Matthew Lillard says he resented Scooby-Doo films: ‘I had to sell my house’
Matthew Lillard played Shaggy in the live-action Scooby-Doo films (Warner Bros)
Matthew Lillard has said he “resented Scooby-Doo for a long time” after his career “took a real nosedive for a long time”, revealing that he and his wife sold their house and downsized to cope financially.
Speaking in a Variety ‘Know Their Lines’ video published on 8 October, the actor looked back on the whiplash of landing the role of Shaggy in the early-2000s live-action films, then watching the momentum fade.
“It was right about this time, after the second movie, that my career took a real nosedive for a long time,” Lillard said, reflecting on the period after 2004’s Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
He added that he blamed the films for his lack of work at the time: “It’s Scooby Doo’s fault. That’s why I’m not working.”
Matthew Lillard ‘resented’ Scooby-Doo
“I resented Scooby-Doo for a long time, but I never regretted doing it because the reality is that if I didn’t have the money I made in the second film, I wouldn’t have made it through,” he said.
Lillard then described the practical steps his family took when work slowed. “We sold our cars, we sold our house. We basically downsized our lives so that we could live in a very affordable way,” he said, adding: “And my wife went back to work.”
He also recalled the pressure he felt taking on Shaggy, calling it his “first big movie” and “a big opportunity”. The 2002 Scooby-Doo film earned $275million worldwide and has become a cult favourite in years since.
‘I was caught up in this drive to be quote-unquote famous’
Lillard said the period after the sequel was “a real humbling” moment, adding that he is now grateful for it.
“I was caught up in this drive to be quote-unquote famous,” he admitted, saying he eventually had to stop chasing the celebrity lifestyle in order to build back up his career as an actor.
Lillard also recently spoke about being compared to Paul Rudd earlier in his career, saying he still felt he was fighting for jobs even now.
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