Entertainment
Matthew Lillard Blames One Film For His Hollywood Downfall
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Back when he was stealing scenes in the original Scream movie, it seemed like Matthew Lillard was destined to be Hollywood’s next big A-lister. Flash forward to the modern day, though, and he is mostly known for his voice acting and convention appearances. Many of his fans have wondered what happened with his career, and the actor has a surprising theory: he blames his Hollywood downfall on the box office failure of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
In a recent interview with Business Insider, Matthew Lillard said, “I thought I’d be No. 1 on the call sheet for the next 10 years of movies” after that second film featuring the Scooby gang dropped. “And the reality was the exact opposite happened,” he said. This basically killed his dreams of being an A-lister, and he had to eventually re-examine his priorities as an actor thanks to the film’s failure.
The Failure Of Scooby-Doo 2
By today’s standards, the box office failure that doomed Matthew Lillard’s A-lister hopes seems pretty mild: against a budget of $25-$80 million, this Scooby sequel earned $181.2 million. Compared to the recent failure of Warner Bros. films like The Flash and Joker 2, that kind of middling performance seems very mild. However, the first film earned WB $275.7 million against a budget of $84 million, so this sequel was a major franchise disappointment, bringing in nearly $100 million less than its predecessor.
Making things worse is the fact that Scooby-Doo 2 was absolutely reviled by critics. Rotten Tomatoes has a 22 percent critical rating, with the critical consensus boiling down to the fact that, unlike the first film, only very young and immature children will appreciate this second outing. The film was awful enough to earn the word kind of award: a Razzie for Worst Remake or Sequel.
Matthew Lillard’s Amazing Attitude
As for Matthew Lillard, he looks back on all of this with a rather Zen perspective, noting that he was previously “caught up in the success of what I was doing…caught up in the parts I was getting…caught up in this drive to be quote-unquote famous.” When the Scooby sequel failed and ground his career ambitions to a halt, he stopped aggressively chasing this level of fame.
Putting things in perspective, Matthew Lillard recalls an opportunity to appear on Dancing With the Stars, and he realized that appearing on something so silly would effectively kill his chances of ever bringing home an Academy Award. To this end, he told his agent what his updated priorities were now and why he was turning down his chance at reality TV stardom. “I’ll be famous and not a great actor, and I really just wanted to be a great actor.”
Shaggy For A New Generation
In many ways, this perseverance paid off: rather than disown Scooby-Doo, Matthew Lillard became the voice actor for Shaggy in a number of animated features. Like Mark Hamill before him, the Scream veteran embraced a killer career in voice acting, winning over a new legion of fans. And the pivot to voice acting hasn’t kept him from getting great live-action roles in serious movies (like the Oscar-winning The Descendents) and silly movies (like Five Nights at Freddy’s).
Honestly, we’ve been huge fans of Matthew Lillard since the first Scream, and we can confirm he is somehow even more charming in person than he is on the silver screen. It’s tough not to sympathize with his A-lister dreams dying, but it’s nice that he made peace with embracing a different path as an actor. Given how great he is in just about everything (particularly David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return), we can only hope to see even more of Lillard’s delightfully off-kilter performances in the very near future.
Source: Business Insider
Entertainment
Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
Mother figures are the backbone of the world. Yours may be your biological mother, or maybe she’s your mother-in-law, your best friend’s mom, or simply someone whose motherly instinct has helped you through hard times.
Moms teach you the adulting necessities, give advice even if the problem is your fault, and above all, they put up with your shit and (almost) never complain.
The game plan here isn’t just to snag the last bouquet at CVS just so you’re not the kid who forgot Mother’s Day (but definitely also get flowers). And you don’t even need to spend a lot of money. (Peep our list of Mother’s Day gifts that cost less than $50. Want even more cheap gift ideas?
Skip the generic mugs and show your appreciation with a gift picked just for her: Whether it’s something to make a part of her life easier, something she’s mentioned wanting in passing, or simply something to make her feel like a damn queen, you can’t put a price on everything she’s done for you, but heartfelt gifts certainly help.
After all, they say “No matter how hard you try, you always end up like your mother.” But is that even a bad thing?
Entertainment
Ban subscriptions and get Microsoft Office 2024 for life for just £121
TL;DR: Grab Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business for PC or Mac for just £120.54 through June 1.
You wouldn’t keep paying for Netflix if you could own your favorite shows, right? So why are you still subscribing to Office apps you use every day? Microsoft 365’s price keeps going up, but there’s finally a way to break free — and it’ll cost you way less in the long run.
Microsoft Office 2024 is the answer you’ve been looking for. Instead of monthly payments, simply pay £120.54 once and be set for life (reg. £188.37). It’s that simple. And, yes, this lifetime download works for PC or Mac.
What’s included?
This license comes with:
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Word
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Excel
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PowerPoint
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Outlook
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OneNote
The newest version of Microsoft Office is a little different from Microsoft 365. But just because you’re switching to a lifetime license doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on some of the most recent updates. Word and Excel both still have AI integrations for text suggestions and smart data analysis, and PowerPoint still has improved tools for recorded presentations.
Once you’ve redeemed your purchase, you can install your apps on one computer. After that, they’re yours to use however you want. No more subscription fees or sudden price hikes to worry about.
Why rent when you can own?
Mashable Deals
Get a Microsoft Office lifetime license on sale for £120.54 with no coupon needed.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 9, 2025
Oh hey there! If you’re here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
Gibberish.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
TRIPE.
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
