Please Rewind Talent Wall

Skeet Ulrich

Skeet Ulrich found his defining stretch of film work in 1996, appearing in both The Craft and Scream. The two movies gave him a natural place in the decade’s darker corners, where youthful charisma could carry an undercurrent of danger. That quality became especially potent in Wes Craven’s Scream, with Ulrich playing Billy Loomis opposite Neve Campbell. He returned to the role decades later in 2022’s Scream and again in Scream VI in 2023. Born Bryan Ray Trout on January 20, 1970, in Lynchburg, Virginia, Ulrich studied marine biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington before moving to New York University, where he studied under playwright David Mamet. He also worked as an apprentice with the Atlantic Theater Company. After early uncredited appearances in Weekend at Bernie’s and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he secured a notable role in Boys and appeared in Albino Alligator, The Craft and Scream during a busy 1996. Ulrich’s later film work moved across genres. He played Juvenal, a young man with healing powers and stigmata, in Paul Schrader’s Touch, appeared in The Newton Boys and Ang Lee’s Civil War drama Ride with the Devil, and portrayed computer hacker Kevin Mitnick in Track Down. His screen career has also included television, voice acting and producing. On television, Ulrich led the post-apocalyptic drama Jericho as Jake Green. The series was revived for a shortened second season after a strong fan campaign following its initial cancellation. From 2017 to 2021, he played F.P. Jones, Jughead’s father, on Riverdale, while his voice work has included Duke in Robot Chicken’s G.I. Joe sketches. The Craft and Scream remain an especially sharp introduction to Ulrich’s appeal: a relaxed, watchful presence that can turn unsettling without losing its charm. His return as Billy Loomis only strengthened the connection between his career and the strain of 1990s horror that audiences continue to revisit.