Matthew Lillard Thought ‘Scooby-Doo 2’ Would Make Him ‘No. 1 on the Call Sheet For the Next 10 Years.’ Then It Flopped and His Career Became ‘Irrelevant’

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/matthew-lillard-scooby-doo-flop-rejecting-dancing-with-the-stars-1236196696/

45 comments
  1. > “I thought I’d be No. 1 on the call sheet for the next 10 years of movies,” Lillard recently admitted to Business Insider. “And the reality was the exact opposite happened.”

    > “I was caught up in the success of what I was doing, I was caught up in the parts I was getting, I was caught up in this drive to be quote-unquote famous,” Lillard admitted, noting that he finally had to stop caring about chasing fame.

    > “I was going to do ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ And I was like, if I do ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ I’ll never win an Academy Award,” Lillard said. “If I do ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ I’ll be famous and not a great actor, and I really just wanted to be a great actor. I said [to my agent], ‘I just want to be an actor. I just want to be in movies. I want to reset my expectations.’”

  2. Not the greatest actor but from the times I’ve seen him at conventions no one is better with kids.

  3. Honestly, I thought he’d get that with SLC Punk. I know it was more indie, but he proved he was able to take over front and center after being in Scream two years earlier.

    What’s more surprising is that it doesn’t have a bigger following due to it being Scooby Doo and having a stacked cast of established actors (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze and Linda Cardellini).

  4. Devastating, this was an Oscar winner in my home. Broke the box office that was our living room. We wore out 2 DVD versions of this movie in 2 years lol.

  5. If 13 Ghosts, Scream and Hackers didn’t do it, then Hollywood is dumb. I like him in basically everything I’ve seen him in.

  6. He isn’t super famous or the greatest actor, but when I see him in something like The Descendants, I was happy to see him and am llke “oh, Matthew lillards in this, good for him”

  7. He is an excellent Shaggy, but what sort of delusional bullshit makes anyone think Scooby2 is gonna be their trampoline.

  8. Regardless of how the show did at the box office, it’s still the funnest show I’ve worked on in my 30+yr career.

    Matt was awesome to work with. A great guy on and off set.

  9. We need to Brenden Frazier Matthew Lillard. That guy is amazingly nice.

    I loved his older stuff. SLC punk he did superb in.

  10. It’s a shame really, he’s usually one of if not the most entertaining part of the projects he’s in

  11. He was so perfect for Shaggy. The movie was garbage but it wasn’t his fault. He was the best part of it and I’m sad it hurt his career so much. He is a treasure.

  12. Becoming an actor that everyone knows is often luck-based. Becoming an actor that everyone loves and respects is a measure of character. And I’ve never seen anyone not love Matthew Lillard.

  13. That’s a bold expectation of career success, all based on playing shaggy for a second time in a live action scooby doo movie for kids.

  14. This dude is good in everything he’s been in, and I loved him as Shaggy. Still holding out hope for a third one someday, haha.

    I don’t care what anyone says about those movies, I always enjoyed them. Stupid enough to not take seriously, but good enough to take seriously.

  15. he definitely isn’t A-list material or whatever he thought he’d be, but at least for me and my friends, whenever we see him pop up in a movie we all collectively get excited and go “holy shit matthew lillard!!!”

    even if he didn’t get the success he hoped for, he’s always entertaining and fun to watch on screen, and from what i’ve seen he seems like a genuinely good person which isn’t something you can say for a lot of people in hollywood

  16. SLC Punk was a game changer for me growing up. Awesome movie that really encompassed the sub culture I was involved in as a teenager.

  17. Stu in Scream is one of the best teen slasher film performances ever. He was my favorite in the friend group, which made the twist so much more compelling. Lillard has always been incredibly likable on camera and I hope he has another season of success in him.

  18. “Stu Stu Stu…what’s your motive? Billy’s got one what are you going to tell the cops?”

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