Why entirely new cast? It's not like Matthew Lillard or Freddie Prinze Jr. have anything better to do.

narky | June 30, 20:06 CET

Huh, I thought Matt Lillard had already agreed to do it...

But, seriously, what is the Beeb on when it writes "who could possibly replace SMG in the role (of Daphne)"? Umm, my MUM could replace SMG in that role. Unlike Buffy, Sarah's hardly stamped her authority all over the part, and, to be frank, it's not exactly her best work, is it?

SD (the 1st) was what it was, my kids liked it OK, although they got distracted a little way into it (unlike BtVS, which they are gripped by), and I haven't seen SD2, but, really now, do we have to make a dynasty out of every loud, goofy, special effect-laden production? (Yes, I know, if it makes $$, the answer inevitably is yes . . . )

[ edited by SoddingNancyTribe on 2004-06-30 18:09 ]

SoddingNancyTribe | June 30, 20:08 CET

The one actor who nailed the part was Lillard. He IS Shaggy!
The people they SHOULD replace are the GCI guys behind that bloody dog! It's crap! Take a look at Stuart Little to see how to animate cartoon animals with live actors.

zz9 | June 30, 20:45 CET

What happened to "Well, I say that you always work with a talented actor when you have the chance. Whether it's a friend, a stranger, your husband. etcetc."?

Christopher | June 30, 21:34 CET

Both Freddie and SMG were horribly miscast in these roles. Neither of them looked or acted anything like their cartoon counterparts. SMG was in Buffy-bot mode the whole time, and Freddie just looked like a peroxided midget. I think better choices could have been made, I think the casting crew just wanted the star name drawcard.

Mort | June 30, 21:47 CET

As was mentioned in the article, i personally thought that Isla Fisher would have been a much better Daphne right from the start. She is just as capable an actress (let's be honest, the part doesn't require a lot of ability!) and even physically suited the role more.

The truth was that Sarah was considered the better option because she was the bigger name. Rather than go for some little known actress from an Australian soap they chose the star of the biggest cult hit at the time.

I adore Sarah and defend her whenever i think she is being unfairly discussed but as far as Scooby Doo is concerned both the movie and Sarah herself would have been better off if they had stayed very far apart.

Actually i said that about Sarah and Freddie as well but that has a lot more to do with me being very jealous of the guy :)

Disciple of Spike | June 30, 22:03 CET

I agree that they were miscast. According to the IMDB (SMG's page), director Raja Gosnell wanted "a real-life Hollywood couple", and specifically SMG and FPJ, to play Fred and Daphne. That's odd for a couple of reasons.

First, Fred and Daphne were never explicitly a couple on SD (or did I miss that episode? Of course, casting a real couple could have been a leaden attempt at irony, or an over-literal hint about F and D's relationship . . . ) Second, Fred and Daphne, especially Daphne, were always the least interesting, most under-written SD characters. Why cast the biggest name stars in the worst parts? The need to give FPJ and SMG more to do led directly, IMO, to the failed reconfiguration of Fred as a self-parodying peacock and Daphne as a wannabe action hero. So, in addition to not looking like F and D, Sarah and Freddie were never intended to act like the cartoon characters, leaving the audience somewhat stupefied.

OK, I know it looks like I've given this a lot of thought (which might be considered rather sad), but I really haven't: it's just my way of putting off some real work for another 5 minutes. Honest.

SoddingNancyTribe | June 30, 22:04 CET

I also wonder what the BBC is on about and why they suddenly posted this story now

The story about Sarah and Freddie not doing a third picture came out at the same time (late January I think) as the news that Linda Cardinelli and Matthew Lillard had signed for a third picture

So why are they suddenly saying he's not signed on

garda39 | June 30, 23:10 CET

Because the BBC Cult team read yesterday's report at Moviehole.net.

Simon | June 30, 23:16 CET

To be fair to the BBC whilst they are usually one of the last to report news such as this it is normally because they wait until there is something concrete rather than post the first bit of gossip they hear.

Chances are that as far as Matthew Lillard is concerned they have probably got it right.

Disciple of Spike | June 30, 23:19 CET

I only liked Lillard and Cardinelli in the first one. No, I haven't bothered to see the 2nd yet, though I will through Netflix at some point. Lillard nailed Shaggy, and Cardinelli added a hotness to Velma, which was nice to see, you know, as a straight male who likes the nerdy chicks. Power to the geek girls! But honestly, Fred really had no story in the first one, and Buffy's, I mean Daphne's story was her going from what Daphne's about to becoming a redhead Buffy. Also, let's face it, SMG just looked short there. Very un-Daphne.

jack knight | June 30, 23:43 CET

I guess I'm behind in the news. Why won't Sarah work with her husband anymore?

Illyria | July 01, 01:45 CET

She suddenly realized he can't act?!?! j/k.....kind of

Rogue Slayer | July 01, 02:10 CET

LOL! That kinda makes sense. Could it be?

Illyria | July 01, 02:35 CET

The news in this post is that ML doesn't want to come back now either. I thought SMG did an alright job in the role but Daphne was never the main character anyway in my opinion. Scooby and Shaggy are. I think ML not coming back will be the character that will be hard to replace. I think it was good for SMG to get the exposure from the first movie and to show that she can do comedy as well as being a major television star but no need for her to keep doing these movies. Especially if they want to just keep going on making them. She's moved on and has some great projects coming up.

As for Freddie's acting skills, does he have any?!

Firefly Flanatic | July 01, 07:37 CET

Problem with the whole movies is that none of the characters in the original cartoon are actual 'characters'. Shaggy and Scooby are the only fun ones and they're pretty much '2-jokes'. (1 they're always scared. 2 they're always hungry) Velma is the'smart' one And Freddie and Daphne...well, Daphne puts her hands on her hips and looks pretty, and Freddie says 'Let's split up gang!' a lot.

So there's pretty much nothing there to work with. Except in the later 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo' series there was a teensy bit more going on with Freddie and Daphne at least. She's an airhead who only cares about make up and clothes and he's an airhead...well, period. Seems like they went there as well for the movie scripts. (Btw I always considered that later cartoon a funny parody on the original series but that's me)

Now most cartoons don't want to be a movie and I didn't feel these were an exception. (And I'm staying as far from 'Garfield' as I can get.) I hope it got Sarah some exposure because really, she easily could've been pegged as that TV chick that appeared in the kiddie movie that was really about a CGI dog.

As for Freddie......heh. Ya know as good as Sarah is as an actress, and as high a standard she seems to keep herself, and as good the actors are that she's been working with.......she HAS to see her husband has all the acting skills of an old sock! She has to! And his role in SB is hardly demanding but he still managed to suck a couple of big hairy ones. How did that go?? "Uh....that was great, honey..."

As for her not wanting to work with him anymore....well, it's always possible that she said "Fred, hon, you suck so badly it's actually affecting me. Don't come near me on a set again."
But probably not. (Although I do swear she probably wears the pants in the house, and rightly so, heheh) I think it's just a case of it not always being a good idea to be married and working together as well. I've seen some examples of that myself.

EdDantes | July 01, 10:27 CET

I think that after five films together Sarah and Freddie can safely say that enough is enough. lol.

I Know What You Did Last Summer
She's All That - Sarah cameo as girl in cafeteria
SD1 and 2

Can anyone here name the fifth?

Anne 5_by_5 | July 01, 22:46 CET

Nope, in fact i'm trying my hardest to forget those four! :)

Disciple of Spike | July 01, 22:54 CET

Speaking of Freddie, he's suing his former manager for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and negligence, claiming funky financial advice cost the Scooby-Doo star "hundreds of thousands of dollars." The article also mentions some of Sarah's upcoming projects, including Romantic Comedy, which I was under the impression had been scrapped.

faith1984 | July 01, 23:05 CET

Well, both are doing, or rather did, voice work on "Happily N'Ever After". Is that the answer you're looking for, Anne? (Not sure if they actually were together in the recording studio, 'though I guess it's fairly possible).

Much as I'd like to spring to poor ole' Freddie's defense re his acting ability, I just can't come up with any scintilla of redemption there. I hear, or must believe, he has other good husbandly qualities.

SoddingNancyTribe | July 02, 02:00 CET

Yes, SoddingNancyTribe that was the answer I was looking for. Happily N'ever After is supposed to finish animation sometime this fall. Considering the voice work was done sometime in S6 Buffy, it takes a long time to complete an animation production.

As for the article about Freddie, I don't think a lot of the SMG information is correct. According to RichardKelly.net they are scheduled to start filming some early scenes for that film this Fourth of July weekend. Principle photography begins in August. At last word, they are still looking for a leading man after Benicio Del Toro dropped out due to scheduling problems. Southland Tales looks like an interesting film.

Can someone please tell me about the difference between an actor's manager and an actor's agent?

Anne 5_by_5 | July 02, 04:40 CET