Randy Meeks

"There's always some stupid bullshit reason to kill your girlfriend. That's the beauty of it all! Simplicity! Besides, if it gets too complicated, you lose your target audience."

- Randy theorizes correctly to Stu Macher that Billy Loomis is the killer. Randy Meeks was a major character in Scream (1996 film) and its sequel, Scream 2 (1997 film). He was a film student at Windsor College and previously a graduate of Woodsboro High.

He is the original horror geek character depicted in the Scream franchise, though he detested sequels. After narrowly surviving the original Woodsboro Murders in 1996, he relocated from California to Ohio with fellow survivor-friend and crush, Sidney Prescott.

He became the fourth victim of the Spring 1998 Windsor College Murders at the hands of Ghostface copycat killer Nancy Loomis (known simply as Mrs. Loomis in the film). In the film, Randy speaks to the Ghostface entity on Gale Weathers' phone and makes critical remarks about Nancy's son, Billy Loomis, enraging his mother.

While Gale was her target, Mrs. Loomis chose to kill Randy instead, sneakily pulling him inside the news van of Gale's second cameraman, Joel, in a fit of rage. Later, Gale and Dewey, who split up to search for the killer on a phone nearby, as well as Joel who notices his windows are smashed, simultaneously find his slashed corpse inside the van.

Early Life
Randy Meeks was born in late-1978 or early-mid 1979. He is the firstborn child of Mr. and Mrs. Meeks. His parents do not appear in the series, and only his mother is mentioned in Scream 2. He grew up alongside his younger sister, Martha Meeks, who is 3-4 years his junior.

As an excitable horror movie geek and Woodsboro High School student, he worked at a local video store, even though he was fired and re-hired twice.

He had a severe crush on his good friend Sidney Prescott. He primarily hangs out with her, Billy Loomis, Stu Macher, and Tatum Riley.

The Woodsboro Murders
Randy ate lunch with his group of friends the day after Casey Becker and Steven Orth were murdered. He went to the school's water fountain and sat with Sidney, Billy, Tatum, and Stu. Then gossiped and joked about their deaths. He even suspected, that Stu was the killer pointing out that Casey dumped Stu for Steve making Tatum confused because she thought, that Stu dumped Casey for her. Stu defended himself saying "I didn't kill anybody". He went to work at the local video store the next day, where he discussed the murders with Stu. He believed that Sidney's father Neil Prescott would pop up dead somewhere, and that Billy was the real killer. Billy confronted Randy and Stu took Billy's side. Stu enjoyed watching Billy confront and menace Randy in front of the other people in the store; even menacing Randy himself. Randy managed to get out of work early due to the town curfew and went to Stu's party. During the party, he is partying and seen talking to the other teenagers, but mainly concerned with talking to Sidney. He talks to her about Jamie Lee Curtis. Shortly after Tatum's murder, Billy arrives and he asked Stu, "What's Leather face doing here?" He says to himself, "There goes my chance with Sid, dammit." as Billy and Sidney go upstairs bedroom "to talk". He stays at the house watching Halloween with the other teenagers.

Randy continues partying with the other guests and then as a murder scene comes up in the movie they are watching; Halloween, he explains the infamous rules to surviving a horror film; "You can never have sex. You can never drink or do drug. It's a sin factor; an extension to number one. Never, ever, under any circumstance say 'I'll be right back' because you won't be back."



As the movie progresses, he eventually left there by himself as the others have left to see their recently murdered principal's corpse. When Sidney is being chased to the News Van where the cameraman is, they view Ghostface sneaking behind him unexpectedly in an attempt to kill him, but Sidney's scream draws the killer's attention and saves him. Kenny, the cameraman, realizes that the camera setting is off and starts outside, but Ghostface is right outside having followed Sidney's scream to the news van. Ghostface claims the cameraman's life instead of Randy's. After sometime, Randy gets up and wonders where everyone is. He goes outside to ask a frightened Gale about what's going on, but is knocked down by her trying to survive. Later, he finds Tatum dead. After seeing Tatum dead he finds a frightened Sidney running back into the Macher's house. He tells Sidney, "We have to get the fuck outta here. I found Tatum, she's dead. I think Stu did it!" Stu runs up claiming Randy's the killer and trying to persuade Sidney to give him the gun. Sidney rebukes them both and locks herself in the house telling them while sobbing to "Go Away! Leave me alone" Billy having "survived" comes downstairs and easily wins Sidney's judgment having been intimate with her and gets the gun from her. He opens the door and Randy runs in. Randy exclaims, "Stu's flipped out. He's gone mad!" Billy agrees in a sinister voice, "We all go a little mad sometimes." as he points the gun at him. During the climax, he is shot by Billy and crashes through a table after Billy reveals that he's indeed the killer. After Sidney believes that it is all over, Randy suddenly wakes up, alive and well. He says to Sidney, "I never thought I'd be so happy to be a virgin." As soon as he says this, he is then punched out by Billy, who was previously unconscious. After Billy is shot by Gale Weathers, A relieved Sidney helps up the injured Randy to his feet. Randy reveals that the killer always comes back to life for "one last scare." Indeed, his prediction was right, and Billy wakes up one last time before being shot in the head by Sidney. He tries to help Sidney rescue her father, but falls because of his gunshot wound.

The Windsor College Murders


After graduating from Woodsboro High, Randy and Sidney both attended Windsor College, where he took film classes. He is seen with Mickey Altieri, Cici Cooper and several other unidentified students in the film class, having a debate over whether films could have been responsible for the murders of Phil Stevens and Maureen Evans, which later developed into a debate as to whether horror movie sequels are a good thing or a bad thing.

Right before his class lets out, Sidney appears by the door having been looking for him after the news of the murders of Phil and Maureen. She warns a very nonchalant Randy that it's starting again which he doesn't want to talk about. Suddenly her boyfriend Derek comes looking for her. He kisses her in front of him to cheer her up making Randy repressed his jealousy saying under his breath, "Get a room..." Gale Weather then appears at the campus where the group of friends can see her. Randy makes a comment about her saying, "She got calve implants."

After the murder of Cici, he and Dewey Riley try to solve the case. While Gale and Dewey try to find the caller, Randy talks to Ghostface on the phone. Randy says that the new killer will never become as famous as Billy and Stu before going on to insult Stu first, then Billy. He goes on to say Billy was a rat-looking, homo-repressed mama's boy. After that was said, Ghostface suddenly appears and drags Randy into a news van and throws him against the windshield before slitting his throat and stabbing him four times in the chest. During his murder, there was a group of college students blasting Hip-hop music, which unintentionally covered up the sound of the murder. Dewey and Gale notice he is nowhere to be found and they search. Dewey, Gale and Joel stumble upon Randy's bloody corpse the next moment.

Dewey later informs Sidney of his murder leaving Sidney very emotional saying, "It shouldn't have been Randy, it should've been me. I should call his mother." Dewey informs her that he had already reached her and let her know about his death. During the climax of Scream 2, it is revealed that the killer is Nancy Loomis, who tells Sidney that when she heard Randy insult her deceased son Billy on the phone, she "got a little knife happy".

Hollywood
Randy's sister, Martha, snuck onto the Stab 3 production and delivered a tape Randy made before his death. He knew beforehand, he was probably going to die in the second killing spree, because he lost his virginity and because of the rules of horror movies and that´s why he left this tape, because he also foresaw the possibility of a third killing spree, including one with an unexpected background. So he warned the survivors (Sidney, Gale, and Dewey) of what to expect from a trilogy in the horror field. It is shown, how much Sidney and the others miss Randy, when the tape is played.

The original script revealed that Randy had survived and that his parents were secretly hiding him. However, this was cut from the final film, because it was considered to be too unrealistic and therefore not considered to be canon.

15 Years Later
In the 4th Ghostface killing spree, committed by Jill Roberts and Charlie Walker, Walker tried to become the new generation's Randy Meeks, only to fail and become the new generation's Stu Macher. Much of Randy is also reference heavily in Robbie Mercer with the other half in reference to Kenny Brown, Gale's Cameraman.

In the original Scream, they were connected. However, in Scream 4, the characters are completely connected; Sort combining the two characters for Randy's horror knowledge along with Kenny's need to video. Thus, you have Robbie talking like Randy as though it were a podcast and video recording, like Kenny, daily.

25 years later
Randy's younger sister, Martha Meeks, has since had twins, Mindy Meeks-Martin and Chad Meeks-Martin, whom are now teenagers that attend Woodsboro High School. Once the third attack spree starts, Mindy suggest meeting at her place to discuss the events. In her house, there are shrine dedicated to their deceased uncle, Randy, and it is clear his knowledge on horror films and surviving them is passed onto his niece, Mindy.

After the party was over, Mindy continues to watch TV. She is watching Stab and the part where her uncle was almost attacked while watching TV himself after the party was over. The killer was actually coming to kill her in real like just like Randy. Unlike her uncle, she actually turns around in enough time to realize she is about to be attacked like her uncle Randy was. She gets stabbed and goes unconscious, but survives (as well as her twin, Chad), just like her uncle did in the original murder spree.

Family

 * Martha Meeks - Sister
 * Mindy Meeks-Martin - Niece
 * Chad Meeks-Martin - Nephew

Allies

 * Woodsboro High School
 * Sidney Prescott - Friend
 * Tatum Riley † - Friend
 * Woodsboro, California
 * Dewey Riley † - Friend
 * Gale Weathers - Associate
 * Windsor College
 * Derek Feldman † - Acquaintance
 * Hallie McDaniel † - Friend
 * Cici Cooper - Classmate in Film
 * Lois
 * Murphy

Enemies

 * Nancy Loomis † - Murderer / Copycat Ghostface
 * Billy Loomis † - Original Ghostface
 * Stu Macher † - Original Ghostface
 * Mickey Altieri † - Copycat Ghostface

About Randy

 * "Maybe your movie-freaked mind lost it's reality button?" (Billy threatening Randy after he suggests he is the killer).
 * "Why are you even here, Randy? You'll never be the leading man." (Nancy to Randy).
 * "No matter how hard you try, you'll never be the hero, and you'll never get the girl." (Nancy to Randy).

Scream (1996)

 * "If you were the only suspect in a senseless bloodbath... would you be standing in the horror section?"
 * "I never thought I would be so happy to be a virgin!"
 * "Now that Billy tried to mutilate her, do you think Sid would go out with me?"
 * "It's the millennium; motives are incidental."
 * "Never, ever, ever, under any circumstances say, 'I'll be right back' because you won't be back." (Randy listing the third rule of the surviving a horror movie.)
 * "See, the police are always off track with this shit. If they'd watch Prom Night, they'd save time. There's a formula to it — a very simple formula! Everybody's a suspect!"
 * "Oh, really? Was that before or after he sliced and diced?" (To Tatum about Stu, asking about where he was the night Casey Becker and Steven Orth were killed.)
 * "Did you really put her liver in the mailbox? Because I heard that they found her liver in the mailbox, next to her spleen and pancreas."
 * "You see? You push the laws and you end up dead, okay? I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife." (To the partygoers about Stu, after he goes to get a beer and says, 'I'll be right back'; dramatic irony as it turns out to be true, only Stu is one of the killers in the kitchen with a knife).

Scream 2 (1997)

 * "I cannot believe it; they get Tori Spelling to play Sid, and they cast Joe Blow Nobody to play me! At least you get David Schwimmer; I get the guy who drove the stagecoach for one episode of Dr. Quinn!"
 * "Life is life. It doesn't imitate anything." (to Mickey in Film Class.)
 * "Oh, please! By definition alone, they're inferior films!"
 * "I believe the line is 'Stay away from her, you bitch'. It's film class, right?" (Randy "corrects" Film Class Guy (Joshua Jackson), but is actually mistaken).
 * "That's why it's perfect! It's sort of against the rules, but not really. Mrs. Voorhees was a terrific serial killer, and there's always room for Candyman's daughter. She's sweet, she's deadly, she's bad for your teeth!" (To Dewey about the idea of female serial killers.)
 * "Oh, please. This is me talking, Randy! The unrequited love slave of Sidney Prescott. I know all about obsession. (Shows gun shot scar) And pain."
 * "Stu was a pussy-ass wet rag. And Billy Loomis, Billy Loomis, what the fuck? Jesus, what a rat-lookin, homo-repressed mama's boy." (To Nancy, moments before his death.)
 * "Why not set your goals higher, huh?! You wanna be one of the big boys?! Manson? Bundy? O.J.? Son—" (Randy's final line before his death.)
 * "Why copycat two high school loser-ass dickheads?" (Moments before his death)

Scream 3 (2000)

 * "...And that giving up my virginity to Karen Kolchak was probably not a good idea."
 * "Yes, Karen Kolchak."
 * "Told you I'd make a movie someday. Huh?"
 * "Paul, fifteen minutes. I'm leaving my legacy."
 * "Fifteen minutes, Paul! Damn!"
 * "Shut up. She's a sweet person, okay? We were working late putting away some videos in the porno section and ya know, shit happens."
 * "It's the final chapter, it could be fucking Reservoir Dogs before this thing's through."

Trivia

 * Described as "a tall and gangly kid... A witty jokester who elevates geek to coolness" in the Scream (1996) script.
 * Detested sequels, and died in the first sequel of Scream ever made.
 * In Scream (1996), Randy tells Jamie Lee Curtis to look behind her, because there's a killer preparing to kill her. Ironically, Randy is played by Jamie Kennedy, and the killer is behind him, preparing to kill him at the same time.
 * He didn't consider Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back a sequel, because it is apart of a pre-planned trilogy.
 * Randy makes a mistake correcting Film Class Guy #2, as the line from Aliens (1986) really is "Get away from her, you bitch". He claims it is "Stay away" instead.
 * The scene was intended for the dialogue to come from the opposite actors, with Jamie Kennedy as Randy stating "Get away" as a correction. Due to the actor failing to memorise the line, they swapped lines for rehearsal practice, and it was mistakenly kept in the final product.
 * The mistake is often taken by fans to mean that Randy is finally slipping up, from his geekdom ways, and unintentionally foreshadows his demise, as well as the retroactive revelation he lost his virginity between the two-year time jump of the first and second film.
 * Breckin Meyer was offered the role of Randy Meeks.
 * Given Randy was killed by Nancy Loomis incidentally in place of Gale, it is unknown whether she or Mickey Altieri intended to kill him later.
 * Given Nancy asks him, "Why are you even here?" and makes a reference to him following Sidney to college all the way to Ohio, it is likely he was not an intended target on her part.

Appearances

 * Scream (1996 film)
 * Scream 2 (1997 film)
 * Scream 3 (2000 film; cameo)
 * Scream (2022 film; photo and likeness-painting/voice-over by Jamie Kennedy)