Matthew Lillard became an icon for a new generation of Scooby-Doo fans with his performances in the live-action films Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Eventually, he would even voice the animated version of the character, taking over for the late Casey Kasem. Now Matthew Lillard is teasing his next Scooby-Doo project as the voice of Shaggy.
Matthew Lillard spoke in a new interview about his role in the upcoming Scooby-Doo project. At this time, however, he couldn’t reveal very many details. Apparently the project is being kept under wraps. He did reveal, however, that it will “allow kids to put themselves into a Scooby-Doo adventure.”
Here’s what he shared in a new interview with CBM:
“I’m really excited about [Scooby-Doo]. I can’t really talk about it yet, but there’s a new project I’m associated with that will allow kids to put themselves into a Scooby-Doo adventure,” Lillard revealed. “That’s super fun. For me, that’s my day job. It’s my bread and butter.”
It’s unclear what exactly he’s referring to, but it does suggest that it could be some kind of interactive game – perhaps even one for virtual reality. Now that would certainly be a step forward for the brand. On that note, Lillard does insist that he plans on staying as the voice of Shaggy for as long as possible.
“For me, being Shaggy for so many years and holding space for that part while honouring Casey Kasem, I know eventually I’ll pass that part to the next generation as he did. I’m honoured to do that for as long as they’ll have me. Scooby-Doo is always in cycle in some capacity or another. We’re either doing a cartoon or a movie or a commercial for something.”
“There are a million different iterations of it and something is always in the works,” he added.
“I’ve had the privilege and honour of being that voice for the last 16 or 17 years, so I will hold on to that as long as I can.”
A number of actors have played the voice of Shaggy over the years, though Casey Kasem and Matthew Lillard are no doubt the most popular. Lillard was recently replaced by Will Forte for the 2020 film Scoob!, though that project appears to now be a one-off scenario. Especially now that Lillard is back voicing the character for television, straight-to-video films, and whatever this new project will be.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the Scooby-Doo franchise as we have them. For now, it’ll be exciting to see what kind of Scooby-Doo project Matthew Lillard is currently working on and when we can expect to learn more about it.