- 2 minutes ago
Matthew Lillard almost regretted doing 'Scooby Doo,' had no clue 'Scream' would be anything other than another cheap horror film, and wants to be rememberd for 'SLC Punk.'
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00:00I have no idea how deep we're going.
00:02I hear you. I still quit.
00:03I resent this community for a long time.
00:05These are lines from my career.
00:12Oh yeah. Are we going?
00:14We're about to begin. I'm Matthew Lillard
00:16and this is the lines from my life.
00:18Hack the Planet. That's so easy.
00:21Hack the Planet's from Hackers.
00:22Hack the Planet!
00:24Hack the Planet!
00:25Look, Hackers is one of those movies that
00:28when the movie came out, I don't think it did great.
00:30I think this could be most of my career.
00:33In the moment,
00:34it doesn't really resonate.
00:35It sort of comes out flat
00:38and then over time
00:39that movie becomes this
00:41pop icon
00:44of a generation.
00:46So they put me on rollerblades
00:48at 6'4", that's a lot.
00:50And I just remember
00:51feeling really cool
00:54but then seeing the movie
00:56and realizing I looked really dopey
00:58and I don't really realize
01:00how tall I am
01:01but then when you put me in rollerblades
01:04and I'm taller than the Empire State Building
01:06I realized, oh, this is
01:08I do not look nearly as cool
01:10as I felt.
01:11It was a big movie for its time
01:13and it was the launch of Angelina Jolie
01:15and I think now more than ever
01:17this film needs a sequel.
01:20It's like so relevant
01:22right now to what's happening in the world
01:24in terms of our information
01:25and how it's being sold
01:26and how we are exposed online.
01:29What's up?
01:31That may be my favorite part of the interview.
01:34Houston, we have a problem here.
01:36Where's the gun, man?
01:38Oh, God.
01:40I think that that's an improv line.
01:42That's from the movie Scream.
01:45Houston, we have a problem here.
01:48You know, where do you start?
01:49One of the great things for me
01:50in that movie-making experience
01:53is that Wes and Kevin
01:54were super generous.
01:56They wanted as written, right?
01:58But then they wanted you to explore.
02:01They wanted you to hurl things
02:02and they liked those idiosyncratic beats.
02:06The filmmaking's changed so much
02:08over the last 30 years.
02:09It's really hard to remember
02:11like how slow it was,
02:13how labored it was,
02:14how long you had to shoot a movie.
02:15I mean, you'd be on the road
02:16three, four, five months.
02:18Now, for me, it's like a month and a half,
02:21two months maybe.
02:21I mean, that's the most.
02:23I think it's really important to know
02:24that nobody expected anything out of it, right?
02:28It was a Wes Craven film
02:30after he had had a bunch of runs of success
02:33and then not some successes, right?
02:35And I remember being in the back of the van
02:37on the way home one day
02:38and everyone's talking about what they're doing
02:39and Nev's going back to Party of Five
02:41and Courtney's going back to Friends.
02:43In the back of my mind, I'm like,
02:44well, I'm going to go back
02:45and this pilot's going to get picked up
02:47and I'm going to go off and do TV
02:49for the next three years
02:51and who cares about this stupid movie?
02:53And I do think, I was like,
02:55oh, it's like another horror movie.
02:57People have this expectation
02:59that Scream was this huge thing in the moment
03:02and it was, but when you're shooting it,
03:05nobody has any idea of where it's going to go
03:08or how it's, you know, Scream 7 just came out.
03:11Horror's been slagged off for so long
03:13as just a money grab in a lot of ways.
03:15Like, do a genre film, we'll make money,
03:17do it cheap, and, you know, we'll turn a profit.
03:21And I just think that what's happening now,
03:23a great example is Mike Flanagan's Carrie,
03:25which I'm in.
03:26I think that Mike Flanagan
03:27is an incredible storyteller and filmmaker.
03:30It has nothing to do with being a horror director.
03:32He's just an incredible storyteller.
03:35And I think that these, like, stigmas
03:38that have been placed on top of horror for so long
03:41are being shattered.
03:43Sometimes people call me cagey and quiet.
03:47Did you honestly think I would leave
03:49for all-star road rules and still be dating you?
03:52That's hilarious.
03:52She's all that.
03:53American cult classic.
03:55Did you honestly think I'd leave
03:57for all-star road rules still dating you?
03:59It's hilarious that it still comes up all the time.
04:04I don't know why it's still relevant
04:06or that people still enjoy the movie.
04:08It's Pygmalion, told for the millionth time.
04:12One of the great things about this movie
04:13is that it's got all these lovely performances.
04:16Dulé Hill, Freddie Prinze Jr.'s lovely in it.
04:19Paul Walker's first film, God bless his heart.
04:22Rachel Lee Cook's, like, such a lovely actor.
04:26I just think that these actors come together.
04:28I feel like I have my shirt off a lot in the movie.
04:32And right when I was making this movie,
04:34I met my future wife.
04:36I remember, like, saying, I was like,
04:37I can't drink, I'm on this keto diet.
04:40And she's like, you're the skinniest thing in the world.
04:43Like, what are you talking about?
04:44That boy, 27, 28, I'm 56 now,
04:48you don't have to Google, I'll tell you.
04:50You know, he was so insecure.
04:52He was so insecure about what he looked like
04:53or how he felt or, you know, in that moment,
04:57like, I was going to, like, in Hollywood,
04:59like, we were going out and, like,
05:00sort of going to, like, cool spots.
05:02And, like, I thought I was fat, right?
05:06And I thought I was ugly and all these things.
05:08And I look back at that boy, I'm like,
05:11what a waste of energy that was to be so insecure
05:15and being really concerned that people were in front of me
05:18in terms of career or success or money.
05:23Am I going to hang around?
05:26Oh, well, the sun never sets on the British Empire.
05:28Well, the sun never sets on my asshole.
05:31That's hilarious.
05:32That's SLC Punk.
05:34Oh, the sun never sets on the British Empire.
05:36Well, the sun never sets on my asshole.
05:39You said to me, like,
05:40what is the movie that best demonstrates
05:42who you are as an actor?
05:44And I want my kids to remember.
05:47And I want, you know, to be celebrated
05:49long past the time I'm gone.
05:51It's this movie.
05:52And I think this movie is so powerful
05:54for that community of outsiders that,
05:57you know, sees themselves represented
05:59in this really human way and emotional way.
06:02And I'm, like, proud of it in so many ways, you know.
06:06And there's a moment in the movie
06:09where he finds his best friend dead.
06:13You know, as an actor,
06:15I think it's important to have moments in your career
06:20that resonate with you that you're proud of
06:22because there are times for me in my journey
06:26where I'm like, oh, I'm not a good actor.
06:28I'm not a good actor.
06:29I'm never coming back.
06:30You know, there's self-deprecation.
06:32There's this imposter syndrome for me in my life.
06:36And I, you have to hold on to these moments.
06:38So I got this audition and I did not like the movie.
06:43I did not like the script.
06:45I literally passed on it, like, twice.
06:48I think my agent was like, just talk to the producer.
06:50The producer was like, you've got nothing to lose.
06:52Just come in and talk to the director.
06:53And I did.
06:54I went in and sat and talked to James Merandino.
06:57The way he pitched it,
06:58the way he, like, sort of brought me in as a collaborator,
07:01and the way he spoke to, like,
07:03what he saw the relationship working like.
07:05At the end of that meeting, I was like,
07:07all right, let's go do it.
07:08Yeah, I thought we, you know,
07:10we did something pretty badass.
07:11Cool.
07:12Yeah.
07:13God.
07:15Frost in sooth is not capable of that kind of power.
07:19These are lines from my career.
07:21Is it Legends of Adventress?
07:24Oh, what?
07:25I had no idea how deep we're going.
07:27Oh, that makes my heart sing.
07:29Frost in sooth is not capable of that kind of power.
07:33Legends of Adventress is one of the great live-play Dungeons & Dragons 5e compatible games out there.
07:42I love Dungeons & Dragons.
07:44I'm an active part of the community.
07:45But I don't watch Critical Role.
07:47I don't watch Adventress.
07:48And so I loaded into this game not knowing what I was getting into.
07:52I think I was coming from London, but I was like, I couldn't keep my eyes open.
07:57I was so tired.
07:58And then we started playing this game.
08:00And the way they tell stories and the way they are a community around that table,
08:06it drew me in.
08:07And we played for, we had a great session of like three or four hours.
08:10I have all these tangents in my career, like they've pulled me into different things.
08:14But this like community and these people reminds you of why you became an actor in the first place.
08:22You walk into a theater and you feel seen with your people.
08:27And this sort of reminds me of that.
08:29I think the thing that's interesting about live-play and how it's so relevant now
08:34is because people are longing for stories, right?
08:37And I think that when they watch someone like Matt Mercer tell a story
08:41and those guys tell a story or Adventress, they listen to it passively.
08:45They listen to it while they're doing the dishes or while they're cleaning the house.
08:49And it becomes something that they look forward to because it's so enveloping and it's so human.
08:55I think that when you walk, when you sit at the table, you have these voices or you play these
09:00games.
09:00But you're telling the story live in that moment.
09:05There's something, there's an energy about it that's different than something manicured.
09:10Like the achievement of a Christopher Nolan film is undeniable.
09:16But it's put together.
09:18Sitting around that table, you're laughing authentically.
09:21You know, you're sharing stories authentically.
09:24You're emotionally, you end up crying in games all the time.
09:28Something that is very geek culture and people consider niche that has mass appeal.
09:34It's out!
09:36Just keep your eyes on the monitors and keep people out.
09:40Keep your eyes on the monitors and keep people out.
09:43I have no idea what this is.
09:45Oh, God.
09:46Is this 13 Ghosts?
09:47No.
09:48Oh, this is Five Nights at Freddy's.
09:51Just keep your eyes on the monitors and keep people out.
09:55This never happens to me.
09:57I got a call from my manager saying, hey, you have this offer to do a movie.
10:01Go sit with the director.
10:02If it goes well, the project's yours.
10:03And I'm like, that's never normally a good sign.
10:06Like most of the time that movie's pretty bad.
10:09And I went and sat with Emma Tammy, who's the director, and I was like, why me?
10:13Like, you know, in the script, as I read through the script, I literally think I have four lines.
10:18I don't know what, why would I do this job?
10:21Like, why are you coming to me?
10:22I feel like anyone can do this.
10:24And she said, well, the thing about William, this guy, I was playing the yellow rabbit,
10:28and he is this character named William Afton.
10:31And she said, you know, William Afton is like the Voldemort character in Harry Potter.
10:37And we want to make three films.
10:39So you're not a big part here or the big part in the second film, but the third film.
10:44And I was like, oh, yeah, okay, I'm in.
10:47I'm totally in.
10:48You know, and the fan base is so voracious.
10:51And it turns out, I mean, that if you make movies for fans of an IP that are committed,
10:57and you make it in a way that's about honoring them, they'll come out and support it.
11:02And so $30 million movie makes $300 million worldwide.
11:07Massive hit.
11:07I'm sort of in this moment of, like, having another moment in my career.
11:13And I think a lot of it has to do with the success of this film.
11:16And it reminds people, Hollywood moves on so quickly and they forget.
11:20But I just had this, like, massive sort of, like, oh, wait, what about Matthew Lillard moment?
11:25Ka-pow!
11:25All right.
11:27I'm so happy I can shit.
11:30Serial Mom.
11:31That's so funny.
11:32So happy I can shit.
11:34Serial Mom was the first movie I ever did.
11:36It was the third audition I ever had.
11:38I was at Circle and Square here in New York, and I was working as a waiter.
11:42And I got the job.
11:44I had to quit school.
11:46And everyone in my class, I was like, I got this job.
11:49I have to quit.
11:50But today we're going up to my restaurant.
11:52We're going to drink all night.
11:53I'm going to buy drinks all night.
11:55And my manager at the restaurant, I was like, I quit because I'm going to do a movie.
11:59He's like, you work tonight.
12:01I'm like, I don't.
12:02I just quit.
12:03He's like, you know, a lot of actors, they go do a movie.
12:07They come back and they need a job.
12:10You're not going to get a job back.
12:11I'm like, I hear you.
12:12I still quit.
12:13And we sat around and we drank that night.
12:15And my dad was there.
12:17And at the end of the night, we were so drunk, my dad and everyone from class was carrying me
12:22around the bar.
12:23John Waters was hilarious.
12:24He changed my life.
12:26I mean, along comes this audition.
12:28You know, I had this long hair.
12:29It was very California.
12:31And I had my skateboard because I had skateboarded in.
12:34And he asked me all these questions about my skateboard.
12:36I was like, do you ride that skateboard?
12:38I'm like, I do.
12:38I ride it all the time.
12:39And then he called me back like two days later.
12:42And it was raining.
12:44And I took a cab.
12:46But I brought my skateboard anyways because I wanted to make sure he remembered me.
12:50All of a sudden, you go from being an actor who knows nothing about being on a television or a
12:56film to working on a John Waters film.
12:58And the learning curve of that was like crazy.
13:01It was crazy.
13:02And the idea of like doing a John Waters movie, I was like, oh, I'm doing this movie.
13:06I want to figure out who this guy is.
13:08And I printed Pink Flamingo, which is what everyone talked about when they talked about John Waters.
13:13And I was like, oh, my gosh.
13:15And there's very famous scenes in Pink Flamingo that were pushed to the boundaries of what even you see today.
13:22I was like, what is this guy?
13:24And like, what have I got myself into?
13:25But he ends up being this patriarch in my life that, you know, he's sort of like always been this
13:32really important person in my life.
13:34And I'm always grateful because it's my first film.
13:38Last one.
13:38Hong Kong Phooey, watch The Fist of Fury, would you, buddy?
13:43Oh, that's hilarious.
13:45Would you, buddy?
13:46It's hard not to slip into it when I think of it.
13:49Uh, Scooby-Doo.
13:50Hey, Hong Kong Phooey, watch The Fist of Fury, would you, buddy?
13:54You know, between this and Scream, it's 50-50 in terms of somebody walking up to me.
13:59Scooby-Doo is one of those movies that I argue is around the time that DVDs started to phase out.
14:06And I think that people ran around with this DVD in the back of their minivan for like 20 years
14:13and would just play it every time the kids got in the car.
14:17It would just be on.
14:18And that's why so many kids love this movie and identify with it.
14:23I felt a ton of pressure to not suck.
14:27It was the first like big movie that I was, you know, obviously Scooby-Doo's the star, but I felt
14:34like, oh gosh, this is a big opportunity for me.
14:36And I felt like, oh, now that Scooby-Doo's this big movie, I'm now going to go off and be
14:43a big movie star.
14:44And it was right about this time after the second movie that my career took a real nosedive for a
14:49long time.
14:50I may be one of those guys from the 90s that never comes back.
14:53So it was like, you know, this movie is like a love-hate relationship for me because I was like,
14:57oh, it's Scooby-Doo's fault.
14:59That's why I'm not working.
15:00I was like, no, you're not working because you played a young man, kid for, you know, 15, 17 years,
15:0718 years, and you're not anymore.
15:09You're like a grown-ass man.
15:11I resented Scooby-Doo for a long time, but I never regretted doing it because the reality is that if
15:17I didn't have the money I made in the second film, I wouldn't have made it through.
15:21Like, my wife and I would have had to sell everything.
15:24We eventually did.
15:25We sold our cars.
15:26We sold our house.
15:27We basically downsized our lives so that we could live in a very horrible way.
15:32And my wife went back to work, and that was a real pivotal moment for me as well.
15:36Like, I felt like before this movie, this is a really, this is a lot of information, and I don't
15:41know if people really always share these kinds of things, but I thought I was the shit.
15:45Like, I thought I was like, oh, I'm doing all these movies, and I'm a big guy, and, you know,
15:50and the reality was I'm not.
15:52I was, like, always a character actor, and I thought I was more than that.
15:56There was, like, a real humbling of Matthew Lillard that happens right after this movie that now I'm so grateful
16:04for.
16:04I feel like in Scream, I was trying to win an Academy Award with every line.
16:10Like, every line.
16:11Same with Hackers.
16:12Like, I am chewing the scenery in every scene because I'm, like, it's like I'm an animal getting on his
16:20last breath.
16:21Like, am I ever going to work again?
16:23I'm going to get all my greatness into one line.
16:25These directors loved it, and there is definitely a quality about me as a young actor that served hackers, that
16:35served Scream, that served Scooby-Doo, that, you know, God, if I didn't have it, I don't know if I'd
16:41be here today after all these years.