Matthew Lillard is an American actor, director, and producer, who has been in a host of movies, most notable of which are “Serial Mom”, “Hackers”, “Scream”, “SLC Punk!”, “She’s All That”, “Summer Catch”, and “Scooby-Doo”.
While he has done very well for himself in all the movies that he has appeared in, the role of Shaggy in “Scooby-Doo” is his longest-running and most successful role, especially in the animated versions.
Lillard is the definition of a person who loves his work so much that he works for the joy he gets rather than for the money, as he once revealed. His most loved role, to this day, is his recurring role as Shaggy, which he has held on to since he took over from former actor Casey Kasem.
Top 10 facts about Matthew Lillard Scooby-Doo
- Matthew Lillard was born on the 24th of January, 1970, and he is 51 years old in 2021.
- Matthew Lyn Lillard has been active in Hollywood since 1990.
- Lillard is married to Heather Helm, and the couple has three children.
- Lillard appeared in two Scooby-Doo live-action films, “Scooby-Doo: The Movie” (2002) and “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” (2004).
- In 2009, Matthew Lillard took over from Casey Kasem as the voice of Shaggy.
- Matthew Lillard is six foot four inches tall.
- Lillard attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California.
- Lillard’s parents own a medical company.
- Matthew Lillard fell in love with acting after taking an acting class when he was young.
- Lillard is currently worth 2 million dollars.
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Early life
The actor was born Matthew Lyn Lillard in Lansing, Michigan, to Paula and Jeffery Lillard, owners of a medical company.
Lillard has one younger sister named Amy Lillard, and he attended Foothill High School in Tustin, California, before going to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California. In school, Lillard was voted the class clown. He loved to play with action figures, but it was an acting class that convinced him that acting was for him.
Career
After making up his mind, Lillard relentlessly pursued his dream. On leaving high school, he snagged his first role as an uncredited extra on the movie “Ghoulies III”.
This role, though uncredited, included one spoken line in the film, which then helped him get his foot through the door. That single line in the movie got him a Screen Actors Guild card, which then helped him to get a film agent, which was incredibly important if he wanted to bag more roles in the future.
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Lilliard also moved to New York to attend Circle in the Sky Theater School. While he lived in New York, he worked odd jobs and slept on his friend’s floors to keep his dream alive.
It was not all bad, though, as Lillard also got the opportunity to perform on Broadway. He got a hosting job on Nickelodeon’s “SK8TV”, where he worked as co-host with skater Grand Master Tate.
About his role on the show, Lillard has said his presence there was to be the ‘all American boy’ to cater to the mothers of the children who watched the skating pros on the show.
Movies, TV shows, and “Shaggy” role
In 1994, Lillard was cast in the film “Serial Moms”. One interesting fact is that he nabbed this role after what was only his third ever film audition. The following year, he was cast in five films, including “Hackers”, “Tarantella”, and “Animal Room”.
In 1996, he was cast as Stu in the horror movie “Scream”, and his improvised lines are still used in conversations today. After his performance, he received many accolades, with the press calling him one of Hollywood’s newest talents.
Following that, he played one of his most critically acclaimed characters yet as Stevo in “SLC Punk!”.
Then, Matthew Lillard’s journey with the character Shaggy started when he was cast in the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo movie. He later reprised his role in the sequel “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”.
When Casey Kasem, who voiced the character of Shaggy from the show’s debut in 1969, stepped down due to health concerns, Matthew Lillard was hired for the role. He was the voice of Scooby’s sidekick Shaggy in “Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated”, “Scooby-Doo Zombie Island”, and “Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost”.
Subsequently, he has voiced Shaggy in every Scooby-Doo animated series since 2010. In 2020, however, he did not voice Shaggy in Warner Bros. live adaptation “Scoob!” and took to Twitter to express his disappointment, writing:
“Well, this sucks. What a crappy way to find out…. thanks Hollywood. You never cease to amaze me.”
In 2011, Lillard produced and directed his first feature movie “Fat Kid Rules the World”, he also guest-starred in the hit show “House” in the same year.
Later in 2011, he appeared in the critically acclaimed movie “The Descendants”, alongside George Clooney and Shailene Woodley. In 2018, he began appearing on the NBC series “Good Girls”.
Matthew Lillard has won several awards for his acting as well as his directing and production. Here are some notable ones:
In 1999, he won the award for the best actor at the Mar Del Plata Film festival for his role in SLC Punks!. His movie, “Fat Kid Rules the World”, was chosen as the narrative spotlight at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival.
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Matthew Lillard has also been nominated for Choice Movie Actor at the Teen Choice Awards for “Scooby-Doo: The Movie”, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards for “The Descendants”, and Best Ensemble at the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, also for “The Descendants”.
Lillard has also lent his voice to a host of video games, his first being in 2012 when he voiced A.J. Rollins in “Sled Storm”. After that, he voiced Shaggy in a host of other Scooby-Doo video games, as well as a cross-over Lego video game that was released in 2015.
Mostly though, Lillard prefers to work on independent films, saying, “I think the end goal in Hollywood is to create your own opportunities and to do the kind of work you really love.”
Net worth
Matthew Lillard has worked for many years as an actor, then a producer, voice actor, and director. In addition to all this, he definitely has some investments here and there as well as some personal projects.
In May 2012, Lillard participated in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, in which, as the name implied, Reddit users could ask him any question that he would answer.
One user asked about his net worth, to which Lillard replied frankly, “I have three kids and a moderate size house. I do what I love, I’m proud of my life, I wouldn’t change it… but I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination.”
In fact, he disclosed that he was paid only $1600 for one week on the critically acclaimed film “The Descendants”, which also starred George Clooney. Matthew Lillard is worth 2 million dollars, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Personal life
Heather Helm (wife)
Matthew Lillard and Heather Helm met at a friend’s party in 1998, and although Helm did not think much of it, Lillard already knew he wanted to travel around the world in order to be with her—how romantic!
At the party, Helm mentioned that she was going to Italy for a friend’s wedding, and Lillard decided to go too and thus began their adventure.
Two years later, in 2000, the couple were married, and they now have three children: Addison Grace, who was born on the 13th of June, 2002; Macey Lyn, who was born on the 19th of October, 2004; and the last of the Matthew Lillard children, Liam, who was born in April 2008.
On how he proposed to his wife, Lillard said, “I had made up this whole book of our past year together, on every page I’d written or drawn something and on the last page I had attached the engagement ring.”
Hobbies
Matthew Lillard is a big fan of games, and as such, he is an avid gamer. In October 2005, he participated in a “Dungeons and Dragons” tournament, which took place at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California.
Lillard has also played the same game with the online series “Dice, Camera Action”, with actor, Christopher Perkins acting as the Dungeon Master.
Lillard is also currently working on a book about the world of acting from his perspective. He is also interviewing other actors he has worked with for the book, although it is unclear when the book is due to be released.
Matthew Lillard social media
Matthew Lillard is very active on social media where he shares details of his work, the causes he believes in, and his adorable family.
On Instagram, he has a healthy following of 276 thousand people, while on Twitter, he has a slightly larger amount of followers, going up to over 300 thousand followers. You can find him on both Instagram and Twitter with the username MatthewLillard.
Conclusion
Just like many of his peers in Hollywood, Matthew Lillard identified his love for acting very quickly and gave it everything, doing whatever it took to chase his dreams.
Fortunately, he was rewarded for this tenacity, taking on the role of Shaggy in the beloved “Scooby Doo” films and amassing a host of fans in the process. What’s more, he seems to have won in every area, boasting a tight-knit family with three children and a wife who adore him as much as he loves his career.
Although, he is often considered one of the more underrated actors in Hollywood, it is good to know that Lillard is thoroughly enjoying his time on the acting stage, at least.
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Interesting
Hardly saw him in other movies. it ould be awkward seeing him in them though