by: Linda Friedman

THE FOLLOWING APPEARED IN TEEN PEOPLE.
Going after the SCREAM 2 role was a no brainer, O'Connel says, after he appeared in Jerry Maguire. "I wanted to work with the director {Wes Craven}. I also knew I'd be playing Neve Campbell's boyfriend. Jobs don't get easier than that."

A bigger challenge was trying to figure out who was playing the horror sequel's killer. The SCREAM 2 script was kept more confidental than a CIA document. It was even printed on brown paper so that is couldn't be photocopied. "You basically had to put on decoder glasses to read it, " says Jerry. "I felt like James Bond." The cast and crew were kept in the dark about the killer's indentity until the day before the final scene was shot. "The whole time we were shooting, we had no idea who the killer was," he says. The actors even cast bets {David Arquette won}.

During filming in Atlanta, Jerry was the cast's unofficial social director. "He creates a wonderful atmosphere on the set," says Neve Campbell. "There was a scene in which he had to me, out of tune. About 150 extras had to listen to him sing all day long. When we wrapped, he thanked everyone for putting up with his voice and offered to take them out on the town, which he did."

"Jerry O'Connel and I were doing a very serious scene. We were strolling through college campus; I was supposed to be depressed. Then, just as I said my line, I walked right into a tree branch-I'm talking a big tree branch. They got the scene on film. It was rather embarrasing-they played it at the wrap party."