Matthew Lillard reveals his shocking Scream fan theory – and which huge film franchises he wants to join next

Matthew Lillard made a name for himself in the 1990s and 2000s as Stu Macher, one of the original Ghostface killers, in Scream and as Shaggy in the live-action Scooby-Doo films.

But, consider Lillard a mere franchise actor at your peril. After appearing in his feature debut in John Waters’s 1994 cult comedy Serial Mom, he has gone on to work alongside such esteemed filmmakers as Alexander Payne in Oscar hit The Descendants and the late David Lynch in his final season of the phantasmagorical Twin Peaks.

Now, the 56-year-old is booked and busier than ever, playing Principal Grayle in Mike Flanagan’s TV series Carrie, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, while credits for Tony Gilroy’s awards-hopeful Behemoth! and James Gunn’s Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow are also locked in.

Recently, Lillard has produced the play The Second Best School Shooting (with Adam McKay as executive producer), coming to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August.

Ahead of its UK premiere, Radio Times spoke to Lillard for our Film Flashbacks series – discussing everything from his most underappreciated movies to the “bright revitalisation” of his career. Read the full interview below.

What’s your earliest movie memory?

A movie would come out, and then if it was a huge success, a few years later, it would come to television, but there was no such thing as a DVD. When I was young, I remember being really being excited for the once a year where The Wizard of Oz would come back on television. My mom would find it in the TV guide, circle it and she, my dad and my sister would all gather around, and my aunts and uncles would come over. It was a big family affair.

What was your experience of your first time on set?

I was 17 doing a little Miller’s Outpost [a former California-based retail clothing chain] commercial. When I was making it, I thought, “Oh, I’ve made it. I’m in Hollywood now.” My first TV show was SK8 TV on Nickelodeon, a skateboarding show, as a host. I remember taking my mom, dad and sister to Denny’s [an American diner chain] and saying, very seriously, “Hey, we have to go to Disneyland soon, because when this comes out, I’m going to be so famous, we’re not going to be able to walk amongst common people.”

I was so excited about being famous at that point in my life, and was really worried about the ramifications of the cost. I was at Disneyland a month ago, and nobody really cared – I walked just fine amongst all of the people.

When did you feel like you were at the height of your fame?

That’s a really great question, nobody ever talks about fame. I’ve been in this industry for 35 years. There are times in my life I was desperate to be famous, like as a young actor. I equated fame with power, and power gives you options and choices as an actor, and at the end of the day, you really want choices. If you are given nothing but bad acting opportunities, bad projects, not getting paid well, and you have to take them, then you end up doing bad work, because there’s no other choice.

Early on, fame really was wanting to be recognised. I have very clear memories of Serial Mom [1994] coming out in the theatre, and me walking by at times when I knew the theatre was getting out, seeing if anybody would recognise me, which is hilarious now. As I’ve gotten older, the more I realise that the power of celebrity really has nothing to do with you. Yeah, you can get good reservations or whatever, but the power of celebrity really has everything to do with the people that it means something to, like fans.

In what way?

I do conventions, and the reality is that people line up for hours to meet you, not because they want an autograph, but because you have an impact on their lives. Your characters or who you are as a person means something to them. My job is weird – I put on makeup and I say lines – I’m not special, but if you can be present and honour the impact on people, on queer kids, trans kids, kids struggling with obesity or drug addiction, adults, if you can make somebody feel seen in a transaction of time, that’s a beautiful job.

Have other people in the industry inspired you?

Oh, yeah, there’s no end to that. I think there’s a shared experience with the creative arts in general, where we understand the tenacity it takes, the heartbreak that’s involved in it. So many times we see the celebration of celebrity as: you’re walking a red carpet, or you see somebody at the Met Gala, this idea of, “Oh, your life’s so great,” but there are trials and tribulations and times where you feel like a fraud, that you’re never going to come back, and you’re not going to be able to feed your kids.

We’ve had to sell our house, we’ve gotten rid of cars, and we’ve changed the way we live our lives, and I had moments where I never thought I was going to make it back from being that kid in the 90s and the 00s. Here we are, I’m still around, I’m very lucky for that, but you know, there’s lots of people along the road that haven’t got a chance to come back and keep working.

James Gunn also wrote Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) that you starred in. What was it like stepping into the superhero universe with Man of Tomorrow?

It’s really lovely. So many times in my life I have wanted to be in that universe. James and I are good friends. I was at his wedding, and I’ve just been waiting for the opportunity for years. People would ask what director I want to work with or what part I’m looking for, and I would always say, whatever James Gunn is doing next. I adore him as a man, I like who he is as a filmmaker. To me, it’s not really about being in the DC universe as much as it is being in a James Gunn movie. I’m 56 years old, and having another moment doesn’t always happen in a career – I feel blessed.

Do you feel like you’re “back” at this stage of your career?

I don’t know if I’m back. I could be doing a really crappy movie or a terrible TV show, but I’m still acting, so I’ve always felt like, “Oh, I’m in, I just don’t have a great part right now.” Actually, that’s not true, because even the parts I do have, I love being on those shows, and I love the work I’m doing, but there’s no doubt in this moment I feel like there’s this bright revitalisation of my career that I’m really grateful for. This too shall pass.

It’s happened multiple times in my life, like there’s a pattern, you become sort of the taste du jour in the community, but then something else comes along that distracts them, or you get overexposed. It ebbs and flows, and if you can understand that as an actor, it makes life much easier to deal with. We think everything goes straight up, and it never stops… except for Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise continues to ascend to the highest heights.

What role was a turning point in your career?

Scooby-Doo in a lot of ways. It was a huge hit, I was one of the leads in it as Shaggy. I was like, “Oh, this is going to change the trajectory of my career,” and it’s about that moment where my career really stalled for three to five years. It didn’t die, but I stopped working, I stopped doing feature films, I stopped sort of doing everything.

I thought, “I may just be done.” The first movie after that was The Descendants, which I would argue is the single greatest role in the history of cinema, because I am the one that stole George Clooney’s [playing Matt King] wife. In that incredible Alexander Payne movie, that small role in a movie that went on an Academy Award run after a long insecure season of life, was very pivotal for me.

I’m sure you get asked this all the time since starring in 1996’s Scream, but what’s your favourite scary movie?

The answer is always the same – Scream, because it changed my life, cheesy as it is!

Thirty years ago, nobody thought Scream was gonna be anything else other than another Wes Craven film, and his films were not on a great trajectory when he made Scream. I was driving back one morning at 6am covered in blood in the back of a van with everyone and we were all talking about what we were doing next.

I was going to do a pilot on a TV show, and I was like, “Nobody’s ever going to see this movie, who cares, I’m going off to do a TV show.” That show didn’t get picked up, and Scream is still being celebrated today. Scream 7 was the biggest hit the franchise has ever had.

Was it easy to say yes to coming back for Scream 7?

I was pretty much a yes. I had been lobbying pretty hard for years that Stu was still alive. Spoiler alert, I think he is still alive. I don’t think anyone else agrees with me on the production side… In Scream 7, they spend the whole movie proving that he’s alive, and nobody at the end of it goes back and says, “Yeah, all that s**t was fake,” so I don’t know. I don’t know if anyone wants him back, but I would love to come back.

Do you like scary movies?

I personally am not a big horror guy. It’s not really my jam. But I just saw Obsession. Curry Barker’s work as the director is incredible. Hollywood keeps going back and telling the same stories again and again, so for me, what’s exciting is these new movies, filmmakers and stories.

I like acting in horror movies. Five Nights at Freddy’s has had a really brilliant run. You’ve got this big energy that can be applied to horror. You’ve got characters running for their lives and chewing the scenery. All of that is super fun.

Which of your films do you feel are underappreciated?

All of them! No, I mean, I did Kenneth Branagh’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, a musical version of the Shakespearean play. I think that was underappreciated. It did not do well at the box office. I loved that experience. I love that man. I love that whole thing. SLC Punk! is a movie based on the punk scene in Salt Lake City, Utah, back in the 80s and 90s, and that was a movie that opened Sundance. The attention I would have wanted back in the day for that is that I could be a lead in a movie.

I feel like I’m a very successful character actor, and there’s a moment where you want to be number one on all the call sheet, the star of the film, so that’s one of those movies that I wish I’d done better, so that I would have had more opportunities. I did a movie with Sir Patrick Stewart called Match, which is a lovely little indie film that I’m super proud of.

Is there a role you’d love to play?

Oh my god, yes, Superman! I’d like to play Superman. As I’m approaching 60, I don’t know what that role is. Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad really got to dig into five seasons of a brilliantly written show with a great character arc where he got to do everything, he had to do comedy and drama. If I was pulling my hopes and dreams together, it’d be to be the lead of a show like that that changes the trajectory of my life.

What is The Second Best School Shooting, the play you’re producing for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, about?

It’s about two young women who are dealing with a school shooting that happens across town on the same day of the school shooting at their own school, which is so American it’s horrific. I love this country, but we’re having a moment that is really challenging. I do think social media is dividing us. We’ve got a lot of walls between people. But the play is charming and funny and heartbreaking all at the same time. Comedy is one of those things that has the ability to break down walls.

What do you hope a UK audience takes away from the show?

My hope is that there is a humanisation of the trauma that so many people in America suffer through, because I think that we see gun violence, and we’re detached from the experience. If you ask my three children what scares them the most, it’s not global warming, it’s not nuclear holocaust. It is somebody coming into a room, any room, anywhere, and shooting up the room because they have been taught to live with the trauma of something that’s killing children all the time – and they’re checking where the nearest exits are. It’s really repugnant and disgusting.

What work do you love doing now?

I’m working a lot right now with Mike Flanagan. I’m hoping to be a part of his universe for a long time.

Working on Carrie was an extraordinary experience. I can’t wait for people to see that show. I’m very grateful, and it’s very sweet, but I get lots of independent film opportunities to do low-budget horror movies, and if it’s my friends or my community making that movie, then there’s a real draw, but to do a TV show I don’t love, or it’s not an exciting character, or it’s far away, it doesn’t matter how much money I get paid, at this point in my career, I just want something that’s fun and exciting.

What would you like to do next?

Do I want to win an Academy Award? Sure. Would I love to be in another huge franchise? If Star Wars came along… oh my god, I would lose my mind. That’s all I want… Mike Flanagan, James Gunn, and Star Wars – as a goodie that makes the sequel.

The Second Best School Shooting is running from 5-30 August (not 12, 19, or 26) at 12:45pm at Baby Grand at Pleasance Courtyard, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ.

Buy tickets at www.pleasance.co.uk

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