From “Do you like horror movies?” to “Scooby, where are you?”, a race full of questions
At the end of the 90s and beginning of the century, Matthew Lillard was a secondary one of those that you were always grateful to see, crouching and waiting for his big opportunity. Based on grimaces, histrionics and a very peculiar facial expression he managed to climb the ladder in Hollywood working with Wes Craven and John Waters. However, little by little he became lost in the fog of age, although he continues to work more or less constantly. And what happened to him? What happened to Matthew Lillard?
Do you like horror films?
Matthew Lyn Lillard was born on January 24, 1970 (that is, he is now 54 years old) in Michigan, to working-class parents. In fact, he spent his childhood in Tustin, a small California city of just over 80,000 people where Cuba Gooding Jr or, in fiction, John Locke (yes, the one from ‘Lost’) also grew up. His life was going to be normal and ordinary, until acting knocked on his door. Literally.
The same summer he graduated from high school They signed him as an extra for the movie ‘Ghoulies III: The Ghoulies Go to University’, a direct-to-video hoax that betrayed the spirit of the saga by giving the bugs the ability to speak. In the credits, playing Stork, our hero was listed as “Matthew Lynn.” Before the tape was released, landed a job hosting a show for Nickelodeon titled ‘SK8-TV’.
‘SK8-TV’ is one of those things that could only happen in the 90s: it was a show based exclusively on doing tricks with the skateboard and which aired from July to September 1990. By then, Lillard had already decided his future: he would study drama in Pasadena, in the same class as – curiously – Paul Rudd. Lillard He set up his own improvised theater group, studied in New York and, finally, he got his big break at the hands of an underground director somewhat tamed by the industry: John Waters.
Between murders the game goes
In 1994, Lillard landed his first major role in ‘The Mom Murders’, where he played Kathleen Turner’s son. They say that when he arrived on set, The first thing he saw was that she had memorized all the team’s names.. When he asked why, Turner responded “Oh, honey, that’s the first thing you have to do!”.
His career started strong, and In 1995 he already released five minor films that those nostalgic for the time may remember, such as ‘Crazy love’ or ‘Hackers, computer pirates’. Little by little he carved out a role until it was time for his rise to fame thanks to Wes Craven and a meta-cinema film titled ‘Scream’. The curious thing is that he got the role of Stu by chance, while accompanying his girlfriend at the time to the audition for another film in the same building: The casting director saw him and asked him to try his luck.. She got it right away.
The shame is that, for obvious reasons, they couldn’t continue using him in the franchise… although there are those who rumor that one day it will be revealed that his character survived and He has been scheming in the shadows all these years, especially after making a cameo as an extra in ‘Scream 2’. Little by little, the roles in blockbusters accumulated and he was able to leave his role as a university party boy: ‘Wing Commander’, ‘Someone Like You’ or ’13 Ghosts’ They paid the bills until it was their time to revolutionize (or massacre, depending on who you ask) a mythical saga.
Where are you?
When ‘Scooby-Doo’ was released in 2002, Lillard (perfect casting, by the way) I didn’t know I’d end up playing Shaggy for years and years.. And critics hated the film scripted by a young James Gunn, but praised his performance. In fact, the actor also hated the film until he saw that it could open doors for him in Hollywood and he began to embrace it with passion. In fact, he repeated it with the entire cast in the second part, also written by Gunn.
Since then, his status was not very clear in Hollywood: He was famous enough to be in Muppet movies or make cameos with the Looney Tunes, but his filmography was beginning to suffer and he needed good films. Little by little his star faded, and appeared in titles by Uwe Boll (‘In the name of the king’) or in surf exploitations (‘Surf Party’). At 40 years old, Lillard was already on to something else.
I don’t know if it was because of the midlife crisis, but In 2010 he accepted a role that would change his life forever: being the voice of Shaggy in everything – literally – that is done in the ‘Scooby-Doo’ franchise. So far he has appeared in 26 films, eight specials and more than 150 episodes of different mystery-solving dog series. And frankly, it doesn’t seem like he regrets it at all. In the end, It’s like having a job as an artistic civil servant which leaves you time to participate in the projects you want without worrying about money.
In the last decade (more or less) he has had time to direct a film (‘Fat kid rules the world’) and appear in films like ‘The Descendants’ and series like ‘The Bridge’, ‘The Good Wife’, ‘ Bosch’, ‘Halt and catch fire’ or ‘Good Girls’. Last year, in fact, He once again got one of those roles that an entire generation will remember in ‘Five nights at Freddy’s’. The public may have lost sight of him, but Matthew Lillard is very clear about where he is.
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