Skeet Ulrich says Neve Campbell misses being part of the Scream machine.
At the New York City premiere of Scream VI on Monday, the Blood actor, 53, told PEOPLE about his fond memories with late director Wes Craven and his friendship with costar Campbell, who declined to participate in the sixth installment.
Ulrich, who was an original cast member in the film franchise's debut 1996 film, tells PEOPLE, "It's amazing, you know, I couldn't help but think of Wes [Craven] riding in and how happy he would be of the group that's telling these stories now and that the fervor for this franchise still exists."
Speaking of Campbell, who has said that her decision to not return was "truly" just "negotiation" related," the Riverdale star says he just talked to her on Sunday.
"We were together over the weekend at a convention," he says. "She loves it; she loves what we've done. There were just business things as a businesswoman that are important to her, and we all stand behind her."
"She's the final girl, no doubt," he continues, "but yeah, I think she misses it, all of it and everything. This is new to me — I did [the original Scream] and then a big jump, we didn't have this kind of thing obviously because of the pandemic for [last year's fifth Scream], so this is like years and years' of growth. So I think she has more to miss. To me, it's new and exciting."
Ulrich and Matthew Lillard starred as Billy Loomis and Stu Macher in the original Scream. Along with the duo and Campbell, the film also starred Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan and Drew Barrymore.
Cox, who also attended Monday's premiere, is one of the original stars back for No. 6, along with Scream 4's Hayden Panetierre; newcomers Jasmin Savoy Brown, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and Mason Gooding make their returns after debuting in last year's Scream.
As for Campbell's decision to not return, she told PEOPLE in August that it wasn't an easy one. The actress said her choice not to sign on as "final girl" Sidney Prescott for Scream 6 was "truly" just "negotiation" related.
"I did not feel that what I was being offered equated to the value that I bring to this franchise, and have brought to this franchise, for 25 years," she said at the time.
"And as a woman in this business, I think it's really important for us to be valued and to fight to be valued," continued Campbell, now 49. "I honestly don't believe that if I were a man and had done five installments of a huge blockbuster franchise over 25 years, that the number that I was offered would be the number that would be offered to a man."
"And in my soul, I just couldn't do that," she added. "I couldn't walk on set feeling that — feeling undervalued and feeling the unfairness, or lack of fairness, around that."
Scream VI is in theaters Friday.
