‘Party’ Leads to Other Invitations

Except for Courteney Cox, who stars in “Scream” and “Scream 2” with Neve Campbell, the cast members of “Friends” haven’t conquered the multiplexes as convincingly as they have television or as decisively as they were expected to. Instead, the hot young TV cast seems to belong to “Party of Five,” the smart soap that soft-pedals the travails of its telegenic characters and took its sweet time to evolve into a hit on Fox.

But a hit it now is, and the big screen is beckoning to its stars. Campbell, in addition to breaking hearts as the exquisitely suffering Julia, has become a 24-year-old one-woman industry. In addition to “Scream 2,” she worked on three other films this year: “Wild Things,” a walk on the wrong side from director John McNaughton; “54,” a tribute to the disco era; and “Hair Shirt,” an L.A. slice-of-life tale that she also produced. She also lent her voice to the coming direct-to-video release of “The Lion King II.”

Her co-stars are highly sought after as well. Scott Wolf, who plays the hunky Bailey, has appeared in “Evening Star” and “White Squall” (and turned down numerous offers for work over his last hiatus to recharge his batteries). Jennifer Love Hewitt, who portrays his on-again, off-again and even-more-off-again love interest Sharon, starred in the fall horror hit “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Lacey Chabert, who appears as the quirkily precocious pubescent Claudia, joins an out-of-this-world party of five (six if you count Robbie the Robot) in the big-screen incarnation of “Lost in Space.” Jeremy London, who plays Julia’s befuddled hubby, Griffin, was in “Mallrats” and will soon be seen in the indie film “Levitation.”

Why is this cast so hot, so suddenly?

“I don’t know what the explanation is except that we’re being allowed the opportunity to be out there doing good work,” Campbell offers. “If I was on ‘Beverly Hills, 90210,’ people wouldn’t see me in the light they see me in. We have good dialogue, and it’s being appreciated--it wasn’t just a teen smash, and it took a while. It was the little train that could. The critics have been good to us, the Golden Globe award, I think we got noticed in that way, that it was about quality not quantity, and that’s why we’ve been able to move on to other things and be trusted that we’ll do good work.”

Amy Lippman, “Party of Five” executive producer, expands on Campbell’s thought: “We were incredibly lucky in the casting process--we found very attractive people who are appealing in completely relatable ways. There’s nothing alienating about them; they’re incredibly engaging.

“And they’re popping because they’ve gotten an opportunity to play relatable characters. Neve, in particular, is relatable, her character is understandable. It’s not hard to imagine her as [‘Scream’s’] Sidney or other things, because she’s not starting from something outrageous.”

Cathy Konrad, producer of “Scream” and “Scream 2,” offers a subtly different explanation: “Really, it’s a demographic situation. ‘Friends’ is skewed just three years older than the movement in the world right now. People love the characters, but as the timeline of cycles hit, the ‘Party of Five’ cast has a lot of characters and faces that speak to a much bigger demographic. Those kids are not ‘Reality Bites’ kids, they’re perceived as more accessible than grunge Gen-Xers.”

And in case you were wondering, Campbell and Hewitt had no prior experience shrieking before their horror flick roles. On “Party of Five,” Lippman swears, “No one ever charges them with knives.”