Scooby-Doo’s Matthew Lillard Criticizes Hollywood’s Approach To Casting Voice Actors

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Matthew Lillard, best known as Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, has been voicing characters for many years and is speaking out about how Hollywood chooses actors for big animated movies.

Matthew Lillard is well-known for playing Shaggy Rogers, first in the live-action Scooby-Doo films and continuing through numerous animated series, movies, and video games. He’s voiced the character in projects both within the Scooby-Doo universe and in other shows like Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Teen Titans Go!, and Supernatural. Voice acting is a significant part of his career, but he believes actors shouldn’t automatically be considered voice actors without demonstrating their skills.

During a conversation with Liam Crowley from ScreenRant, Damian Lillard discussed why it seems easier for live-action actors to transition into voice acting than vice versa. He expressed frustration with studios often casting famous actors in big animated films simply to attract audiences, even when he believes those actors aren’t always suited for the demanding vocal performance required.

Hollywood is making a big error by casting celebrities as voice actors when they lack the necessary skill. Actors have the benefit of facial expressions and body language, but voice actors rely solely on their voice to connect with the audience. It takes a rare talent to lead a film using voice alone, and repeatedly hiring unqualified celebrities for these roles is damaging the quality of voice acting overall.

Regardless of whether you agree with Damian Lillard’s point of view, it’s clear that using famous Hollywood actors in animated films has become very common over the past few decades. Just looking at the animated movies released in 2026 – including titles like Goat, Hoppers, The Super Mario Galaxy World, and Animal Farm – you’ll notice they all feature well-known actors. This trend will continue later this year with films like Toy Story 5, Minions & Monsters, The Cat in the Hat, and The Angry Birds Movies 3.

Damian Lillard believes voice actors should be skilled at bringing characters to life through voice work, not just famous faces. Some, like Tom Kenny, Tara Strong, and Billy West, are dedicated voice acting professionals. Others, such as Lillard himself, Clancy Brown, Ron Perlman, and J.K. Simmons, successfully work in both on-camera and voice acting roles.

As a huge cinema fan, I’ve always recognized Matthew Lillard’s voice – especially from all those years as Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo franchise! But he’s a really versatile voice actor, popping up in animated shows like American Dad!, Beware the Batman, and All Hail King Julien. It was a fun little surprise to hear him as a partygoer in the 2022 Scream movie, and then really cool – though a bit spooky! – when he brought Stu Macher back (as a deepfake, naturally) in Scream 7. Most recently, I heard him voicing Shaggy again in a 2024 episode of Jellystone! – he truly is the voice of that character for a whole generation.

I’ve been really impressed with Matthew Lillard lately! I recently saw him as William Afton in the Five Nights at Freddy’s films, and he was great as Lance in season 2 of Cross, plus he’s playing Mr. Charles in the new season of Daredevil: Born Again. And there’s even more to come! I’m excited to hear he’s been cast in the upcoming DC movie Man of Tomorrow, and the Carrie miniseries – he’s going to play Principal Grayle in that one. Plus, he’s also involved in a Tony Gilroy drama called Behemoth!, though they haven’t revealed what role he’ll have in the other two movies yet.

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2026-05-31 21:13