Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973) is a Canadian actress and former dancer who plays Sidney Prescott, the primary lead and final girl of the Scream series.
Biography
Background
Campbell is from Ontario, Canada. Her father is Scottish (from Glasgow) and her mother is Dutch (from Amsterdam). Her parents split up when she was two years old. She lived with her father while visiting her mother in Guelph. She is named after her mother's maiden family name, Neve.
In her youth, she was a competitive ballet dancer at the National Ballet School Of Canada. She quit the program at 14, once calling it the most difficult time of her life.
In 2003, she identified as a Catholic with Jewish heritage. She descends from Sephardic Jews who emigrated to the Netherlands on her Dutch mother's side of the family, "I am a practicing Catholic, but my lineage is Jewish, so if someone asks me if I'm Jewish, I say yes."
Career
Aside from her beloved role as Sidney Prescott in the Scream franchise (which she personally considers her best role), Campbell has appeared in numerous other films such as The Ghost of Canterville, Wild Things, The Craft, Drowning Mona, Titanic: Blood and Steel and Churchill: The Hollywood Years, Campbell also portrayed Julia Salinger in Party of Five (1994-2000).
She left Hollywood for West End theatre in her 30s. After giving birth to her first son, she slowly returned to Hollywood acting. She turned down leading roles in network shows to commit to parental responsibilities, choosing smaller projects on House of Cards and Mad Men. Neve departed the Scream franchise due to a pay dispute over Scream VI.
Personal Life
Campbell was a smoker from age 13 to 2011, when she successfully quit after having failed to do so numerous times before.
At age 17, Campbell survived a bear attack on an unknown film project, as the crew froze watching it. Neither she or the crew suffered life-threatening injuries.
Campbell was married twice and, after separating from her first husband before their divorce, Jeff Colt, dated co-star Matthew Lillard, beginning in 1996, after the shooting of Scream, while filming Scream 2, which he had a cameo, until 1998. The two remain friends, even to the point that Lillard visited Campbell in 2010 while she filmed Scream 4, which he got another cameo in the Scream franchise. She later married British television and theatre actor, John Light, but they divorced in 2011.
Campbell's partner since 2011 is British actor J.J. Field. They have two sons, Caspian (born 2012) and Raynor (born 2018) together. Campbell's younger son is adopted; she made him aware of his adoption and birth mother immediately.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | My Secret Identity | Student | Episode: "Pirate Radio" Uncredited |
| 1993 | The Dark | Officer Jesse Donovan | |
| 1994 | Are You Afraid of the Dark? | Nonnie Walker | Episode: "Tale of the Dangerous Soup" |
| 1994–2000 | Party of Five | Julia Salinger | 142 episodes |
| 1996 | The Craft | Bonnie Harper | |
| Scream | Sidney Prescott | ||
| 1997 | Scream 2 | Sidney Prescott | |
| 1998 | The Lion King II: Simba's Pride | Kiara | Direct-to-video film Voice |
| 1999 | Three to Tango | Amy Post | |
| 2000 | Scream 3 | Sidney Prescott | |
| Drowning Mona | Ellen Rash | ||
| Panic | Sarah Cassidy | ||
| 2002 | Investigating Sex | Alice | |
| 2003 | The Company | Loretta "Ry" Ryan | Also story writer and producer |
| 2006 | Relative Strangers | Ellen Minnola | |
| 2011 | Scream 4 | Sidney Prescott | |
| 2015 | Manhattan | Katherine Oppenheimer | 2 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | House of Cards | LeAnn Harvey | 25 episodes |
| 2018 | Skyscraper | Sarah Sawyer | |
| 2020 | Clouds | Laura Sobiech | |
| 2022 | Scream | Sidney Prescott | |
| 2022–present | The Lincoln Lawyer | Margaret "Maggie" McPherson | 10 episodes |
| 2023–present | Twisted Metal | Raven | |
| 2026 | Scream 7 | Sidney Prescott | |
| TBA | Avalon | Detective Nicole "Nic" Searcy |
Trivia
- Neve has arthritis in her neck and hips and has had surgery on her feet.
- In the reboot film simply titled Scream, Campbell is the final credited actor, given the honorary "And" label, commonly associated with a Hollywood actor appearance that is particularly special.
- She became a mother at 38.
- She has British citizenship.
Gallery
 |
Neve Campbell has a Photo Gallery. |
External links
Neve Campbell at the Internet Movie Database- Neve Campbell at TV.com
Neve Campbell at Wikipedia