Film

The Actor Who Played Shaggy In ‘Scooby Doo” Had A Bad Day, So The Internet Rallied Around Him

In this house, we don't allow the man who played Shaggy to ever be sad.

by Michelle Rennex  24 February 2020
matthew lillard shaggy range self esteem

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Matthew Lillard is most well-known for his role as Shaggy in the live-action film, Scooby-Doo. 

But over the years, Matthew Lillard has also shown that he can very convincingly play a number of different characters on screen. In Scream, Matt tricked audiences into thinking that he was just another goofball before the big twist revealed that he was actually one of the main murderers.

In THIR13EN Ghosts, Matthew played a headstrong ghost-hunting psychic who ends up sacrificing himself by the end of the film. And most recently, Matthew has taken on the role of the equally annoying and clueless Dean Boland in Netflix’s Good Girls. 

And thanks to the new “no one has this range” meme, people are finally giving Matthew Lillard the recognition he deserves. The meme is used to highlight the industry’s most talented actors and their ability to play a wide range of roles. So it’s only natural that Matthew was involved in the conversation.

Upon finding out that people thought so highly of him, Matt tweeted out his appreciation. “Y’all. Thank you for taking a small moment to shout this,” he said. “It’s kind. It’s humbling. It’s appreciated.”

But as people continued to praise Matt, his responses quickly became sadder and sadder. One person commented “you’re a God in the movie world” to which Matthew simply responded “I am not.” Another shared that the actor inspires her “endlessly” but Matthew refused the compliment, saying: “There are others more worth of your attention. I promise.”

In the saddest response of all, as someone told Matthew he deserved the praise, he responded: “I don’t feel as if I do.”

After @INDIEWASHERE noticed Matthew speaking so poorly about himself, she complied his responses into a tweet. “Idk Shaggy from Scooby-Doo aka Matthew Lillard having low self-esteem is making me cry in the club rn,” she said. “Catch this love and affection my dude.”

The tweet inspired people to start making sure that everyone’s favourite Scooby-Doo character knew he was loved and appreciated. So under Matt’s thank you tweet, people started sharing their other favourite characters of his. Remembering some lesser known roles like his stint as Chet in Law and Order: SVU, Stevo in SLC Punk!, and Cereal in Hackers, people tried to let Matthew Lillard know that he has some real fans out here.

As people begged Matthew to give himself the credit he deserves, he still took the moment to focus on his fans over himself. But people still persisted, and declared their love for the man who played Shaggy, an actor and role just as important as Robert Downey Jr playing Iron Man.

In a last-ditch effort for Matthew Lillard to start loving himself, @girlfl3sh even made a fancam with all of his best moments.

In the end, the plan worked. After someone requested that Matthew stopped underplaying his own talents, he did. “Stop it right now, you are so inspiring and we love you so much,” @slashergirl tweeted.

“Stopping. Going to bed, Thank you all for the goodness,” Matthew Lillard once again thanked his fans. “Makes me feel warm and gushy on the inside bits.”