Pop Culturalist Chats with Matt McGorry

Matt McGorry is brilliantly charting his own path in Hollywood. He is a regular on two wildly popular television shows– ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder and Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black— and has attracted a legion of devoted fans, thanks to his presence on social media and passion for social activism. McGorry now stars in the new romantic drama How He Fell in Love by writer-director Marc Meyers. This quiet and achingly intimate film follows a steamy affair between Travis (McGorry), a young musician, and Ellen (Amy Hargreaves), a slightly older yoga instructor. The catch? She’s already married to a man about 20 years her senior.

We got to speak with McGorry about his film; and in that process, we learned a little bit about his insecurities, his acting process, and why someone needs to get him a ticket to Hamilton, already.

PC: So let’s start at the very beginning: how did you get involved with this project?

Matt: It was about two years ago and I was shooting the pilot of How to Get Away with Murder when the audition came around. I couldn’t make it back to New York, because we were shooting in Philadelphia, so we did a Skype session. It was a last minute thing for me, which I actually sometimes do kind of well with, having a background in improv. There’s something about a script when you get it very last minute— I think people’s expectations are not super high, and I think that helps me thrive, too. I’m also not worried about the lines and I feel free to make it my own. We did a Skype session there, and then they wanted us back in New York. And we did another session with Amy [Hargreaves] as well—who is my co-star in the movie. We had a reading chemistry audition together and it was great, we really clicked. She is such a fantastic and very giving actress; it felt very comfortable. The script was something that was very much in the vein of what I’ve always wanted to do: to explore the complexities of a relationship in a very deep and meaningful way. It was just an excellent fit.

PC: I think that the chemistry you were talking about having with Amy comes across really well in the film.

Matt: Well, thank you.

PC: Considering that it is such an intimate film—both emotionally and physically— what were the most challenging aspects for you while filming?

Matt: I was coming from a place in my life, actually, where I had recently gone through some relationship stuff, so it was particularly unique timing in terms of how that played into it, and what I was going through in my own life. So that made it an interesting experience as well to think that I could really delve into that in a way that had some parallels for me. There was a lot of intimacy in it. A lot of our chemistry came from really trusting each other. Amy is a very empathetic person, and she’s such a wonderful woman and always aware of how she is making other people feel, and very attentive, and I like to think that I’m not a complete piece of shit [Laughs]. I think that we worked out well together because we trusted each other to go to those places. I think for me there were aspects of even the physical intimacy in addition to the nudity that felt very revealing. Particularly doing it in an independent film setting where the goal was to portray it as real. That means a sort of raw element to it– you know, not editing it to look like I have a six-pack [Laughs]. I think, like anyone else, I have my own insecurities in those areas. I think there was one scene— one of our primary sex scenes, when we’re away at the bed and breakfast— and when we did the version of that, it was a couple minutes of us just going for the take. And that was a really horrible experience to get lost in something like that in front of the cast and crew. Well, not really a cast—I mean, Amy was the other cast! [Laughs] But, in front of the crew. Granted, it was a limited crew of people, but it did feel like a lot. But I was very happy to have her to do it with, because it could have felt much more uncomfortable.

PC: That’s interesting that you mentioned your background in improv earlier, because so much of improv is learning to trust your castmates. So that’s good that it could be transferable in this situation, too, where you really needed to trust your co-star.

Matt: I credit a lot of that trust also to my acting coach in New York. A guy named [Bob] Krakower sort of changed my views on acting— I started studying with him a couple years before Orange Is the New Black came out— and about the idea of how to prepare so that you’re open to where a scene takes you. So, less probably the improv class, more just his framing of acting and the idea of embracing the spontaneity and the uncomfortableness and really just rolling with the punches, rather than sticking to the very rigid idea that you have for what a scene should be— which is, for many years, how I acted before I acted professionally.

PC: So, how did you prepare for the role of Travis?

Matt: I guess it’s hard to quantify. Acting preparation is an ethereal process. Even if I described it, it would mean different things for different people— even the words you say. People talk about getting into character and this and that. For me, the character comes about through the circumstances and the responses that he’s in—you know, it’s about seeing the lines. I’ve never knitted before, [so] I’m not sure this is how it works, but I’m going to use the analogy, anyway! [Laughs] The lines are individual pieces of cloth and how we knit those together or—abandoning an analogy midway through!—these little mazes you go through with your pen. Something like that! Anyway [Laughs] I think you sort of have to go through and justify the logic of the lines. And for me the character comes out of my version of being able to justify those lines. So, that’s going to be different depending on who plays him. Finding your own internal justifications essentially informs who the character is and, oftentimes, the physicality that goes behind it.

PC: It sounds like it’s a very natural process for you.

Matt: Yeah, you know—funny enough!— it took a lot to get to that point. That’s the strange thing about acting: from the outside it looks relatively easy. The whole point is it’s not supposed to look like acting. It’s about trying to get back to the place where it seems very human and spontaneous, even though it is scripted. So, it took me a long time to get there; but figuring out what to keep in place and what to let go is sort of a constant journey to figuring out how to bring a role to life. And I think the script really informs much of what the character takes on and the personality traits. And the fact that Travis is a bit oblivious in certain points— you don’t have to play oblivious, you know? That’s in the script. As long as you justify the lines and make them make sense to you— many aspects of the character are going to come from the script itself.

PC: That’s great that the script works so well with this film, and that it does give you lots of opportunities to make choices as an actor. So, what do you hope audiences take away from this film?

Matt: I like the idea that people can watch this and come away with different perspectives on the ending, on how it should have ended up, who did what wrong, who did what right. And in having conversations about the film, I hope it will reveal things to people about themselves and about the person they’re having the conversation with. I like the idea that not everyone will agree, probably, on what should have happened, or if it was a happy ending or not. That it leaves questions open-ended and causes disagreements is a great thing, rather than spelling things out for people and tying it in a neat little package. So, it’s partly that; it’s partly the idea of going on an emotional journey and taking the audiences there with us and gaining a more complex understanding of love than we often see in film: understanding that it’s really complicated and never simple or easy. I think in many ways it’s often portrayed that way. There’s one main hiccup in the film with the love and happily-ever-after. I like the idea that it’s complex and messy. I think that representation in film is important, because it informs how we view our own relationships. When you have a culture in which the majority of what we see are these relationships where, at the end, they’re like, “Yes, this was 100% the right decision,” I think it allows us to believe that’s how these relationships appear in our own lives. I like that this [film] messes with that traditional mindset.

PC: That’s what art should be doing, right? It should be challenging people and pushing them and opening them up to these conversations. I think you guys did that all very well in this film.

Matt: Thank you!

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: First up: Favorite book?

Matt: Most recently, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. It has really changed my perspective. I’m giving it to everyone—my family and friends, etc.

PC: Very interesting. And probably useful for you for other roles that you’re in now!

Matt: Right. Very informative, though.

PC: Favorite play or musical?

Matt: Oh man. Can I name one that I haven’t seen yet?

PC: Of course!

Matt: Hamilton. [Laughs] I haven’t seen it, just heard it. Some friend put [the] music on the other day, and I went, “Oh, I see why this is popular.” I seem to be terrible at getting to see shows when they have the original cast. Actually, Death of a Salesman— I remember seeing it with Brian Dennehy in it when I was maybe in high school, and it really shook me and was very powerful in opening me to the power of acting and theater.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie or television show?

Matt: I like some really stupid movies a lot. Buddy cop movies and some popcorn blockbusters. I’m not going to name any after qualifying it that way [Laughs]. I’ve seen some extended franchises where I’m like, “I’ll just go, why not!” And then I realize—three movies later— wow, I’ve seen every movie in the franchise. [Laughs]

PC: What would people be surprised to find on your iPod?

Matt: The fact that I have, maybe, zero songs! Actually, that’s not true—I just bought my first albums ever! I usually tend to use the radio. I like the idea of randomness. If you really know me, or if you follow me on social media, it probably wouldn’t surprise you that I have Lemonade. But that’s one of, I think, two albums that I currently own and really love.

 

Catch Matt in How He Fell in Love, which opens on July 8th in Los Angeles and on July 15th in New York followed by a nationwide release.

Make sure to follow Matt on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Photo Credits: Monument Releasing/How He Fell in Love, LLC