The Velma Voice Cast Features Glee, Succession, & Disney Channel Stars

The first episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! aired more than 50 years ago, but the Mystery Machine is still cruising steadily along. Mindy Kaling plays the titular teen detective in HBO Max’s Velma series, which “unmasks the complex and colorful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers,” per the streamer.

Kaling, who also serves as co-executive producer on the new series, opened up about portraying the iconic character at New York Comic Con in October. “Growing up I identified with Velma,” she told the crowd, per Deadline. “She was so cute but not traditionally hot ... with a questionable haircut.” The Sex Lives of College Girls co-creator went on to praise Velma’s reputation as a “truth teller,” who “[cuts] through the bullsh*t of life.”

While the show is described as an origin story for Velma Dinkley, it naturally includes her future fellow sleuths: Fred, Daphne, and Norville — better known by his nickname, Shaggy. Speaking of which, who plays who on the Velma cast? Here’s a lineup of all the celebrities you can expect to see (er, hear) in the adult animated comedy, which debuts on the streamer Jan. 12.

Mindy Kaling Plays Velma

Kaling told Entertainment Weekly that she was moved to make Velma an Indian character after watching a popular superhero movie. “We were really inspired by Into the Spider-Verse,” she said. “It’s animation, we can do anything. The essence of Velma is not necessarily tied to her whiteness. And I identify so much as her character, and I think so many people do, so it’s like, yeah, let’s make her Indian in this series.”

Constance Wu Plays Daphne

Hustlers star Constance Wu plays Daphne on Velma — and, in an interview with Popverse, she opened up about playing the familiar character with new layers. “We like seeing complex women, because we know that’s how women are,” she said. “They’re multi-faceted, they’re not just the archetypes that we assign to them.”

Sam Richardson Plays Norville (Shaggy)

Norville (aka Shaggy) is played by Veep’s Sam Richardson, who described the new show as “Riverdale meets Scooby-Doo meets adult humor meets slasher film meets hard, hard comedy,” in an interview with The Natural Aristocrat.

Glenn Howerton Plays Fred

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Glenn Howerton plays Fred, and he told The Natural Aristocrat that he was a longtime Scooby-Doo fan. “Loved the original show — all the original cartoons, especially — but also love doing a totally different interpretation of all of them,” he said. Howerton and Kaling previously worked together on The Mindy Project.

Who Plays Scooby-Doo?

Ruh-roh! (Sorry.) No one plays Scooby-Doo on the new Velma series, as the beloved dog isn’t actually a character on the show. “We couldn’t get a take on it,” showrunner Charlie Grandy said at Comic Con, per Deadline. He explained that “what made [the original series] a kid show was Scooby-Doo,” seemingly referencing Velma’s more mature approach. “This coincided with [Warner Bros.] telling us we couldn’t use the dog. So it’s nice to allude to dogs in the world, and leave it at that.”

Who Else Is On The Velma Cast?

While you won’t be hearing Scooby-Doo’s signature voice, you’ll likely recognize other members of Velma’s voice cast. According to Deadline, they include Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Gary Cole, Fortune Feimster, Melissa Fumero, Cherry Jones, Ken Leung, Jane Lynch, Shay Mitchell, Yvonne Orji, Russell Peters, Stephen Root, Debby Ryan, Wanda Sykes, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kulap Vilaysak, Frank Welker, Ming-Na Wen, and “Weird Al” Yankovic.