James Gunn responds to Quentin Tarantino’s criticism of Matthew Lillard. While discussing his list of favorite 21st century movies on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, Tarantino said that There Will Be Blood could have topped his rankings if not for Paul Dano’s “weak sauce” performance.
The filmmaker then went on to mention other actors whose performances he doesn’t like, noting that “I don’t care for Matthew Lillard.” Matthew Lillard responded to Quentin Tarantino’s criticism, admitting that “it f***in’ sucks” and “it hurts.” Meanwhile, both Dano and Lillard have received an outpouring of support from fans and creative collaborators on social media.
Now, Gunn is among those supporting Lillard after Tarantino’s comments. On Threads, Gunn shared several images with Lillard, which he captioned: “Just a few photos over the years with one of my favorite guys (and actors) @matthewlillard. No reason.” Check out the post below:
Gunn avoids any mention of Tarantino and focuses on complimenting Lillard. The timing of the post and his caption makes it clear that this is in response to Tarantino’s comments, though, without stoking any conflict with him.
Matthew Lillard’s filmography includes the live-action Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, both of which were written by Gunn. Lillard played the role of Shaggy alongside a cast that included Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred, and Linda Cardellini as Velma.
While Lillard has not starred in any of James Gunn’s superhero movies for Marvel or DC, he has expressed interest in reuniting with Gunn and joining the growing number of stories in the DCU.
Even though it is uncertain whether the two friends will work on a new film or series together, Lillard is busy with plenty of other projects. He starred in the recently released Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, which had a massive opening weekend box office debut. Earlier in the year, he starred in Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of the Stephen King short story The Life of Chuck.
Lillard reunited with Flanagan for a Prime Video series adaptation of King’s first published novel, Carrie, which wrapped filming in October. He is also playing a new character in Daredevil: Born Again season 2 and reprised the iconic role of Stu Macher for Scream 7.
As for Gunn, he is busy working on Man of Tomorrow, the sequel to 2025’s hit Superman movie, along with helping to oversee the steadily expanding DCU. With many projects in development and the DCU still in its early stages, there will be plenty of opportunities for James Gunn and Matthew Lillard to potentially work together again.
