Matthew Lillard Candidly Reflects On Panned Scooby-Doo Sequel 20 Years Later

Matthew Lillard says that he had to readjust his expectations for his career after Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed received negative reviews and underperformed at the box office. Lillard played Shaggy Rogers in both of the theatrical live action movies based on the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon. After the failure of the second movie, a third film was canceled, and the live-action version of the Scooby-Doo franchise moved to TV movies for Cartoon Network, which starred Nick Palatas as Shaggy.

While speaking with Business Insider, Lillard shared that after starring in the Scooby-Doo films, he thought they would take his career to new heights and that he would become a leading actor. Instead, however, the star acknowledged that the immediate aftermath led to a bit of a rough patch for him:

I thought I’d be No. 1 on the call sheet for the next 10 years of movies. 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 “famous”.

At one time, Lillard was offered the chance to appear on Dancing with the Stars, though was resistant to appearing on the competition show, thinking that it meant he wouldn’t be a great actor. He then not only declined the show, but also fired his team and returned to his first agent:

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. 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.

After making changes to his team, Lillard says that he decided to focus on just being an actor and readjust the career expectations that he had for himself, feeling that he needed to “reset my expectations“, including by acknowledging the ups and downs to come from the job. Check out the rest of what Lillard said below:

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.” I’ve gone through good patches and bad patches. I’ve been irrelevant and thought I was never going to work again.

What Scooby-Doo 2 Meant For Matthew Lillard’s Career

Lillard Was The Standout In The Films

Even though both of the live-action Scooby-Doo movies received negative reviews, Lillard’s performance as Shaggy Rogers is considered one of the best aspects of the films. Unfortunately, as the standout performance in the movies, Lillard’s career had to pay the price for the negative reception to the films. However, the star has found recent success by appearing in the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, and will return in the upcoming sequel.

Although Lillard is now done playing Shaggy in the live-action Scooby-Doo movies, he has continued to play the role in animation. Lillard has voiced the character in three television series, starting with Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, and has also voiced the character in several direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies, having taken over the role from Casey Kasem after the former voice actor retired.

Our Take On Matthew Lillard Changing His Career Expectations

Despite Some Obstacles, Lillard Has Found Recent Success

Lillard talking about having to reset the career expectations that he had for himself is something that many people can find relatable, even outside of show business. Thanks to shifting his career focus, it has led to him finding success in films like the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise, in which he portrays iconic game villain William Afton.

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Although Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed did not help his career the way he thought it originally would, he has also found success in continuing to voice Shaggy in animation. By voicing the character in animation, it shows that Lillard’s performance as Shaggy Rogers is the biggest contribution that the live action movies made to the Scooby-Doo franchise.

Source: Business Insider

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is the second live-action film in the Scooby-Doo franchise. Released in 2004, the film follows Mystery Inc.—Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo—as they confront a masked villain who reanimates monsters from their past cases. Set in the fictitious town of Coolsville, the group must once again use their sleuthing skills to save the day.

Director

Raja Gosnell

Release Date

March 26, 2004

Studio(s)

Mosaic Media Group

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Runtime

92 Minutes

Budget

$25-80 Million

Main Genre

Adventure

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