Television and film Prinze was cast in a guest role on the ABC TV series
Family Matters in 1995. He then appeared in a few programs and made-for-TV movies, before making his motion picture debut in
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday in 1996. In subsequent years, Prinze's appearances in youth-oriented movies
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and its sequel
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) made him known to teenage audiences. His first leading role was in the romantic comedy ''
She's All That'' (1999), which grossed $63 million in the United States. Subsequently, he had leading roles in
Wing Commander (1999),
Down to You (2000),
Boys and Girls (2000),
Head over Heels (2001), and
Summer Catch (2001), most of which were disliked by critics and had moderate box office success. He played
Fred Jones in the 2002
live-action film version of the popular cartoon
Scooby-Doo, and reprised the role in the 2004 sequel,
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, both alongside his wife
Sarah Michelle Gellar and along with
Matthew Lillard and
Linda Cardellini. He guest starred on the popular NBC show
Friends as a sensitive male nanny named Sandy on the series' 200th episode. He took the role of Sandy after
Tom Hanks could not do it due to scheduling. He also appeared as
Donny Crane, a character believed to be
Denny Crane's son in the ABC legal drama-comedy
Boston Legal. Prinze starred in his own television
sitcom, titled
Freddie. The sitcom is said to depict some actual events from his life, and was cancelled after one season in May 2006. He guest starred on
George Lopez for a crossover with
Freddie. In 2004, Prinze accepted a special award from
TV Land on behalf of his late father. He thanked his father's former co-star
Della Reese for her continued advice and support. In 2006, he lent his voice to the character of Pi in the animated film
Shark Bait. Also in 2007, he lent his voice to the character of Rick in ''
Happily N'Ever After along with his wife Gellar, Wallace Shawn, Andy Dick, George Carlin, and Sigourney Weaver. In 2008, he auditioned for Jigsaw in Punisher: War Zone, but was not given the part at the decision of Lionsgate Studios. He later was the voice of the titular character in the animated movie Delgo. In 2010, Prinze guest starred on Psych'' as Dennis, a grade school friend of
Shawn Spencer and
Burton Guster. In March 2019, Prinze was cast as
Nancy Drew's father, Carson Drew, in
The CW mystery
pilot Nancy Drew, but was later replaced by
Scott Wolf. He also voiced the future version of Tim and Jim Possible in the
Kim Possible movie
Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time. In March 2009, it was announced that Prinze had signed on to star as Bradley, aka Ultimatum, in the ABC show
No Heroics, an American remake of the
British show of the same name. The show was not picked up, but Prinze was cast as a series regular for
the eighth season of the television show
24; he played
Cole Ortiz, a new
CTU operative. In 2021, Prinze joined the
reboot of
Punky Brewster on
Peacock, playing the title character's ex-husband.
Other work Prinze and
Chris Klein appeared in the 2002-03
West End production of
Kenneth Lonergan's play
This Is Our Youth, replacing original cast members
Jake Gyllenhaal and
Hayden Christensen. He voiced a pilot in a ''
Vatta's War: Trading in Danger graphic audio book. Prinze voiced different characters in BioWare video games: Lieutenant James Vega in Mass Effect 3 and The Iron Bull in Dragon Age: Inquisition. He returned to the role of James Vega again for the animated feature film Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, dubbed by FUNimation. From 2014 until 2018, he was the voice of Kanan Jarrus, one of the last surviving Jedi Knights, on the Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels. He reprised the role for the opening scene of the pilot episode of the Disney+ series The Bad Batch
in May 2021. In March 2023, he launched a new podcast, That Was Pretty Scary'', with co-host Jon Lee Brody.
Professional wrestling Work with WWE (2008–2009, 2010–2012) Prinze is a
WWE fan and was seen on television in attendance at the March 2008
WrestleMania XXIV pay-per-view and its preceding
Hall of Fame ceremony. He also made a
cameo on an episode of
The Dirt Sheet, an online program hosted by wrestlers
John Morrison and The Miz. He had created an official profile on WWE's "Universe" blog community where he would regularly write his thoughts about the current goings-on in the world of the WWE. His relationship with the company was furthered when he was hired as a member of the creative staff to contribute to weekly television and pay-per-view programming for the
SmackDown brand. It was reported on February 22, 2009, that Prinze and WWE had parted ways, but in January 2021, Prinze explained that he had actually chosen to leave the company at that time. On August 17, 2009, Prinze appeared on
Raw as a
special guest host, where he was assaulted by then
WWE Champion Randy Orton after refusing to bail Orton out of his
tag team match with
John Cena, who was due to challenge him in the upcoming
SummerSlam. Prinze later returned to the program and got his payback during Orton's match with Cena against
Big Show and
Chris Jericho, by setting up a
lumberjack match involving
Mark Henry,
Primo,
Evan Bourne,
Kofi Kingston,
MVP, and
Jamie Noble. Prinze returned to WWE on October 1, 2010, in a role as a producer and director. On the November 1, 2010 episode of
Monday Night Raw, Prinze made an on-screen appearance as
Vince McMahon's doctor, a
dream sequence scene that coincided with
Linda McMahon's attempt to win a seat in the Senate for the state of Connecticut. Prinze left WWE for a second time due to a comment made by
Stone Cold Steve Austin to a contestant while taping an episode of the fifth season of
WWE Tough Enough.
Podcast (since 2021) In November 2021, Prinze started his own podcast
Wrestling With Freddie with cohost
Jeff Dye.
Premier Streaming Network In April 2023, Freddie Prinze Jr. joined the ownership team of Premier Streaming Network, a streaming platform focused on wrestling, sports, and entertainment content.
MyFandom Sports App In June 2024, Freddie Prinze Jr. was announced as part of the ownership team behind MyFandom, an iOS app co-founded by brothers Fred and Josh Shernoff. MyFandom allows sports fans to contribute personal media to a collective archive of sporting events, creating a user-generated historical record while enabling individuals to curate their own attendance history. ==Personal life==