Freddie Prinze Jr wears many hats to his fans; he’s an iconic ’90s star, the man behind Fred in Scooby-Doo and one half of Hollywood’s most beloved and enduring couple.
The 48-year-old began his career on TV in the mid-90s, starring in a 1995 episode of Family Matters. Before long, Prinze was booking roles on blockbuster films including I Know What You Did Last Summer and She’s All That.
These films turned him into a household name and, to millions of young women, a bona fide heartthrob.
That’s why millions of collective teenage hearts broke when Prinze found lasting love with his equally-talented wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar.
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The pair first met on the set of the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, and they married in 2002.
That same year, Gellar and Prinze really hit their stride as a power couple when they both starred in the 2002 live action Scooby-Doo movie.
Their portrayal of lovers Fred and Daphne was an adorable example of art imitating life.
They were (and still are) Hollywood’s golden couple thanks to their long-lasting romance – but Prinze’s career hasn’t always kept this same momentum.
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Despite his string of hit movies and boyishly handsome looks, Prinze’s career seemed to fizzle out in the early ’00s. But in good news for his many fans, he’s back.
Prinze has returned to our screens this month in the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel, reprising his role alongside original castmate Jennifer Love Hewitt.
It marks one of his first roles in a major film since Scooby-Doo 2: Mosters Unleashed in 2004.
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A career shift
After the huge success of films such as She’s All That and the Scooby-Doo film and sequel, Prinze struggled to book similarly major roles.
He then turned to television. The actor managed to secure guest spots in several big TV series, including a long-running part in 24, a role in one episode of Friends and a two-episode story arc in Bones.
But his acting work wasn’t running entirely dry – Prinze started lending his voice to animated series and several video games too.
By this time, Prinze and Gellar had different priorities: their growing family. The couple welcomed their daughter Charlotte in 2009 and son Rocky in 2012.
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“I became a full-time father,” Prinze Jr told E! News. “It’s not a job. It’s what I love to do.”
“For me being a father, not having a dad, it makes it my number one priority, so when my daughter was born, that was pretty much it for me.”
‘I just wanted to quit after that’
It was Prinze’s role as agent Cole Ortiz in 24 in 2010 that really made him take stock of his career.
Speaking to ABC News in 2014, the actor said it was a “terrible” time – particularly working with co-star Kiefer Sutherland.
“Kiefer was the most unprofessional dude in the world,” he said.
“That’s not me talking trash, I’d say it to his face. I think everyone that’s worked with him has said that … I just wanted to quit the business after that. So, I just sort of stopped.”
After this role, Prinze took a huge step back from acting and took on a job at WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) as a producer, director and a creative consultant.
He also made another major career pivot when he released a cookbook, Back to the Kitchen, in 2016.
And again in 2017, Prinze reminded the world he had actually quit acting when asked how he juggled work with parenting.
“I’ve really stepped away from the acting,” he told CBS News. ” I don’t really do that anymore.”
Though it seems the big wigs in Hollywood aren’t done with him. He told Esquire in 2022 he has been constantly offered scripts for rom-coms, but he always turns them down.
“I mean, I’ve been offered a bunch of romantic comedies over the last 15 years,” he said. “I was just never reading any of the scripts. I didn’t have any interest in doing it.”
Since stepping away from acting, Prinze Jr loaned his voice to several video games and appeared in a few TV series.
His last acting credit was in 2024’s The Girl in the Pool, and before that, the 2022 TV movie Christmas With You.
A major return to the screen
In 2025, Prinze has returned to the big screen in a big way, reprising his I Know What You Did Last Summer role as Ray for the sequel.
He now also dedicates his life to both parenting his two children with wife Gellar and pursuing passion projects, including a podcast, cooking and collaborations with brands.
“I can only speak for myself, but I just quit,” he told Narcity in a 2022 interview.
“Once my daughter was born 13 years ago, I just stopped acting.”
“I wanted to be a full-time dad. I had a full-time mum growing up but never had a father and know the importance of having two parents and how much easier of a life you can have.”
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