"Talent Show: Freddie Prinze Jr"

	Sign In Sign-Up

Teen People, August 1998

Can you imagine Freddie Prinze Jr., whose eyes are as honest as they are brown, as one of Scream's knife-happy killers? Impossible. But "it was down to either Matt [Lillard] or me for that part," Freddie reveals. Matt stole the role, but it wasn't long before Freddie scored his own scary movie: I Know What You Did Last Summer.

"Initially, acting was the only thing I was good at," says the 22-year-old. Actually, the craft is in his blood: His father Freddie Prinze Sr., was the star of the '70's sitcom Chico and the Man. But young Freddie's childhood was far from Hollywood-perfect. After his dad's death in 1977, Freddie's mom took her son, then just 10 months old, to Albuquerque, where they lived with her mother. At 18, Freddie couldn't afford college, so he returned to Los Angeles to take acting classes. It was there he met longtime love--"my whole life"--actress Kimberly McCullough, 20.

His first gig--a four-line appearance on Family Matters in 1994--led to minor movie roles (like Claire Danes's love interest in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday). Summer's success brought bigger offers. Two he took: this fall's Summer sequel (tentatively titled I Still Know What You Did Last Summer) and Wing Commander, an action flick costarring--uh-oh!--Matthew Lillard. But don't expect sour grapes on the set. "He's supercool," Freddie says. Hey, those eyes don't lie.