Matthew Lillardhas always been one of Hollywood’s great character actors, and his best movies and TV shows prove just how impressive he actually is. For three decades, Lillard has consistently been one of the most electric actors who can instantly give a spark to any project that he appears in. After earning a role inSerial Momin 1994, he was able to get cast in several big projects, includingHackersandScream, playing an iteration of one of thebest slasher villains of all time.
AfterScream, Lillard continued to find great success in numerous roles in films likeShe’s All That,SLC Punk!, and the live-actionScooby-Doomovie franchise. His incredible performance as Shaggy led him to become synonymous with the character, and he has returned to voice him in amassive variety of other animated Scooby-Doo movies and TV shows. He has recently experienced a bit of a career resurgence with his role inFive Nights at Freddy’sandwill return forScream 7, three decades after he presumably died in the first film.
There was a lot of hype surroundingFive Night at Freddy’s, the film adaptation of the popular video game series, and despite receiving middling critical reception upon release,FNAFbecame a massive box-office success. The film follows a troubled security guard who starts a job at an abandoned pizzeria where he discovers its animatronic mascots are possessed by the souls of murdered children, and he needs to figure out how to survive. The horror movie was a hit with fans, and a second film is slated to be released in December 2025.
Every Five Nights At Freddy’s Animatronic Explained
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie brought eight of the video game characters to the big screen, and here’s each one who appears in the movie.
Arguably, the best part ofFive Nights at Freddy’sis Matthew Lillard’s performanceas Steve Raglan, later revealed to be William Afton, a serial killer and the main villain of the film. It felt like Lillard had flown under the radar for quite some time, so it’s great to see his career experience a bit of a resurgence with his role inFive Nights at Freddy’s. He is just incredible as William Afton, giving the character that unsettling feeling that Lillard is so able to convey despite his actual personality.
Premiering on the FX network,The Bridgeis a solid American crime drama series that revolves around two detectives who must work together to find a serial killer that operates on both sides of the Texas-Chihuahua border. Running for two seasons, it was a well-written thriller show that touched on some important cultural topics while always keeping its sights set on being a compelling mystery from start to finish. It often doesn’t get discussed with some of the best shows of its time, butThe Bridgeis still very good television.
The cast ofThe Bridgeis stellar from top to bottom, with Matthew Lillard delivering another great performance in his storied acting career. He plays Daniel Frye, anEl Paso Timesreporter who used to have a promising career before substance abuse helped to destroy it.Lillard imbues Daniel Frye with so much humanity and really brings the character to life, which helped him go from being a recurring character in season 1, to playing an even bigger role in season 2.
The Life of Chuck
Cast
The Life of Chuck is a film exploring the life of Chuck Krantz, presented in reverse chronological order.
Mike Flanagan continues to show his immense talent, and is rightfully considered one of the best directors working today, especially with his consistently strong output with Netflix over the past several years. He keeps his hot streak going withThe Life of Chuck, an adaptation of a Stephen King novella that explores the layer’s beneath the titular protagonist’s ordinary existence, revealing poignant, fantastical moments along the way. It is a bit of a detour from Flanagan’s horror work, but it shows his versatility as a director, as he is able to craft a moving dramatic fantasy that feels unlike most of his filmography.
The Life of Chuckwon the coveted People’s Choice Award at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
The Life of Chuckis Matthew Lillard’s most recent performance, and he continues to prove that he is still a force to be reckoned with as an actor, despite his limited screentime in the film. He plays Gus in the film, a construction worker who finds peace within the chaos.Lillard’s performance is full of humanity, and he spoke withGamesRadar+about his role in the film, stating:
I play the most rudimentary man ever named Gus. And he’s beautiful. I think he’s funny. I think that the movie opened at Toronto International Film Festival. I had never seen it with a big audience. I’d seen it in a small screening room. We were, I think, all surprised that people were laughing a lot.
And along comes my character, and the thing I love about my character is that he packs a whole fistful of humanity in a little 5-minute scene and it’s work that I’m really proud of. But on top of it, I think it really shifts the movie into in an emotional place.
She’s All That
When popular high school student Zack Siler breaks up with his girlfriend, he’s confident he can replace her with any girl in school. His best friend disagrees, leading to a bet in which Zack has six weeks to turn awkward and unpopular Laney into the school’s prom queen.
While it might seem a bit dated now,She’s All Thatwas a major film at the tail-end of the ’90s. It centers around a popular guy who makes a bet that he can turn any girl at his high school into one of the popular kids. All the beloved teenage romantic comedy trappings ensue, with the film having a lot of heart and some truly fantastic performances from its up-and-coming cast, including Rachael Leigh Cook, Freddy Prinze Jr., and Matthew Lillard.
The late ’90s and early 2000s era was when Lillard was arguably at his peak popularity, and he steals every scene that he has inShe’s All That. He plays Brock Hudson, a reality TV star because ofThe Real World, who ends up stealing Zack Siler’s (Freddy Prinze Jr.) girlfriend. Lillard is an incredibly funny actor who just has so much natural charm, and despite Brock Hudson being an unpleasant character, Lillard makes him into something special on screen.
Good Girlsis a surprisingly great comedic crime drama that follows three suburban moms who get mixed up with a crime boss and the FBI after they decide to rob a supermarket because of various financial difficulties they are facing. With a fun, inventive premise,Good Girlsis consistently smart and witty, making it a highly entertaining series to watch across all four of the show’s seasons, especially for the performances of the main trio.
Matthew Lillard plays a significant supporting role inGood Girlsas Dean Boland, the husband of Christina Hendricks' Beth Boland. Dean is a cheater, and his bad financial decisions are the reason Beth decides to help rob the supermarket.Despite being incredibly charming in both real life and a lot of his roles, Lillard can also play creeps pretty wellwhile also giving them some great personality quirks, and his performance as Dean Boland does just that.
A major franchise since 1969,Scooby-Doohas produced a number of fantastic incarnationsof the characters over the years. One in particular isScooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, which ran from 2010 through 2013. The show’s tongue-in-cheek approach helped the series stand out in a sea of other versions in the franchise, as returning to the earlier days of the gang was one of the series' best choices. It’s a fantastic addition to the world of Scooby-Doo.
Matthew Lillard took over the voice-acting for Shaggy following Casey Kasem’s retirement after voicing the character for 40 years from 1969-2009.
Now that Matthew Lillard has become the voice of Shaggy across basically all media of the character, he is essentially synonymous with the modern-day interpretations of him. For good reason, too, as Lillard is the perfect embodiment of Shaggy, and his voice-work as him is divine.Outside the live-action movies,Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporatedis some of Lillard’s best work as the character, as he perfectly captures the quirkiness and tone the show is going for.
4SLC Punk! (1998)
Matthew Lillard as Stevo Levy
Despite not being talked about nearly enough when it comes to some of Matthew Lillard’s best work,SLC Punk!is a truly underrated gem from the late ’90s. The movie focuses on the daily life of a Salt Lake City punk named Steven “Stevo” Levy as he tries to navigate his circumstances that can often feel outlandish.SLC Punk!has a refreshing anarchist spirit as it attempts to explore its characters' interior lives and how they respond to the life and city around them.
Matthew Lillard takes center-stage as Stevo in the film, and he largely carries it on his back. He channels a lot of his Stu Macher energy fromScreamwhile making Stevo feel like his own character. Stevo often stands out in the normalcy of Salt Lake City, and Lillard captures his rebellious spirit alongside his feelings of uneasiness perfectly.
Incredibly low-key in its approach to the subject it is exploring,The Descendantsis a touching family dramedy that features an incredible central performance from George Clooney as Matt King. Adapted from the novel of the same name by author Kaui Hart Hemmings,The Descendantstakes a look at the life of Matt King, whose wife remains comatose in the hospital following a boating accident, where she is likely to pass away. He tries to come to terms with the circumstances of his wife’s likely death and her infidelity while trying to bridge the gap with his oldest daughter.
The Descendantswas nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Film Editing, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Though most of Matthew Lillard’s iconic roles are more comedic in approach and tone, he always delivers knockout performances in more dramatic films. He does this exceedingly well inThe Descendantsas he plays Brian Speer, the real estate agent whom Matt King’s wife was having an affair with at the time of her accident, as she was in love with him. Matt King travels to let Brian know that she is likely to die, and the conversation they have is incredibly heartfelt and simultaneously heartbreaking.
Scooby-Doowas the 2002 live-action adaptation of the iconic animated franchise, and is largely nostalgic for a lot of people that grew up during that time. Written by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy),Scooby-Doofeatured a lot of silly humor that was slightly more adult-oriented than usual, and featured the gang reuniting to go to Spooky Island after breaking up a few years prior. It featured a pitch-perfect cast as the iconic characters, with Matthew Lillard’s Shaggy being the obvious standout.
Scooby-Doowas the first time Lillard would play Shaggy, and it was a stroke of genius to cast him as the character, as he fits him perfectly both in terms of looks and his mannerisms. Leaning a bit into the stoner persona, Lillard made his version of Shaggy his own character, and it could be argued that it is the most popular role of his entire career, especially since he has also been the voice of the character for years now.
It’s hard to overstate just how influentialScreamwas when it came out in 1996. Written by Kevin Williamson and directed by the legendary Wes Craven,Screamrevitalized the slasher genre while incorporating a large amount of meta commentary about horror movies as a whole. It’s tense and funny, and Ghost Face became a horror icon. It’s one of the best slasher movies ever made and a staple of the genre, as many films desperately tried to replicate its success once it was released.
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Matthew Lillard is genuinely magical inScreamas Stu Macher, a character who isn’t taking the killings in Woodsboro as seriously as others, which makes sense by the end as he himself is revealed to be one of the killers alongside Skeet Ulrich’s Billy Loomis. Though he is incredibly funny throughout the film, after he is revealed as the killer,Matthew Lillard’sperformance kicks into over-the-top overdrive, with some of the best lines in the entire franchise. It’s a masterclass in horror comedy from him, and the best movie of his career.
