Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed in a recent interview that she was supposed to kiss costar Linda Cardellini in the 2002 film “Scooby-Doo” — but that the scene had been cut from the final release along with a joke “outing” Freddie Prinze Jr.’s character as potentially bisexual.
Gellar, who played Daphne in the movie alongside Cardellini’s Velma, told Bravo’s Andy Cohen on Thursday that they had actually filmed the steamy scene only to see it cut — and according to script author James Gunn, his original intent had been to go much further than a kiss.
“In 2001, Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script. But the studio just kept watering it down and watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) and finally having a boyfriend (the sequel),” Gunn said of the project.
Gellar confirmed that vision during the “After Show” portion of Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live” — saying, “There was a steamy kiss. It got cut. There was an actual kiss between Daphne and Velma that got cut. I feel like the world wants to see it. I don’t know where it is.”
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According to Gellar, the entire movie had been pitched to the main actors — also including Matthew Lillard as “Shaggy” — as “less family friendly” than the long-running animated series. And for Gellar, that was a key selling point.
She also recalled one specific line that had been cut — a line that had cast ambiguity over Fred’s sexuality — that she was supposed to deliver during a fight with Prinze Jr.’s character.
“There was a great line too that I’ll never forget. Daphne and Fred were having a fight and I yell at him, ‘That ascot makes you look gay!’ I slam the door [at him]. They cut that, too,” Gellar said. “I think that was the reason I signed onto the movie. It’s something everyone’s thought for a long time. There’s always been an implication about Fred being interested in both parties. It all got cut.”
The new series on HBOMax, called “Velma” and featuring actress Mindy Kaling, has taken Gunn’s vision and applied it liberally, making the character openly gay.