Dermot Mulroney is the latest actor to join the Scream franchise, playing Detective Bailey in Scream VI alongside Courteney Cox, who returns as Gale Weathers. And because he is playing one of the two law enforcement roles — the other being FBI agent Kirby Reed played Hayden Panettiere — the actor knew he had “a big badge to fill” following David Arquette‘s longtime run as Deputy Dewey.

“[He’s] obviously one of the most favorite characters in the whole franchise,” Mulroney tells ET’s Rachel Smith.

As it turns out, when the actor initially got the call to be in the newest sequel, he hadn’t seen Scream 5 yet nor did he know about Dewey’s fate in the last film. “I said, ‘Great, is David Arquette still in it?’ That was my first question,” he recalls, before later learning “the bad news” about the character. “Literally, I was hoping that we were cops together, you know what I mean?”

While he didn’t get a chance to work with Arquette, “I feel so blessed to be included,” Mulroney says, revealing that he has since watched the rest of the films in the franchise. “So, I’m only putting some of that legacy stuff together,” he continues. “[But] right from the beginning, this whole job has just been almost like one Easter egg after another. One thing leads to another answer.”

He adds that the cast is “just an incredible group of people, young actors that just included me and everything was amazing.”

However, joining Scream VI did allow him to team up with Cox, whom he first worked with 20 years ago when he had a three-episode guest arc as Gavin Mitchell on season 9 of Friends. “We had a little reunion,” Mulroney says, revealing that they got to reminisce about his time on the series.

“Courteney and I agreed my episodes were the best episodes ever,” he says, quipping that “those three episodes in the ninth season somehow managed to be a fan-favorite, [which] is a term I hear thrown around here a lot.”

For those who don’t remember, “they put me in as Rachel’s replacement at work, you know, because she had maternity leave,” he recaps, referring to Jennifer Aniston’s character when she had her baby. “We were acting with an animatronic baby,” he recalls.

Looking back on it, Mulroney says, “I was so blessed to be invited.”

Scream VI debuts in theaters on March 10.

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