Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures. MediaPunch Inc / Alamy.
Topics: Film and TV, LGBTQ, Celebrity
Rachel Lang
Topics: Film and TV, LGBTQ, Celebrity
Linda Cardellini is thrilled that Scooby Doo's Velma is officially out of the closet.
Cardellini portrayed the legendary, mystery-solving geek girl in the 2002 live-action version of Scooby-Doo and its follow up film, Monsters Unleashed in 2004.
She sat down with EW to discuss Velma's coming out while promoting the third and final season of her acclaimed Netflix show Dead to Me alongside Christina Applegate.
Cardellini said that loves to see Velma out and proud.
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"Velma has been around since 1969; I just went trick or treating with my daughter and there were a lot of Velmas out there, so I love that she still has this place in culture that is sort of always active for decades," Cardellini said.
"I think it's been hinted at so many times, and I think it's great that it's finally out there."
When asked if she would ever take up Velma's iconic orange sweater and glasses, Cardellini's feelings were clear.
She exclaimed: "Oh God, yeah!"
She then added jokingly: "I'm probably too old."
Cardellini's comments come only months after Velma officially came out in July when two of the brains behind the cartoon finally confirmed it.
Tony Cervone, the supervising producer of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, shared a Pride themed Instagram post in which Velma was seen against a rainbow background.
He posted the image on June 29, and although all comments and replies have since been deleted from the post, a screenshot shows him jumping into the comments section to clarify the information to a follower.
Cervone wrote: "I've said this before, but Velma in Mystery Incorporated is not bi. She's gay. We always planned on Velma acting a little off and out of character while she was dating Shaggy because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with the why.
"There are hints about the why in that episode with the mermaid, and if you follow the entire Marcie arc it seems as clear as we could make it 10 years ago.
"I don't think Marcie and Velma had time to act on their feelings during the main timeline, but post reset, they are a couple. You may not like it, but this was our intention."
The producer wasn't the only one to discuss Velma's sexuality.
James Gunn, who wrote the live-action Scooby-Doo movies, joined Tony to speak out about the character.
His response came after a fan asked about a third Scooby-Doo movie.
The fan said: "Please make our live-action lesbian Velma dreams come true."
Gunn responded: "I tried! 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)."
Dead to Me drops on Netflix on November 17.