Matthew Lillard reflects on 'humbling' fall from stardom after 'Scooby-Doo'

The 'Scream' star says his career 'took a real nosedive,' forcing him and his wife to sell their house and car

Web Desk

Published October 09, 2026

Lillard, 56, famously played Shaggy in the live-action films

For a long time, Matthew Lillard blamed the Scooby-Doo movies for his career taking a “nosedive.”

In an interview with Variety published Thursday, October 8, the actor, 56, explained that he has a “love-hate relationship” with the franchise, noting he’s ultimately “grateful’ for the “humbling” experience.

“I felt a ton of pressure to not suck. It was the first big movie that I was in and it was a big opportunity for me,” Lillard reflected about the 2002 live-action film, where he played Shaggy. “And then I felt that now that Scooby-Doo is this big movie, I’m now going to go off and be a big movie star.”

However, things took a different turn after the second movie, Monsters Unleashed, was released in 2004. “It was right about this time, after the second movie, that my career took a real nosedive for a long time,” he recalled. “Like, I may be one of those guys from the ’90s that never comes back.”

The Scream star eventually realised the problem wasn’t Scooby-Doo, but that he was aging out of the young roles that had defined his career.

“I resented Scooby-Doo for a long time,” he admitted, though he “never regretted” the films. The money he earned helped him and his wife Heather Helm weather a difficult period when they sold their house and cars and downsized their lives.

Looking back, Lillard now sees the experience as a necessary reality check.

“I felt like before this movie, ‘I’m doing all these movies and I’m a big guy.’ The reality was I’m not,” he admitted. “I was always a character actor, and I thought I was more than that. There was like a real humbling of Matthew Lillard that happens right after this movie that now I’m so grateful for.”