Only now does it occur to me... SCREAM 3

Only now does it occur to me...  the seven faces I did not expect to see in SCREAM 3.  And, no, I will not be referencing the Jay and Silent Bob cameo appearance, because that would be just silly.  As for the film itself, it's fairly enjoyable– at it's best it feels like WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE, and at it's worst, well, it feels like SCREAM 3.  Anyway, on to those unexpected faces:

#1.  Legendary producer/schlockmeister Roger Corman as one of the producers on the fictitious film-within-a-film, STAB 3.

#2. Lance Henriksen as "John Milton," another one of STAB 3's producers.

You wish he had more screen time, but he still gives a touch of weight and a lot of "evil eye" to what is basically a throwaway role.  I think he's supposed to be the bizarro, low budget James Cameron or something, because there's a poor man's TERMINATOR-style robot in his office (Lance also appeared in THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS, and PIRANHA II).

#3.  Patrick Warburton– aka Elaine's on-again-off-again boyfriend "Puddy" from SEINFELD.  

He plays a short-lived bodyguard who is, basically... Puddy.

#4.  Heather Matarazzo, aka Dawn Wiener from WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE.

Definitely one of those actresses whose first high-profile role was so raw and real that she will forever be identified (at least with me) as that character.  She has a fun, bit part as a former flame of the Jamie Kennedy character from SCREAM and SCREAM 2.

#5.  A Whit Stillman lead.  (Matt Keeslar, from THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO.)

Longtime readers of this site know that I'm a Whit Stillman fanatic, and there's such a tremendous specificity to the scripts and casts of Stillman films that it's extremely strange to see the actors in different contexts, especially when said context is the third installment of a self-referencing turn-of-the-century madcap slasher series.  Anyway.

#6.  Parker Posey.  

One of the patron saints of 90s American indie film, it's always a pleasure to see Parker Posey.  Even in the worst of films, she brings a manic, bitchy, metropolitan energy to her roles which surely brings a smile to the lips of even the most hardened and cynical of filmgoers.

Her presence here– as the onscreen alter-ego of Courtney Cox in the fictitious STAB 3– goes a long way to making SCREAM 3 an extremely watchable movie.  Without her, it wouldn't have half the charm.

#7.  Carrie Fisher.

She makes a rare appearance (now with a more pronounced Kathleen Turner/Lauren Bacall-esque smoky vocal intonation) as a woman working in the bowels of the studio archive who happens to look a lot like Princess Leia– only she lost the part to "the one who slept with George Lucas."  Well played, and truly unexpected!