'Scream' Creator Recalls Phone Call with Hayden Panettiere That Got Her to Return: 'It All Worked Out'

Kevin Williamson was up for the task in getting Hayden Panettiere back to the Scream franchise.

Speaking with PEOPLE at the New York City premiere of Scream VI on Monday, the slasher saga's creator and original writer, who co-executive produces the new film, says it started with a phone call.

"No one knew where she was, because she had just sort of moved out of L.A.," recalls Williamson, 57, of Panettiere, 33. "I had done a show called Tell Me a Story in Nashville, and everyone I worked with was from Nashville the TV show. So I called up my friends at Nashville and said, 'Do you guys know where Hayden Panettiere is, by chance?' "

"They said, 'Give me five minutes,' and in five minutes I was talking to her by phone," he adds.

After Williamson pitched the story to Panettiere and asked her to speak to directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, "She said, 'Absolutely, have them call me right away,' " he says. "And that's how it happened."

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In Scream VI, Panettiere, who was also at the N.Y.C. premiere, reprises her role as Kirby, who survived an attack from the Ghostface killer over a decade ago in 2011's Scream 4. It marks Panettiere's first film role in six years.

She tells the casting story a bit differently than Williamson — though with the same complimentary enthusiasm, and talk of a phone call.

"When [Scream] popped up and came back around, I was like, 'I want to be a part of that again,' because I hoped that Kirby was still alive," Panettiere told Good Morning America Monday.

"I actually called them ... when they were doing Scream 5 and I was like, 'Without me?! Wait. Hold on. I might still be alive, and I could come in handy,' " the Heroes alum continued.

Williamson added in his conversation with PEOPLE at Monday night's premiere, "We were really hoping [to bring her back], and it all worked out."

RELATED VIDEO: Hayden Panettiere on Returning to Acting with Scream Franchise: "I Think It's a Fabulous Moment for Me"

While speaking with Women's Health in January for an April cover story published Monday, Panettiere said her experience playing the character Kirby in Scream 4 played an important role in deciding where she next wanted to take her career.

"In therapy, I kept wanting to go back to the beginning of the period of time where I was really happy and healthy," she told the outlet, which noted the actress has "fond memories" of filming her previous Scream entry and remains in contact with that film's costars.

"We saw Kirby get stabbed, but we never saw her die," Panettiere said of Kirby's ambiguous fate in Scream 4. "We didn't see her rescued either."

"She has that human trauma, and it's changed her," the actress added. "That's something I can obviously relate to."

Scream VI slashes into theaters Friday.