Sarah Michelle Gellar as ‘Daphne’ in ‘Scooby Doo’, 2002. Hannah Barbera Prods/Atlas/Kobal/Shutterstock
What could have been. Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed the “steamy” Daphne and Velma moment that didn’t make it into the Scooby-Doo live-action movie.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, which aired on Thursday, February 2, Gellar, 45, hinted that the 2002 film was meant to be “less family-friendly” compared to the final product.
“I don’t know about a relationship [between Daphne and Velma] on the side, but there was a steamy [kiss] — I mean, I said it was steamy, but they probably didn’t think it was — hence why it was cut,” the actress, who played Daphne in the movie, shared. “There was an actual kiss between Daphne and Velma that got cut.”
The Wolf Pack star added: “I feel like the world wants to see it. But I don’t know where it is.”
Scooby-Doo: The Movie, which was based on the iconic cartoon franchise of the same name, revolved around a group of friends and a talking dog who solved mysteries. The film, which starred Gellar, Linda Cardellini, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard, returned for a sequel titled Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed in 2004.
According to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum, the original script explored Fred’s (Prinze Jr.) sexuality more as well.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Linda Cardellini in ‘Scooby Doo 2’, 2004. Diyah Pera/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock
“There was also this implication about Fred being interested in both, you know, parties and all that got cut,” Gellar, who has been married to Prinze Jr., 46, since 2002, added on Thursday. “There was a great line too where I remember, I’ll never forget, where 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.”
Gellar noted that the version that got scrapped was what drew her to the project in the first place, saying, “I think it was the reason I actually signed on to the movie. It was less family-friendly to begin with.”
Writer James Gunn previously confirmed in a since-deleted tweet that he planned to make Velma (Cardellini) an LGBTQIA+ character in his script.
“In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script,” he posted on social media in 2020. “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).”
The director, 56, continued to shed light on his vision for the live-action franchise, tweeting, “Language and jokes and sexual situations were removed, including a kiss between Daphne and Velma. Cleavage was CGI’d over. But, thankfully, the farting remained.”
Gunn also questioned the decision to change the film’s rating from PG-13 to PG because the audience “didn’t get what they” wanted. “But today I don’t know,” he concluded at the time. “So many young kids loved those movies, which is pretty cool.”