In the late nineties, Freddie Prinze Jr was one of Hollywood’s most popular teen heartthrobs. The son of the late legendary comic Freddie Prinze, the actor burst onto the scene with a slew of teen movies that made big bucks at the box office, including the horror flick I Know What You Did Last Summer and the smash rom-com She’s All That. His efforts to branch out into action, with the doomed video game adaptation Wing Commander, fell flat, as did some of his less inspired rom-coms like Down to You, Boys and Girls and a few others. But, he also did a pretty decent teen drama called Summer Catch (opposite Jessica Biel) that showed some promise, and he had a significant hit with James Gunn’s Scooby Doo film in 2002. He also had a well-received turn on Friends as Ross and Rachel’s sensitive nanny, which proved he had an untapped flair for comedy.
Yet, at some point, Prinze’s career cooled off, and the actor seemed content to focus on lower-profile work, with him having an excellent career as a voice actor on shows like Star Wars: Rebels. He also has one of the happiest, longest-lasting Hollywood marriages, with him having been married to his Scooby Doo co-star, Sarah Michelle Gellar for twenty years. In the past, Prinze has been open about disappointing experiences in Hollywood working on the Scooby Doo sequel and feuding with Kiefer Sutherland on 24. In this episode of WTF Happened to this Celebrity, which is written (with Mathew Plale), narrated and produced by Taylor James Johnson, and edited by Kier Gomes, we examine the career of perhaps the nineties’ biggest teen idol while catching up with what he’s doing nowadays.
What’s your favorite Freddie Prinze Jr role? Let us know in the comments
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