With 20 years behind him and the franchise, Freddie Prinze Jr. opens up about why he quit starring in the Scooby-Doo movies. Prinze Jr. starred in the live-action adaptations of the iconic Hanna-Barbera cartoon as Fred, the de facto leader of the central group of mystery solvers Mystery Inc., well-known for his bravado and his devising of plans to capture whatever perpetrator is at the heart of the mystery. Joined by Matthew Lillard, real wife Sarah Michelle Gellar and Linda Cardellini, the Scooby-Doo movies scored generally mixed-to-negative reviews at the time of their releases, but were box office successes.
In a recent profile piece with Esquire, Freddie Prinze Jr. reflected on his long-standing career in the film and TV industries. When asked about the Scooby-Doo movie franchise, the Fred actor recalled his frustrations working on the live-action projects, namely the changes in scripts, but explained why he quit the series, citing a difference in pay between him and his costars, which saw him take a pay cut in the sequel to allow his costars to get a raise. See what Prinze Jr. shared below:
I remember thinking, ‘Hold up, who's giving them the raise? Me or y'all?’ Like we made you guys three-quarters of a billion dollars, you can't afford to pay them what I'm making on this? Screw that. My ego was so angry.
How The Scooby-Doo Movies Became Cult Favorites
Though he once held negative feelings surrounding the franchise, Prinze Jr. did go on to share his retrospective appreciation for the Scooby-Doo movies, which largely came from fans approaching him about them, which gave him a "more accurate perspective on what that movie meant to people." Critics were fairly strong in their negative reviews across both films, but the years have treated them far better among audiences, with the majority of the praise directed towards its central cast's performances. Working off of scripts from now-DC Studios head James Gunn, Prinze Jr. and his cohorts were able to bring subversive takes on their Mystery Inc. characters while also paying tribute to their iconic animated counterparts.
The following behind the Scooby-Doo movies also worked in Matthew Lillard's favor, with the actor going from scoring widespread acclaim for his turn as Shaggy and carrying it over into the animated field. Taking over from original actor Casey Kasem following his 2009 retirement, Lillard has become the main Shaggy voice actor for the various TV shows and straight-to-video films for the past decade, replaced only by Will Forte for the poorly received animated movie reboot Scoob! and Sam Richardson in the upcoming Velma HBO Max show. Though Gellar, Cardellini and Prinze Jr. wouldn't follow in his footsteps, their portrayals of their Scooby-Doo characters have nonetheless remained close to many audiences' hearts.
Why Now Is The Perfect Time For Scooby-Doo 3
While Warner Bros. may have initially scrapped a third film following the second's underperformance, there are a variety of factors that make now the perfect time to get the gang back together for a potential Scooby-Doo 3. Thanks to Netflix's Christmas With You and Paramount+'s Wolf Pack series, both Prinze Jr. and Gellar have begun getting their feet back into the acting field, while Lillard has remained close to the Scooby-Doo universe for the past 20 years, and Gunn is now a major figurehead at WB, giving them all the prime opportunity to reunite and deliver an adventure more in line with Gunn's original vision, and offering fans more of what they came to love from the first two movies. In the meantime, audiences can keep their fingers crossed by revisiting the original Scooby-Doo movies streaming on HBO Max and Netflix.
Source: Esquire