Freddie Prinze Jr. Says He Has 'Regret' Over Scooby-Doo Role, 'Zero Interest' in a Third Sequel
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Freddie Prinze Jr. isn't reuniting with Mystery Inc. anytime soon.
After originating the live-action role of Fred Jones, the actor, 47, said a sequel to his two previous Scooby-Doo films "wouldn't be something I would do" after bad experiences on set. "I have zero interest, it was tricky," he told TooFab.
"It wouldn't be for me, man. There was too much bait-and-switch on the first one. The studio was not honest with me in any way, shape or form. They were not straightforward," said Prinze, adding: "I've been on two jobs where I've had regret doing it, and Scooby was one of them."
He explained that he "didn't fully appreciate" the movie until seeing the impact it had on young fans when Scooby-Doo premiered in 2002, followed by the 2004 sequel Monsters Unleashed.
"Then, all of a sudden, I was like, 'Hey man, we did good. There are legit millions of people who love this movie. It's not the movie I wanted to make, but I appreciate that,'" Prinze continued. "And it made me change my outlook on it.
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James Gunn, who directed the first two live-action adaptations, responded to a fan on Twitter last year who suggested he round out the trilogy with the gang reuniting for Scooby's funeral. "Like The Big Chill with Scooby-Doo? Ok. I'm in," he wrote in May 2022.
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Prinze recalled another "difficult job" in the same interview, recalling that I Know What You Did Last Summer director Jim Gillespie "wanted a different actor" to play his role of Ray Bronson.
"He was very direct in the fact that, 'I don't want you in this movie.' So when that's your first job and you hear those words, it just wrecks you, man. It just wrecks you," said Prinze, adding: "I wanted to fight that guy two or three different times."
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The Wrestling with Freddie podcast host said he's "not upset" he did the movie, which "launched my whole career" and introduced him to his costar and future wife Sarah Michelle Gellar — who also starred opposite him as Daphne Blake in the Scooby-Doo franchise.
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"I wouldn't have any of the things I have without that movie, I wouldn't have my wife, I wouldn't have all the other movies I've done, I wouldn't have this podcast," said Prinze. "I'm here because of that struggle and because of that pain and it was those things."
