Among the best Scooby-Doo movies over the years was the 2002 live-action movie starring real-life couple Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Daphne and Fred alongside Matthew Lillard’s Fred and Linda Cardelini’s Velma. The movie that was actually written by Guardian of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad’s James Gunn, was originally rated-R, and as Gellar recently shared, had a deleted line that addressed rumors about Fred’s sexuality that fans have often speculated.
While Sarah Michelle Gellar was promoting her return to her roots in supernatural TV with Wolf Pack, the actress was asked about what could have been on the 2002 comedy. In response, the actress shared that not only did the movie cut a “steamy” kiss between her Daphne and Cardelini’s Velma, but this moment almost happened:
There was a great line, too, I’ll never forget. We were having a fight – Daphne and Fred – and then I yell at him, ‘And that ascot makes you look gay!’, and I slam the door. And they cut that, too. I think it was the reason I actually signed on to the movie. … And it’s something everyone’s thought for a long time. There was always implication about Fred being interested in both parties, and all that stuff. It was less family friendly to begin with.
Over the years, fans have speculated that Fred Jones is actually gay, usually because of his choice of outfit. As Sarah Michelle Gellar shared on Watch What Happens With Andy Cohen, the topic would have come up during a fight between Daphne and Fred. The Buffy actress also said she loved the line so much that it was one of the reasons she wanted to star in the Scooby-Doo movie. However, Warner Bros ended up walking back on the 2002 movie’s more edgy elements and kept Gunn’s take on the Scooby-Doo gang’s more fluid sexualities out of it. Check out Gellar’s response on the TV appearance:
Over a decade ago, Matthew Lillard spoke about this element to the movie on a Reddit Q&A too, sharing that the movie used to be geared to adults a lot more. The Shaggy actor explained that Fred was gay in the movie but when they tested the R-rated cut “parents flipped their lids” and Warner Bros didn’t want to risk the backlash.
Funny enough, the latest Scooby-Doo entry is a mature animated series called Velma, which has been slammed by critics and viewers for the changes made to the classic cartoon, which includes the series exploring a love story between Daphne and Velma. Surely, audiences in 2002 would have had a problem with an R-rated cut of Scooby-Doo as well.
Even so, it does make one wonder what the original live-action Doo movie could have been like. Sarah Michelle Gellar isn’t pushing for a Scooby-Doo 3, but you can see her in the new teen werewolf series, Wolf Pack, now streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.