MovieChat Forums > Scream 4 (2011) Discussion > Jill’s mother... weird.

Jill’s mother... weird.


She was originally to be played by Lauren Graham who dropped out due to ‘script changes’ and ‘scheduling’ and was replaced by Mary McDonnell.

McDonnell is an excellent actress (great in Dances With Wolves, Matewan and Independence Day) but she’s really odd in this film...

1) She’s way older than Graham and looks more like Jill’s grandmother.
2) Her mouth doesn’t move, and she looks like she’s had more facial reconstruction than Cox.
3) For a great actress her character seems totally void of personality, like a cyborg.

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Agreed on all counts, bizarre casting!

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I love Scream 4, it’s my favourite bar the original, but ‘Fuck Bruce Willis’ and Jill’s mother are baffling missteps.

Scream 5, however, was one giant misstep. I hate that film and don’t consider it canon. The series died with Wes 😞

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They cut most of her scenes, so it's hard to feel like we know her. Seriously, she has her intro scene and her death scene that didn't get cut. She still seems a bit odd in the deleted scenes though. I just see it as an odd acting choice. Going for aloof, ditzy, maybe a lush. My (minor) gripe is that she's a character, like Sam, Wes, Judy, Jill, even Martha a bit, who feels a bit tacked on. Because they were all supposed to have been around in Woodsboro all this time, but were never mentioned or seen before and here they are. Not that we need to review the Woodsboro census, just would've made it all feel more organic and planned. Though obviously you don't write five entries ahead. They just feel a bit abrupt, like the introduction of Nikki and Paulo on LOST.

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