In this interview, the actor recounts his path from studying acting in New York to moving to Los Angeles. He credits a mentor—whom he calls a "grandfather"—for guiding him and encouraging the move. He describes the financial grind of working bar shifts while funding three coaches (vocal, audition, and a unique show like Avenue Q) and recounts a near-miss callback for Avenue Q, highlighting the competitive nature of auditions. A pivotal moment occurs when he meets his future wife, Laura, in a 12‑person acting class; both discover they grew up three blocks apart in Front Royal, Virginia, leading to an immediate connection and eventual marriage. The couple makes a road‑trip to LA, embracing the city’s dream‑er culture. The conversation also touches on his philosophy of celebrating others’ successes and a brief segue into how he chooses projects, hinting at his criteria for role selection.
New York to study acting in college, then transition to Los Angeles. What was that journey like, and what were some of the biggest challenges you faced along the way?
Yeah, well, what made me make the move was actually my acting teacher who I studied with for 2 and a half years in Chelsea and really became a grandfather to me. And, and he had his own studio, so he brought in the best of the best. And it was a small little studio, you know, on the 6th floor on 26th Street. And, you know, there were times, you know, because again, it's not all roses, right? It's work. And I had put a lot of money. I was working bar shifts till sometimes 4 in the morning, putting a lot of that money back into my career. There was at one point that I had 3 different coaches that I was working with, like a vocal coach, an audition coach, which I was up for. And then there's, you know, really unique shows like Avenue Q, which is a puppet show. If you don't know, it's a, you know, it's a really, really cool show. Ifyero. And so like there were a lot of shows that I was close to, like, you know, final call, but I just missed, you know, and sometimes I'd missed to someone that had, you know, a TV film credit. Right. And I actually remember my final callback for Avenue Q. I actually knew the guy. We worked out at the same gym and I knew him and I literally looked at him before, uh, he went into the room, and I meant it. I said, I'm really glad that one of us is gonna get this, because it was somebody that had kind of done the same thing that I did, you know, like worked really hard, deserved it, put a lot of the money that he made into, you know, from, from the gym and personal training right back into his career, just like I had from the bartending shifts, putting it right back into my career. Like, it wasn't something that was going to be given to either one of us. Like, it was something that one of us was going to earn, and I was glad that it was one of us. And that's always kind of been my mentality. And so, you know, basically studying in— I, I took a film class, uh, because, you know, I grew up a theater kid, and so I was really— I got to study with Peter and Diane Meider. Peter, and, uh, so he was a really, really great, um, you know, they were just a great husband-wife tandem that really loved it out of you. And their, their class was a safe space, and they taught you technical aspects. Well, I took that class, and the first day You know, I was paired with a girl named Elizabeth and she's become a really good friend. She was actually at my wedding, right? And we literally, you know, were paired together. And afterwards I went to Peter and I said, hey, you know, how do you want me to, you know, you want us to get together maybe once and run the scene or do you want us to not run it or what? But how do you, how do you like actors to kind of go off and He's like, yeah, just get together. Just has to be once this week, you know, run the scene a couple times, figure out those little moments in between because there's so much like behavior that you can, you can build in film specifically that really, really instigates those moments on, on screen. And so he was talking to me, you know, for about 15 minutes afterwards. But, you know, as I was walking out, he was like, oh, by the way, Elizabeth isn't your scene partner. I was like, oh, but you paired me with Elizabeth. He was like, no, Laura is your scene partner. She just wasn't here today. Um, so, you know, you know, connect with her when you can and, and, and, and have her over. She's taken the class before. She knows what to do. She had taken the class 2 times before, but connect with her when you can. So I connect with Laura. She comes over to my apartment where we're rehearsing. I pull out the scene and, and the call sheet. And it just occurred to me in that moment, I said, hey, I noticed that you have a 540 area code. 'Where are you from?' in Virginia. And she looked at me and she said, 'Front Royal.' And this is again on 79th and Broadway in New York City, right? One of the biggest cities in the world.
Yeah.
And I looked at her and I said, 'Excuse me?' She said, 'Front Royal, Virginia. Have you heard of it?' I said, 'I'm from Front Royal.' And I said, 'Yeah, seriously, uh, my dad's the karate guy across from the Main Street Cinema, and I know this person, I know this person, I know this person.' And I was like, 'Well, what does your family do?' She said, 'My family owns the Apple House,' which is a small little country store that only somebody in that area would know. Actually, they did Alpenglow, which was like the East Coast Martinelli's, and it's just a store right off of 66 from our little town. And I looked at her in that moment, and on 79th and Broadway, on my dresser, I pointed to my 3 things on my dresser that literally still had the price tag still on them from the Apple House. So we're from the exact same town. We were, we were literally living 3 blocks away from each other our whole entire life, only a year apart. But because of the different divorces in our family, she went to this one school over this town, and I went to one school over in this town. So our circles were a little bit different. And, um, you know, at that moment it was a breakup scene from Say Anything, and, uh, I, I literally looked at her and I said, well, we've already gotten the breakup out of the way. Are you ready to go out on a date? And, uh, that's when we started dating. And, uh, To answer your question about LA, my girlfriend then, now my wife, and we moved across the country, you know, a few years back to LA because Terry again was a grandfather to me. He brought me into his office and he said, you know, Matt, I think maybe you should try to give LA a shot. Like, I see your work in class. I feel like you really would be very dynamic in front of the camera. And at that point, Laura was already packing the bags. We were ready to go. We made a road trip out of it, CJ. We went to the Grand Canyon, and we just made it a really cool kumbaya trip. Just a couple kids throwing everything in the car, you know how it is, and, and, and, and, and just getting here in January, and it was 85 degrees, and we were both like— and we were like, you know, maybe, maybe this is, this is where we, we're meant to be. And, and, and we love LA. LA, like I said, it's a, it's a city full of dreamers. Dreamers are fighters. Don't sleep on LA. LA strong, baby. And And yeah, it's just been a real journey up until this point. And it was just, I met a girl in a 12-person acting class in New York City, found out we grew up 3 blocks away from each other. And that's why I'm here right now talking to you.
Man, I tell you, boy. Now that's one—
Right? Right?
Yes! I like that.
That was good. That was good. Cheers to that. That was good. I like that.
So that was cool, man. You know, I was listening to you too. And you know, something resonated to me, something that you said about you and the guy, how y'all was auditioning together. And you said, look man, I'm glad it's one of us that's going to get, you know, this role. And a lot of times too, man, you know, things, doors open up for people when you can genuinely be happy for others. You know what I'm saying? Like, we going for the same thing. But if you get it, I'm happy for you as if I'm getting it. Because if it didn't work out for me, I know God got something in store for me. You know, he's just trying to test us to see how it'll be if we can push others along, you know what I'm saying? And give them encouragement. Even when you striving to do the same thing, you say, okay, that's for them. I got something bigger and better for you. Can you be patient? You know what I'm saying? And can you be happy for others in they moment as you would want people to be happy for you in your moment. You know what I'm saying? So it worked out for you well. It got you the lady, it got you California, all the wonderful things in life, man. That's it. That 85-degree weather, I am totally jealous right now. You know what I'm saying? I know that was then, but when you talking negative 20 right now at 85, man, that's a little bit. A jealousy creeping in. So, man, let me ask you, man, you've had a, uh, a diverse range of roles from Somewhere in Montana to Disney's Counting Scars and even Autodrama, a podcast like no other way. How do you choose your projects and what type of roles excite you the most?
That's a great question, CJ. I mean, honestly, I let the projects choose me, you know. I, I think it's the job of the actor to uniquely put yourself on tape and enjoy the process of auditioning. In—
