While he has over 150 acting credits, including starring roles in Scream and SLC Punk, Matthew Lillard is most closely associated with Shaggy Rogers, a character he’s portrayed in live-action and animated Scooby-Doo projects for more than 20 years. His latest turn as Shaggy is in Multiversus, Warner Brothers’ new platform fighter, which launches in early access this Tuesday.
Lillard appeared at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend to promote the game in a panel and a series of on-site interviews, alongside game director Tony Huynh, executive producer Sheloman Byrd, and voice actor Tara Strong, who portrays Harley Quinn in the game. Lillard, who took over the role after Shaggy’s original voice actor, Casy Kasem, passed away in 2014, says even after 20 years, he still sees his version of Shaggy as an impression of Kasem’s.
“I do actually [think I’m doing an impression] because I honor his legacy. My whole point is to be a caretaker for as long as they’ll have me,” Lillard explains. “In fact, the way I warm up every time I do the voice is to literally start every session by saying the line ‘I’m Casey Kasem, America’s Top 40.’ That’s how I start. So, I try to keep him and his spirit in the work that I do even to this day.”
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Lillard has played Shaggy in a number of video games over the years, including Scoody-Doo! & The Spooky Swamp and Lego Dimensions, but the actor says he isn’t too keen to branch out into other video game roles, at least not until voice actors are fairly compensated in the industry.
“I think video games are really difficult, they’re hard to do and they’re hard to do well. I think the energy it takes and the time it takes to do them needs
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