Matthew Lillard, 56, says the audiences who turn up for him haven’t translated into Hollywood seeing him as a leading man. Asked by Tommy DiDario on the I’ve Never Said This Before podcast whether he feels valued by the industry, he answered: “No. Not really.”
He said colleagues who’ve worked with him understand what he brings, but casting decision-makers struggle to place an actor who can be quirky, funny and energetic while also doing drama.
“They sort of want to be able to put you in a bubble, right? Or pigeonhole you. I’ve never fit in that little, perfect bubble,” Lillard said. “But they felt they could replace me. I still fight for jobs now.”
His career includes Stu Macher in 1996’s Scream, Shaggy in 2002’s Scooby-Doo and its 2004 sequel, Monsters Unleashed, and William Afton in 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, which brought him a new generation of fans. He’s also appeared in The Life of Chuck and plays a school principal in Carrie.
Lillard pointed to the long lines he draws at conventions as evidence of his appeal. “I’m in these great movies, but nobody ever equates me with greatness. They equate somebody else with greatness,” he said.
He’s wondered why that popularity and his acting ability never earned him the chance to lead a $20 million movie. In his view, the obstacle was that Hollywood couldn’t picture him in that position.
That frustration once fed a constant comparison with Paul Rudd, whom he lived with for 2 years. Lillard said he felt overshadowed by Rudd regardless of his own success, and his competitive nature made it difficult to accept where his career stood.
He says he’s since made peace with it and is grateful for the work he’s had. As he put it, he’s “not complaining at all.”
