Linda Cardellini was still a relative newcomer in her career when she auditioned to play Velma in 2002's Scooby-Doo
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The actress, 50, recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she looked back on her audition for the film
Cardellini recalls feeling terrible about her idea to show up to her audition dressed as the character, only to learn it worked
Linda Cardelliniwas serious about herScooby Dooaudition.
In her recent appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the 50-year-old actress recalled dressing in character as Velma when she auditioned for the 2002 movie.
"I remember when I was auditioning forScooby-Doo, I was really excited because that was my favorite cartoon growing up. So I was going in for Velma, and I was like, 'I'm not gonna go in there without my glasses and my turtleneck,' you know?"
She continued, "So I went to Ross and bought this orange turtleneck and borrowed a friend of mine's glasses... I needed a bargain, and they had things that were out of season. It wasn't really orange turtleneck season. And then I went and I got this orange turtleneck and this skirt, and I dressed in a costume, which I was kind of new when I got that part," she shared, noting it was afterFreaks and Geeks.
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"Freaks and Geekswasn't a big success or anything, so I was pretty new. And I just figured you were supposed to dress the part," Cardellini explained.
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"So I went in there and saw all these famous people sitting in the waiting room," she said, noting none of them dressed like the character.
"They looked great and I looked like an idiot... I went in there dressed up in this costume and just felt so stupid. And then, I did my audition, and I did all these crazy things. Like I took off my glasses and did all these things. And I just felt I had made the biggest fool of myself. I came home and cried and cried and cried, and then I got the part.
Joking, Cardellini added, "My dad always says he knew I would get a part if I came home crying, so I guess you have to make a fool of yourself."
In 2020,Guardians of the Galaxywriter/director James Gunn, who cowrote the screenplay for the 2002 movie, revealed on Twitter thathe "tried" to make Velma gaybut was eventually shot down.
"In 2001, Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script. But the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel)," he wrote, adding an annoyed emoji.
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