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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Matthew Lillard starred as Shaggy in two "Scooby-Doo" movies, but Warner Bros. scrapped its sequel plans.</li><li>With his career on a downturn, he considered accepting an offer to join "Dancing with the Stars."</li></ul>Matthew Lillard almost went on "Dancing with the Stars," but his decision to turn it down marked a major turning point in his career.In a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matthew-lillard-movie-and-tv-roles-shaggy-scream-2024-10">recent interview</a> with Business Insider, Lillard opened up about his decades in Hollywood and some of his most iconic roles — including Shaggy in Warner Bros.' live-action <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-scooby-doo-stars-where-are-they-now">"Scooby-Doo"</a> franchise, which both propelled him to wider recognition and derailed his career."I thought I'd be No. 1 on the call sheet for the next 10 years of movies," Lillard told BI of his expectations at the time. "And the reality was the exact opposite happened."According to Lillard, quality work dried up for him after 2004's "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" underperformed in theaters, leading WB to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/freddie-prinze-jr-has-zero-interest-in-third-scooby-doo-2023-3">scrap plans for a third film</a>. Eventually, his team presented him with an offer to appear on "Dancing with the Stars," the long-running ABC reality competition series where celebrities compete for the Mirror Ball trophy.<div type="image" title="Matthew Lillard on the red carpet at TIFF 2024" height="1500" width="2000" msid="114992817" hostid="261" sizebytes="141468"></div>He considered accepting but ultimately didn't because he worried about how it would impact his career."I was going to do <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dancing-with-the-stars-pros-most-wins-then-and-now">'Dancing with the Stars.'</a> And I was like, if I do 'Dancing with the Stars,' I'll never win an Academy Award," Lillard recalled. "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 turning down the "DWTS" offer, Lillard decided to get rid of his whole team and went back to his first agent to prioritize his acting career: "I said, 'I just want to be an actor. I just want to be in movies. I want to reset my expectations.'"Lillard's reset, which included <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/minimalism-sold-my-home-possessions-stuff-downsized-simplify-life-2023-3">downsizing</a> his family's home, selling their expensive cars, and going back to teaching acting, ultimately paid off.His resurgence in recent years has included broadening his income streams by founding his own spirits company, Find Familiar Spirits. The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scream-movies-cast-then-and-now-photos">"Scream" star</a> also received attention for returning to his horror roots as the villainous William Afton in Universal's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/five-nights-at-freddys-cast-vs-video-game-characters-photos-2023-10">"Five Nights at Freddy's" adaptation</a>, which was a surprise hit at the box office in 2023.He'll next appear in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-flanagan-netflix-shows-ranked">Mike Flanagan</a>'s buzzy upcoming film "The Life of Chuck," scheduled for release in spring 2025.

Matthew Lillard turned down 'Dancing with the Stars' because he worried it would ruin his chances of someday winning an Oscar

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Matthew Lillard had his biggest payday ever for "Scooby-Doo 2," but the movie flopped.</li><li>The movie's reception altered the trajectory of his career and prompted him to do a total reset.</li></ul>In the mid-2000s, Matthew Lillard's career had reached new heights.He was starring in a Warner Bros. franchise based on beloved IP —<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-scooby-doo-stars-where-are-they-now">Scooby-Doo</a> — and had just wrapped the sequel, netting him his biggest payday yet. He and his family lived in a big house and drove expensive cars. He'd finally made it."I thought I'd be No. 1 on the call sheet for the next 10 years of movies," Lillard told Business Insider. "And the reality was the exact opposite happened."The movie that gave him the big payday, "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed," ended up being a critical flop that underperformed at the box office, prompting Warner Bros. to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/freddie-prinze-jr-has-zero-interest-in-third-scooby-doo-2023-3">cancel its plans for a third film</a>. Suddenly, Lillard's plans for his future were canceled, too.Instead of his career and his paychecks growing exponentially, a yearslong pause and some downsizing ensued. It took that reckoning and many years of reflection for Lillard to rethink how he views happiness and success.Fast forward two decades, and Lillard is happier than ever. He's still acting, and is returning for the sequel to the box-office smash <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/five-nights-at-freddys-cast-vs-video-game-characters-photos-2023-10">"Five Nights At Freddy's."</a> He's also branched out into business, filling his cup by running his own spirits company, Find Familiar Spirits."One of the great moments in my life is understanding that I have power outside of just being an actor," Lillard said. "That, to me, has been way more satisfying than getting a part in a movie."<h2 id="39f76aa9-519c-4748-8241-2b8e818dc827">Lillard recalibrated his career when job offers dried up after 'Scooby-Doo 2'</h2><div type="image" title="matthew lillard as shaggy" height="1599" width="2132" msid="114826116" hostid="261" sizebytes="131052"></div>Before "Scooby-Doo," Lillard's career had been a mixed bag.After his breakthrough in John Waters' 1994 black comedy "Serial Mom," about a housewife who's secretly a serial killer, he gained indie credibility with leading roles in movies like 1998's "SLC Punk!" and rose to prominence in bigger studio films like the first "Scream" movie and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shes-all-that-cast-then-and-now-photos-2019-1">"She's All That."</a>Back then, he was still sensitive to the public's feedback: He was reading all the (often not great) reviews, and even stopping by movie theaters to see if anyone would recognize him."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 recalled.But his early career disappointments didn't upend him in the way the response to "Scooby-Doo 2" did. As an actor then in his mid-30s, it was time to find his niche as a character actor or become a leading man. The movie's failure underscored that he had done neither.While Lillard continued to work, voicing Shaggy in new "Scooby-Doo" animated projects and even making his own directorial debut with the 2012 coming-of-age drama "Fat Kid Rules the World," it wasn't the career he expected or one that was giving him joy.That feeling crystallized when his team brought him an offer to appear on a popular reality competition series where acting careers go to die."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 recalled. "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."So he decided to get rid of his whole team and went back to his first agent: "I said, 'I just want to be an actor. I just want to be in movies. I want to reset my expectations.'"The reset was wholesale. In addition to Lillard getting rid of his family's fancy cars and downsizing to a smaller home, Lillard's wife went back to work, and Lillard went back to teaching acting."I went back to looking for other things in my life other than just acting," Lillard said. That in turn led him to his latest venture.<h2 id="a32247ca-58c3-4cff-9b71-9c6c74728bd4">Lillard's liquor company Find Familiar Spirits is geared toward his favorite fandoms</h2>Lillard's pivot into the spirits industry started about two years ago, when he cofounded his liquor company Find Familiar Spirits, which uses some of his favorite fandoms as inspiration for high-end liquor products.An avid tabletop gamer, Lillard made his first launch, Quest's End, a line of whiskeys inspired by Dungeons &amp; Dragons. The company's second brand, Macabre Spirits, launched this month with a tequila reposado geared toward another community near and dear to Lillard's heart: horror fans. He even teamed with "The Haunting of Hill House" and "Midnight Mass" creator <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-flanagan-netflix-shows-ranked">Mike Flanagan</a> for the launch; each bottle of Macabre comes with a horror novella written by Flanagan."It's an homage and a love letter to sort of a gothic sense of storytelling," Lillard said.Lillard's collaboration with Flanagan has been fruitful on multiple levels. Just as Flanagan popped up in Lillard's liquor project, Lillard will soon play a small but significant role in one of Flanagan's movies, "The Life of Chuck." The movie, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, won the festival's People's Choice Award and will be released in spring 2025.<h2 id="30561c8c-6c8d-4b03-94b7-6d41dc56b27b">Lillard has several big movie projects lined up — and he's not ruling out a 'Scream' return</h2><div type="image" title="Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher and Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis." height="1358" width="2438" msid="114826118" hostid="261" sizebytes="61284"></div>After finding a niche in horror movies, Lillard is now in something of a<a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/matthew-lillard-five-nights-at-freddys-dungeons-dragons-freevee-series-1235644432/"> renaissance era</a>.He's back to filming the sequel to the wildly successful 2023 horror movie "Five Nights at Freddy's," which banked $297.1 million on a $20 million budget. Based on the video game franchise of the same name, Lillard plays William Afton, the villain at the center of the story.The first movie's success catapulted him back into the spotlight, though ironically, Lillard had no idea how big the movie would end up being and described taking the role as a leap of faith."In the original script I think I had two lines," recalled Lillard, who was courted by director Emma Tammi for the part. He wasn't even initially sure why she wanted him in it, until Tammi explained that the story was conceived as a trilogy of movies, and his character would become increasingly important as the series went on. The sequel is due out next year.Lillard also hasn't closed the door on a return to another iconic horror franchise — <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scream-ghostface-all-killers-so-far">"Scream."</a>Though his character Stu Macher died at the end of the first film, which was released in 1996, fans have been clamoring for Lillard's return and devising theories that could explain how his character is still alive.Lillard insists that he's not set to be in the seventh movie in the franchise, which is set to start filming in January, though he's open to the idea that Stu didn't die after all. That said, he's wary of ruining the character's legacy and would only return if it's done right."It's not something I consider. If they come to me then it'll be a conversation. We never had the conversation," he clarified.With so much on the horizon, it's hard for Lillard not to reflect on how far he's come since he started his career at 22."I've gone through good patches and bad patches. I've been irrelevant and thought I was never going to work again," he said."I've been at all aspects of the career, and I love where I'm at right this second."

Matthew Lillard's career ground to a halt after 'Scooby-Doo 2' flopped: 'I thought I was never going to work again'

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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Drew Barrymore recently said that she'd like to return as Casey Becker in a future "Scream" movie.</li><li>The character was killed in the iconic opening to 1996's "Scream."</li></ul>The <a href="https://www.insider.com/scream-movies-cool-facts-you-may-not-know-2021-10">"Scream" movies</a> are all packed with shocking twists and <a href="https://www.insider.com/scream-ghostface-all-killers-so-far">jaw-dropping Ghostface reveals</a>, but the franchise set the tone for itself when Casey Becker (<a href="https://www.insider.com/drew-barrymore-intimate-interviewing-style-talk-show-2023-4">Drew Barrymore</a>) was brutally slaughtered within the first few minutes of the very first movie.In the iconic scene, Ghostface stabbed Barrymore's character several times before hanging her from a tree with her insides on the outside. Yikes.So, horror fans were surprised when <a href="https://ew.com/movies/drew-barrymore-says-scream-character-may-have-survived-sequel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barrymore herself recently suggested</a> that she could return to play Casey in a future "Scream" sequel.Speaking to Insider, <a href="https://www.insider.com/scream-6-easter-eggs-references-callbacks-you-missed-2023-3">"Scream 6"</a> writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick shared their thoughts on the idea."I don't even want to," said Vanderbilt. "Listen, her liver was in the mailbox. Didn't they find her liver in the mailbox? I'm not a medical doctor but, you know."Busick reacted by reciting Stu Macher's (Matthew Lillard) joke from the first film, "Liver alone.""Look, one word: Cyborg," he added. "See, this is why we work together," replied Vanderbilt.Vanderbilt went on to recall that Barrymore actually introduced herself to "Scream 6" star Jack Champion — who plays Ethan Landry in the movie — at the premiere of the sequel."I will say, when we were in New York for the premiere of the movie, she came and was shooting something for her show and ran into Jack Champion in the lobby and turned to him and goes, 'I'm Casey Becker,'" the writer said. "And he was like, 'Oh, my God!' because he's such a 'Scream' fan, you know. She's incredible."A potential Casey Becker return aside, the duo remained tight-lipped about the future of the franchise and what they're cooking up for a potential "Scream 7.""We've already said too much with Cyborg Casey Becker," joked Busick."Scream 6" is available to download and keep on video-on-demand now, and is available on DVD and Blu-ray from July 10.

'Scream 6' writers tease that Drew Barrymore's Casey Becker could return as a cyborg

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Scooby-Doo" star Freddie Prinze Jr. told Esquire he was asked to take a pay cut for the sequel.</li><li>He said that Warner Bros. asked him to take the cut after his costars asked for a raise.</li></ul>Freddie Prinze Jr. said that he felt "so angry" when Warner Bros. asked him to take a pay cut for 2004's "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" in order for his costars to receive a raise.Prinze Jr. starred in the two early-2000s "Scooby-Doo" live-action films <a href="https://www.insider.com/photos-scooby-doo-stars-where-are-they-now">alongside his wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, and Matthew Lillard.</a><a href="https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a42028421/freddie-prinze-jr-christmas-with-you/">In a new interview with Esquire</a>, Prinze Jr. shared his frustrations about filming the franchise, including being asked to take a pay cut.The actor told Esquire that after the first film, released in 2002, was successful, he was asked to take a pay cut because the rest of the cast wanted a raise for the second film."I remember thinking, 'Hold up, who's giving them the raise? Me or y'all?'" he said. "Like, we made you guys three-quarters of a billion dollars, you can't afford to pay them what I'm making on this? Screw that."According to Prinze Jr., the studio allegedly released his salary in a magazine to persuade him to take the pay cut. He said this made him want to quit the franchise after the second film."My ego was so angry," he said.<div type="image" title="Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and Velma in a scene from the 2002 live-action &quot;Scooby-Doo&quot; film." height="1249" width="1666" msid="95768130" hostid="261" sizebytes="71814"></div>Insider has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment.Prinze Jr. told Esquire that he later started to appreciate the "Scooby-Doo" franchise when he saw fans' appreciation of the movies on social media."All these people that had grown up loving those movies started reaching out," he said. "And then I got what I felt was a more accurate perspective on what that movie meant to people because I was no longer viewing it through the lenses of the studio."Prinze Jr. mentioned that his other frustration with the first "Scooby-Doo" movie was that the end product was not the script he signed up for.While the actor didn't go into details about what changes were made, the writer behind the two films, James Gunn, said last year <a href="https://www.insider.com/james-gunn-warner-bros-watered-down-velma-gay-scooby-doo-2020-7">that he made plans to make Velma "explicitly gay" in his script but Warner Bros. played down her queerness.</a>"In 2001, Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script," Gunn wrote last year in a since-deleted tweet. "But the studio just kept watering it down and watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version), and finally having a boyfriend (the sequel)."

Freddie Prinze Jr. says he was 'so angry' that he was asked to take a pay cut for 'Scooby-Doo 2' so his costars could get a raise

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="1752808" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Guardians-of-the-Galaxy">Guardians of the Galaxy</keyword>" director <keyword id="2077056" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="James-Gunn">James Gunn</keyword> tweeted that he originally tried to make Velma gay in the 2002 live-action "Scooby-Doo" movie but <keyword id="14846" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Warner-Bros-">Warner Bros.</keyword> wouldn't let him.</li><li>Gunn, who wrote the film and its 2004 sequel, tweeted: "In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script." </li><li>"But the studio just kept watering it down and watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version), and finally having a boyfriend (the sequel)," Gunn wrote.</li></ul>James Gunn, who wrote the live-action 2002 "Scooby-Doo" movie and its 2004 sequel, said that Warner Bros. wouldn't let him make Velma gay in either film.A fan tweeted the "Guardians of the Galaxy" director on Monday asking him to "make our live-action lesbian Velma dreams come true."Gunn replied, confirming that it was his plan to make Velma "explicitly gay" in his "Scooby-Doo" script, but Warner Bros. resisted his attempts and slowly got rid of all mentions of Velma's queerness.Gunn wrote: "I tried! In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script. But the studio just kept watering it down and watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version), and finally having a boyfriend (the sequel)."Insider has contacted Warner Bros. for comment.The films starred Linda Cardellini as Velma, while Matthew Lillard played Shaggy, Freddie Prinze Jr. played Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar played Daphne, and Neil Fanning voiced Scooby. Rowan Atkinson played the first movie's villain."Scooby-Doo" was met with negative reviews, and currently has a <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1112357-scoobydoo">Rotten Tomatoes score of 30%</a> with the critical consensus reading: "Though Lillard is uncannily spot-on as Shaggy, Scooby-Doo is a tired live-action update, filled with lame jokes." However, the movie did gross a massive $275.7 million worldwide against an $84 million budget.The sequel fared even worse, however, with a <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/scooby_doo_2_monsters_unleashed">22% score on Rotten Tomatoes</a>. The critical consensus reads: "Only the very young will get the most out of this silly trifle." Against a budget between $25 million and $80 million, "Monsters Unleashed" grossed $181.5 million worldwide, $90 million less than its predecessor.The poor performance of the second movie resulted in the cancellation of a third movie, which <a href="https://movieweb.com/matthew-lillard-says-no-scooby-doo-3/">Gunn was set to direct as well as write.</a>The animated reboot of the franchise, "Scoob!" was originally set for a theatrical run, but was instead given a VOD release due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Scoob!" stars Gina Rodriguez as Velma, who isn't gay in the movie, Zac Efron as Fred, Amanda Seyfried as Daphne, and Will Forte as Shaggy.Gunn has gone to direct "Guardians of the Galaxy" and its sequel for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, two of the most acclaimed movies in the MCU. He was initially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-gunn-fired-from-guardians-of-the-galaxy-3-for-offensive-tweets-2018-7?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">fired by Disney for controversial tweets</a>, but was later <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-rehires-james-gunn-to-direct-guardians-of-the-galaxy-3-2019-3?r=US&amp;IR=T#:~:text=Disney%20has%20rehired%20James%20Gunn%20to%20write%20and%20direct%20%22Guardians,to%20Business%20Insider%20on%20Friday.&amp;text=The%20decision%20was%20met%20with,defense%20of%20Gunn%20in%20July.%20July.">rehired to direct a third "Guardians" movie</a>, while he is also helming DC's "The Suicide Squad."Read more:<a href="https://www.insider.com/roland-emmerich-watches-marvel-movies-to-fall-asleep-2019-10">The director of 'Independence Day' says he watches Marvel movies to fall asleep on planes</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/james-gunn-defends-marvel-movies-after-francis-ford-coppola-criticism-2019-10">'Guardians Of The Galaxy' director James Gunn defended superheroes as 'today's gangsters' after Francis Ford Coppola called Marvel movies 'despicable'</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/james-gunn-confirms-the-suicide-squad-cast-2019-9">James Gunn just confirmed a massive 24-person cast for his 'Suicide Squad' movie and he hints that not everyone's going to survive</a>

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