Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals a 'steamy' Daphne-Velma kiss was cut from 'Scooby-Doo' live-action
More than 20 years after the live-action Scooby-Doo film was released in 2002, actress Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed that there was actually a "steamy" kissing scene between her character Daphne and Velma that was deleted in the final cut.
The revelation was made when she served as a guest on the late-night talk show Watch What Happens Live that is hosted by television presenter Andy Cohen. During one of the segments, Sarah was asked to confirm whether Daphne and Velma had a relationship in the original version of the film that she co-starred with Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini.
While Sarah said that she didn't know anything about a "relationship on the side," she revealed that there was a rather sensual gay kiss scene between the two iconic women of the cartoon franchise.
"There was a steamy—I mean, I said it was steamy, but they probably didn't think it was, hence it was cut," Sarah said.
Andy asked, "There was a steamy kiss?"
"Yeah, it got cut. There was an actual kiss between Daphne and Velma that got cut," she said before adding, "I feel like the world wants to see it."
The 45-year-old actress also recalled that there was an insult her character made against Fred about him being gay that also did not make it to the film's theatrical release.
"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. I think that was the reason I signed onto the movie. It’s something everyone’s thought of for a long time. There’s always been an implication about Fred being interested in both parties. It all got cut," Sarah said.
While Daphne's sexuality is still up to debate, Velma was recently revealed to be an out and proud member of the LGBTQ+ community after she was written to be a lesbian on the HBO Max film Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo, which was released in October last year.
But this development has already been long speculated by fans. James Gunn, who wrote the two live-action movie adaptations of Scooby-Doo, shared in a deleted tweet that he wanted to make Velma explicitly gay, but he was thwarted by the higher-ups.
"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 wrote.
The character's most recent appearance on screen is in HBO Max's adult-oriented cartoon show Velma, which serves as an alternate universe origin story for Mystery Inc.