Matthew Lillard has been in the acting game for decades, and depending on when you grew up, you mostly know him Hackers, shout, or Scooby-Doo (both live action and animation). He’s one of those fighters who seems to always be working, and to hear him tell it, that’s because he put in the work to become a reliable actor.
Business Insider recently did a spotlight on Lillard, where he reminisced about his career. After breaking out in the 1990s, he “got caught up in this quest for ‘popularity,’ and the success of what I was doing.” Critical and financial failure of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed made him think that he would “never work again,” and later promised to appear Dancing with the Stars, it made him realize that he “really wanted to be a great actor.” So he decided to reset his life by looking into non-acting businesses (like his liquor business) and teaching acting while taking roles that he felt would suit him better as an actor. When Shaggy wasn’t talking in the middle Scooby media, has spent the last ten years in supporting roles Pretty Girls, Twin Peaks, again Stop and Hold Fire.
But it was last year’s Blumhouse hit Five nights at Freddy’s that’s a lot of attention, especially for younger audiences. Lillard admitted to Business Insider that he wasn’t sure what to make of his role as William Afton at first, as the original scripts only gave him “two lines.” He called it “the role of faith”, and it was only after director Emma Tammi told him that Afton would be part of a planned trilogy that he really got the picture. He, along with leading man Josh Hutcherson, are both returning for the sequel due out in December 2025.
Besides, Lillard will be seen again next year Chuck’s life from Mike Flanagan. But so what Shout out, which brought back the surviving characters (and some that didn’t) in its new bases? He also told Business Insider that he would step back if the conversation arose, then told GamesRadar that the franchise is “in a really good place.” His feelings about violence aside—to him, Ghostface shouldn’t have pulled a gun shout 6—he said he hopes director Kevin Williamson (who wrote the first and fourth films) will take over Shout out 7 “in a brand new, bold, and exciting way so that we can experience different colors and different joys.”
Looking for more io9 news? Check out when you can expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe in film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
