Matthew Lillard was born January 24th, 1970 in Lansing, Michigan but soon moved and grew up in Tustin, California. He began acting when he found he could escape the pressures of school by delving into theater. Lillard describes himself as being fat at the time and so acting let him forget about the problems this caused him in highschool.
The now skinny, indeed downright lanky, Lillard began acting professionally soon after graduating from highschool. He started at the very bottom, as a film extra (for Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College, no less!) but soon started to make his way towards greener pastures. He landed roles in several films, from Serial Mom to Hackers. As the nineties progressed, so too did his career as the roles got better and better. Hackers introduced him to the GenX crowd, with his memorable turn as the goofy Emmanuel Goldstein (A.K.A. “Cereal Killer") but it wasn’t until a year later, when Wes Craven cast him in his new horror satire Scream, that things really started taking off for Matthew.