigger star die at the beginning of the film.