10 Movie Actors With Far More Range Than You Think

Shaggy Rogers himself, Matthew Lillard is probably best known these days for his work on the Scooby Doo franchise having captured the character with unerring brilliance in 2002's live action version of the beloved cartoon franchise but there's a lot more than 'zoinks' and 'jinkies' to Lillard's talents.

Lillard's first role in the straight-to-video Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go To College was a very humble beginning and it wasn't until 1996's Scream that we really started to see what he was capable of. Throughout Scream's first two acts, Lillard portrays Stu Macher as something of a comic relief to the tension that builds throughout before flipping the character completely with the reveal that he has been assisting the Ghostface killer.

This paradigm shift in portrayal showed that Lillard could handle two opposing ends of the acting spectrum: comedy and drama with ease and really he should have enjoyed much greater success on the silver screen. Contrast that role with his performances in 13 Ghosts at one end of the spectrum and The Descendants at the other and you see an incredibly broad, little spoken-of spectrum.

Disappointingly, Matthew Lillard has been seen more recently in TV roles that have required him to develop more linear characters but the point remains valid that everything he turns his acting skills to is a joy to watch.

Except Without a Paddle but you can't polish a you know what...