Courteney Cox Knows What You Think About Her Tiny 'Scream' Bangs

There's one part of the Scream franchise that will always haunt Courteney Cox: that set of baby bangs. During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show alongside her Scream co-stars Neve Campbell and David Arquette (and Barrymore), Cox spoke about how she wanted to give her character Gale Weathers a specific look — and how those bangs happened by accident.

"Each Scream I would try to come up with a different look for her that was just over-the-top gross, or ugly, or too much," Cox said.

Campbell knew exactly what she was getting at, interrupting Barrymore's follow-up question with, "The bangs?"

"Oh that was the worst. I forgot about that. There was nothing worse. That was a big lesson in life because that will forever be on film," Cox said of the bangs, which made their debut in Scream 3. Of course, they weren't her actual bangs — instead, they were clip-in, but the not-so-flattering length was never intentional. The micro length happened because there was a little confusion over how the temporary bangs worked and an overzealous stylist. On top of that, there was only one set of bangs for the whole production.

"One set of bangs. I remember they were cut on the set. You are supposed to have a thing that starts back here, far back and that's where the part goes for the bangs," Cox said as she motioned around her head. "For some reason, they put it here [pointing toward the center of her head] and started cutting it and I was like, 'Well I don't have a choice now.'"

Campbell tried her best to assure Cox that they looked fine, but during the interview, she added that it probably wasn't convincing.

"I remember that day because we were all like, 'No they are good, really,'" she said.

Cox is very much in on the joke, however. Back in 2020, she even paid homage to Weathers during Halloween, when she brought the bangs out of retirement.

And thanks to Arquette, fans found out what the bangs were supposed to look like: Bettie Page. Instagram account CommentsbyCelebs captured one of his remarks under a meme.

"I have to take the fall for this. I suggested a Bettie Page look," he wrote. "It just didn't work. I take full responsibility."