Scooby Doo Too: Monsters Unleashed:Dark Horizons' very own Garth Franklin attended a visit to the set of the Scooby Doo sequel early in the summer where he actually got to sit down with Matthew Lillard who plays 'Shaggy' in the film. Here's what he had to say about the recent production:

Question: Between the first film and now the second film, did you do anything different this time around to prepare?

Answer: The funny thing is my daughter was born the weekend the first one opened and I put on 20 pounds of empty weight, I don't know if it was because of the kid or not. For me to get back into physical shape was a big deal, so there I was working on another movie watching Charlie Chaplin movies whilst running the treadmill to get ready for this. The physical kind of comedy that he [Chaplin] was using I tried to bring a lot into this movie. So it was a lot like "Rocky" with dropping the weight, watching Charlie and Chan and all those greats. Then on top of that just committing to it, as its a really long gruelling shoot, especially for me because I do a lot of physical stuff. I'm working a lot, and I'm working with the dog and he isn't there so that's even more of a mental drain so it was just getting ready for the war, it feels like a war.

Question: Was it easier working with the dog the second time around since now you have an idea what it looks like?

Answer: It is because the leap of faith isn't as great. The first time it was like jumping in the abyss and you're like 'I have no idea how this is going to turn out' or even if it would work at the end of the day, you didn't know if in the end it would be like Rocky & Bullwinkle in terms of its failure or success. So, this time it is easier because you have an idea of what's on the other side. I also have faith that what's on the other side is going to upstage me 99% of the time and that's not an easy thing to do.

Question: Last time you said the voice was really hard to maintain, did you find that this time too?

Answer: It was hard to locate but it wasn't hard to maintain as much - I don't know when I said that, when I said that I was just lying quite possibly. The endurance of the whole thing is hard to maintain, cause its six months of... this one was four months, but the first movie was six months and everyday your running for your life [screams in Shaggy voice]. The anxiety level is up here and that's a physical commitment and an emotional commitment that's kind of tough to maintain. I'm trying to get to sleep early, eat well, etc. You do a movie like "Wicker Park" which is the other movie I did or even like "Scream" its not that same kind of grind.

Question: So watching Charlie Chaplin and those classics, is there anything you came back with and said this would be a great thing for Scooby and me to do that we could find a way to put in the movie?

Answer: It wasn't directly stealing, but indirectly stealing if that makes sense. Its not like I looked at his work with like a fire hose and said 'oh, where can I work in a fire hose'. Also like Rowan Atkinson in the first movie, there's ways that brilliant physical comedic performers work and its like preciseness, and cleanness and rhythm. Its all like a dance, and the beats are like music. Its finding and watching someone doing something great, you just learn it vicariously. So I wasn't like stealing specific things but it was the whole essence of it - that's a really esoteric kind of way to say it, you know its a musical comedy and watching a great musician like Charlie Chaplin do it you hopefully learn.

Lillard on future projects:

Question: Have you got something lined up for after this?

Answer: There's a deal right now that I'm trying to put together, and there's another deal I'm trying to get so we'll see.

Question: Do you think physical comedy movies will progress after this?

Answer: You know Hollywood doesn't do a lot of physical comedy movies. It really doesn't. You get movies like "Dude, Where's My Car" but that's not really a physical comedy, you know its kind of like a lost art form. I feel like as Hollywood progresses, less and less people are willing to be silly and I think that physical comedy is demanding and it just doesn't happen a lot anymore. Which is too bad, I mean "Revenge of Pink Panther" five years ago, other than that there's not really been a....Jim Carrey does some schtick that's physical, but its not really done much anymore which is too bad because I think that people love to watch people get hurt. You watch Chaplin and your like, its so funny to watch him getting hit in the face with a frying pan - its like cartoons. Hopefully they'll keep doing them, cause if I get stuck in a rut maybe I should just keep doing that.

Question: What other people do you admire that do physical comedy did you look at for this?

Answer: You look at [Peter] Sellers, they're trying to remake the Pink Panther series and its like nobody wants to touch it, everyone is very scared of it and they should be because when you get somebody whose that good and that committed at it, you tread very lightly on comic genius. So Sellers obviously is huge, Chaplin's huge, I think there are guys out there that are funny - I think this Ashton Kutcher kid he's good looking and you watch "That 70's Show" and he just delivers the full commitment. He's good looking and funny and usually God doesn't dish out that many gifts in one person so I kind of hate him (laughs) cause he's...I'm jealous, and he gets Demi Moore so on top of this...

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Thanks again to Dark Horizons!