Teen People Interview

This article originally appeared in the February 1998 issue of Teen People. I am using this article without permission; please see my disclaimers.

Welcome to the wet, wild, and slightly wacky world of Scream 2's sexy star Jerry O'Connell

By Linda Friedman. © 1998 Teen People. February 1998 edition. Reprinted without permission.

Some stars just can't get enough attention. It's well past midnight--3 A.M. to be exact-and Jerry O'Connell is still front and center, entertaining everyone within earshot. But the actor, whose rapidly growing résumé includes a starring role on the science fiction show Sliders and a stint as the quarterback who betrayed Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, isn't on a soundstage filming his next movie. He's at an L.A. karaoke bar belting out Frank Sinatra ballads.

Hours of singing along to "New York, New York" are beginning to pay off--big-time. Jerry's musical stylings helped land him the meaty role of Derek, Neve Campbell's boyfriend in Scream 2, a part most actors in Hollywood would have given their left arm for. "He did a little vocal number at the audition, so he got to showcase that talent," recalls producer Cathy Konrad. "He just went for it. When the studio [executives] saw it, they went nuts. They said 'Get him now.' "

They're not the only ones who want a piece of Jerry, but the blue-eyed 23-year-old doesn't seem daunted that his fame meter is fast moving into the hot zone. "There isn't anything scary about it," he says, cruising around West Hollywood in his topless green International Harvester Scout. "It hasn't affected Tom Cruise in any way. He's just a nice, normal guy." Of course, playing the person who screws over Mr. Nice Guy has its drawbacks. At an Atlanta Braves game last summer, says Jerry, "Some guy in the stands stood up and yelled, 'He's the guy who left Jerry Maguire!' I thought he and his friends were going to throw beer on me! I was like, 'People, it was a movie.' "

Actually, Jerry Maguire was more than a movie. The box-office smash put Jerry in a whole new acting league. "If you get a buzz around you, your chances for getting a part you really want increase." Like the Scream 2 role. Going after it was a no-brainer, Jerry says. "I wanted to work with [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 confidential than a CIA document. It was even printed on brown paper so that it 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 identity 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 the 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 sing to me, out of tune. About 150 extras had to listen to him 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."

Relatively Speaking

When he's not on location, the actor lives in an L.A. apartment with his younger brother, Charlie, 22, who will play his older brother on Sliders (which Jerry is now producing) when the show moves from Fox to the Sci-Fi Channel this year. When they're not on the set-or arguing about who will do the laundry-the two can usually be found surfing or committing daring fashion acts on the golf course. "The nicer the country club, the crazier our clothes are," Jerry says.

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