He hung out with the goofy pooch in “Scooby-Doo and “Scooby-Doo 2.” He came to an ugly end in “Scream.” He first made his mark in movies playing the gorehound son of a murderous suburban matron in “Serial Mom.” And Friday Matthew Lillard was in Gig Harbor playing three roles: star, co-producer and celebrity guest of the community’s first-ever film festival.

He was there at the behest of his real-life mom, festival board Vice President Paula Lillard. He was there to answer questions about two of his movies that were on the festival’s Friday night schedule: the aforementioned “Serial Mom,” the final film of the evening, and “One of Our Own,” an indie drama that he starred in and also co-produced.

He was unpretentious. No entourage here.

He was gracious, posing for photos with a few eager fans and patiently answering questions from a couple of high-school journalists about how he got his start in movies.

He was quite outspoken discussing the uncertain fate of “One of Our Own” and his place in the Hollywood firmament.

“One of Our Own,” a 2007 drama about a surrogate-parenting situation that goes badly awry for a young couple, has not gotten a commercial release in this country. That’s because it’s been caught in a tug-of-war between what Lillard calls “the creative guys” and “the money guys.” The creative guys, and that includes him and writer-director Abe Levy, had one vision of how the film should play out and the moneymen had another. And in a situation like that, Lillard said, “the money guy always wins."

He calls the version that played Friday “the creative version that we as the creative team stand behind.” Levy negotiated the right to play that version in festivals. It’s only been shown twice before: at last year’s Seattle International Film Festival and at this year’s Sonoma Valley Film Festival.

Then there is the version Lillard called the “hacked out” version. That was the version containing changes ordered by the film’s financial backers. “They changed elements within the movie,” he said. “They changed the songs.” They even changed the ending. When all was said and done, Lillard said “he with the biggest check gets to make the final call.” When and if the picture ever gets a theatrical release or makes it to DVD, it will be the “hacked” version that viewers will see. Which means that the Gig Harbor screening was an experience that will be afforded to a very few people in the future.

The 38-year-old Lillard has been in close to 40 movies over 14 years, mostly in character roles, and has gone on to co-produce a couple of pictures and will be directing one in the near future. That would seem to indicate he’s attained a certain level of clout in Hollywood. He doesn’t see it that way.

“If you ask me if I have clout, I will say no. I’m a hustler. I make movies, but by no means does that mean that I control my own destiny. With real clout, you can say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ I’m still hustling to get as many ‘yes’es as I can."

Asked if he’s worried that he’ll forever be best known as the guy who played Shaggy in “Scooby-Doo,” he replied, “yes, of course. But I’m still hustling.” Hustling for what? “The part that gets me the Academy Award and lets me control my own destiny.”