Matthew Lillard turned down 'Dancing with the Stars' because he worried it would ruin his chances of someday winning an Oscar

• Matthew Lillard starred as Shaggy in two "Scooby-Doo" movies, but Warner Bros. scrapped its sequel plans.
• With his career on a downturn, he considered accepting an offer to join "Dancing with the Stars."
• He ultimately declined, fearing what it would mean for his career.

Matthew Lillard almost went on "Dancing with the Stars," but his decision to turn it down marked a major turning point in his career.

In a recent interview with Business Insider, Lillard opened up about his decades in Hollywood and some of his most iconic roles — including Shaggy in Warner Bros.' live-action "Scooby-Doo" franchise, which both propelled him to wider recognition and derailed his career.

"I thought I'd be No. 1 on the call sheet for the next 10 years of movies," Lillard told BI of his expectations at the time. "And the reality was the exact opposite happened."

According to Lillard, quality work dried up for him after 2004's "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" underperformed in theaters, leading WB to scrap plans for a third film. Eventually, his team presented him with an offer to appear on "Dancing with the Stars," the long-running ABC reality competition series where celebrities compete for the Mirror Ball trophy.

He considered accepting but ultimately didn't because he worried about how it would impact his career.

"I was going to do 'Dancing with the Stars.' And I was like, if I do 'Dancing with the Stars,' I'll never win an Academy Award," Lillard recalled. "If I do 'Dancing with the Stars,' I'll be famous and not a great actor, and I really just wanted to be a great actor."

After turning down the "DWTS" offer, Lillard decided to get rid of his whole team and went back to his first agent to prioritize his acting career: "I said, 'I just want to be an actor. I just want to be in movies. I want to reset my expectations.'"

Lillard's reset, which included downsizing his family's home, selling their expensive cars, and going back to teaching acting, ultimately paid off.

His resurgence in recent years has included broadening his income streams by founding his own spirits company, Find Familiar Spirits. The "Scream" star also received attention for returning to his horror roots as the villainous William Afton in Universal's "Five Nights at Freddy's" adaptation, which was a surprise hit at the box office in 2023.

He'll next appear in Mike Flanagan's buzzy upcoming film "The Life of Chuck," scheduled for release in spring 2025.