Scott Foley Was 'So Excited' About Getting Cast in “Scream 3” He Had Trouble Keeping His Role a Secret (Exclusive)

In 2000, Scott Foley made his feature film debut in Scream 3, the anticipated third entry in the massively successful slasher movie franchise created by writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven.

Filming between July and September 1999, Foley was 27 by the time production on the sequel was completed. It was a huge spotlight for the actor, now 52, who was two seasons into playing Noel Crane on the hit WB college drama Felicity.

"This was a hot movie back [in the day]," he tells PEOPLE while looking back of Scream 3 ahead of its 25th anniversary on Feb. 4. "It was the WB days, and I was so excited to get this role." He notes that he had "gone through a long audition process" before landing the part as Stab 3 director Roman Bridger.

Unbeknownst to Foley, his character played a larger role in the plot of Scream 3 beyond just being a young filmmaker out of his depth with a movie production plagued by the return of Ghostface, who was on the hunt for Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell).

Related: Scream 7: All About the Latest Installment of the Hit Horror Franchise

As he later learned, Roman was secretly Ghostface — and Sidney's half-brother as the result of Maureen Prescott's sexual assault by producer John Milton (Lance Henriksen).

"I will tell you, and I will never forget the moment, having already been cast … and it was maybe my second week on the film, and I was talking with Marianne Maddalena, who was [director] Wes Craven's producing partner at the time, and they were all sort of laughing, and I felt like there was an inside joke that I wasn't a part of," Foley recalls.

"Someone said something and then Marianne said, 'You know what we're talking about, right?' And I sort of smiled and I said, 'I have no idea what anybody's talking about.' And she said, 'You're the killer,' " he continues.

The actor then adds, "I will never forget, Wes Craven had his New York Times crossword in his hand, folded up, and looked at me over the top of his glasses when Marianne said it, just to gauge my reaction." 

Related: Who Is Ghostface in 'Scream' ? A Guide to All the Killers in the Franchise

"And I was so ... I don't know if I was happy or taken aback, but it was such a specific moment for me. And I think partially because having that sort of information as an actor can help you, and I understand why they kept it from me initially. But it was exciting, yeah," he says. "And to this day, to this day, I'm still [like], 'Hey, you were the killer in Scream 3.' I had no idea. It's so cool."

In a similar account shared with A.V. Club, Foley recalled how "they didn't tell me when I was cast that I was the killer." He added, "They kept everything so hush-hush back in those days … We'd get scripts with big, blacked-out pages so we couldn't read or photocopy any of the pages because they wanted to keep everything so secret."

When asked if it was then hard to keep that secret — especially on a movie set like Scream, which has been prone to leaks and rewrites throughout its franchise history — Foley tells PEOPLE, "Yes, of course."

"Scream had been a huge thing, and I was at the age where all my friends knew and watched it and liked them, and to not be able to tell them — they knew I was doing the new Scream — but to not be able to tell my character was, [it was like,] 'Yeah, of course you want to share it early.' "

Related: Matthew Lillard Appears to Confirm Return as Original Scream Villain Stu Macher After 28 Years — See the Video

Although Foley's character met his demise at the end of Scream 3, a return to the franchise isn't entirely out of the question. It's worth noting that Skeet Ulrich reprised his role as Billy Loomis in Scream 5.

Since speaking with the actor, Deadline reported that he has joined the cast of Scream 7, which will reunite him with Campbell as well as Courteney Cox. While details about his role are under wraps, one can only wonder if his return was meant to be — especially considering he revealed to PEOPLE that he had an encounter with the production team. 

"I'm shooting Will Trent in Atlanta right now," Foley says, referring to the new season of the ABC procedural, before recalling how he almost got into the wrong transport when headed to set. "I was at the hotel getting picked up yesterday afternoon. They come pick you up in these big black vans. And a black van was there, so I opened the door and took a step in and it was a different driver and he said, 'Wrong van.' "  

The actor continues, "I said, 'What? What do you mean, wrong van?' And he said, 'Unless you're doing Scream.' And I paused, and I was like, 'What'd you say?' He said, 'Unless you're shooting Scream.' And I said, 'Yeah, I was in Scream.' He goes, 'No, are you in the new Scream?' " 

"I said, 'What? No, I'm not in the new Scream ...' And as I slammed the door and apologized and felt ridiculous for stepping in the wrong van, I realized that it's been 25 years," he says.

Related: Scott Foley Brings His Big Rom-Com Energy to Dreamy La Dolce Villa Trailer: 'I'm Never That Guy' (Exclusive)

For Foley, it's also been 25 years since he felt like he starred in a true romantic comedy, noting that "maybe A.U.S.A." was the last time he led a project that "I [felt] like I fit that genre perfectly and for whatever reason, I'm never that guy."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

And with his new Netflix film, La Dolce Villa, he got to do that again. "This was so fun to be that guy for a minute," he says of playing Eric, a successful businessman who travels to Italy to save his daughter from squandering her life savings on restoring a derelict villa — but then finds romance.

While joking that there's "a little grump" to his character — "as there is [with] every dad to a certain degree" — Foley says working on this Italian-set rom-com "was fun." He adds, "This was light. This was Italy. And I was so thrilled to get to do it."

La Dolce Villa debuts Feb. 13 on Netflix.

Read the original article on People