Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Dear White People’s Griffin Matthews

Griffin Matthews is a veteran in the industry. He’s a quadruple threat who writes, acts, directs, and produces. His journey has been filled with twists and turns, and along the way he’s learned the importance of being yourself, being bold, and doing it loudly.

His latest role finds him playing a character who lives and breathes these lessons tenfold. He’s starring (and shining) as new character D’Unte in Netflix’s acclaimed series, Dear White People.

Pop Culturalist caught up with Griffin to chat about his career and Dear White People.

Career Questions

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting, writing, directing, and producing? Is there one that you naturally gravitate towards?
Griffin: I started out as an actor. That became a gateway to understanding storytelling. Through acting, you start to realize that there are stories to tell, and you have to figure out how to translate those. Then through my acting career, I got a really cool opportunity to start writing. From that point, I understood the mechanics of storytelling as a writer and realized I wanted to do some directing. It was this natural progression as I started to get better at telling stories. I always see the world in stories, I see people as stories, and so that’s where my journey started.

PC: Who or what would you say has had the biggest influence on your career?
Griffin: That’s such a good question. This is going to sound so cheesy, but I have to say my husband. This business is so brutal, and he happens to also work in the industry. Most people never get to see the work associated with getting on a TV show or getting someone to produce one of your musicals; everyone sees the wins. They never see all the rejection, all the effort to audition and put yourself out there. Matt has been such a champion for me. I think because he’s a white guy, he also gets to see how the business has treated me differently than him. He’s been so supportive and encouraging.

He’s definitely one of the biggest influences in my career. I also think it’s a really crazy, beautiful time for the LGBTQ+ community. I was listening to Laverne Cox on NPR yesterday, and I’m dear friends with Billy Porter, and people like them are continuing to open the door for people like me. Their influence on the business has had an incredible impact for actors like me, who are trying to be seen more than just a sassy secretary or the best friend. My whole career was the secretary; I’ve spent my career playing the secretary. Now, there are finally real jobs with real material to dig into.

PC: What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned being a part of this industry? What’s one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you got started?
Griffin: The biggest lesson is that this is a marathon. It’s become even more challenging now because of social media. Everyone’s seeing everyone’s successes, and these fifteen-year-olds have millions of followers. You’re like, “What are they doing? What’s happening? How do I compete with that?”

When I first started in this business, I would be waiting in audition rooms with guys from Julliard, Yale, and Carnegie Mellon. It’d be all the guys who went to drama school. Now, the waiting room are models, influencers, and YouTubers. It makes the business of acting really challenging.

You have to learn to keep going. This isn’t a sprint. It’s not about millions of followers. It’s about getting up every day and doing the work. The thing I wish I knew that I know now is everything works out.

I auditioned for Lionel, for the film [Dear White People]. It came down to me and another actor who got the job. That was seven years ago. I could never have imagined that I’d show up again in Dear White People [the television series] as Lionel’s mentor. It’s a role that I feel like was tailor-made for me. So, it’s really about trusting that things will work out the way they are meant to.

Dear White People Questions

PC Tell us more about your character in Dear White People, and what drew you to that project?
Griffin: I play D’Unte. He joined this season to help push Lionel to become the best version of himself. The thing I love so much about D’Unte is through playing him, he’s also pushed me. We get the scripts weekly, and there were things that I read that I had to Google. I was like, “What does this even mean?” He was so far into this comfortable space with his sexuality, his clearness, and his otherness. He pushed me as an actor to go, “Wait, I don’t even think I know what some of this is.”

I never ever identified as a queer person. Growing up, that was such a negative word. Throughout shooting the season, I was like, “I like this word!” [laughs] It’s so me. It feels like something that I can take on now. I think I never would have come to that if I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to play D’Unte. People are responding so beautifully to the character because everyone has a D’Unte in their life. That force that pushes them forward to know more, to do more, to be better, and to be bolder.

PC: D’Unte is a mentor to Lionel. Who was that person for you? Who helped push you forward?
Griffin: Someone that I definitely look to is Billy Porter. He’s from Pittsburgh, as am I, so I grew up knowing about Billy. He also went to Carnegie Mellon, which is where I studied as well. When I was a junior, Billy came back to be a guest professor. That class changed my life. He was like, “Be louder, be bolder, go further, and push yourself.” At the time, it was a very aggressive approach. He was treating us like he was a coach. You can push yourself much further than you think. He was tough on me because I think somewhere in me, he saw himself. Here’s this skinny black gay boy at Carnegie Mellon trying to figure out how to push through and survive the business. Seeing all his success now has been insane. I’m really proud of him. He never gave up.

PC: Is there a scene that you’re excited for your fans to see? What was the most challenging to film?
Griffin: I think my favorite scene is the first scene in the STD truck. I loved working with DeRon [Horton] and I just love what that scene is about. It’s a push for knowledge, especially with everything that’s going on in our culture right now. You need to be educated on HIV and STDs and know how your body works. I really loved the innocence of that scene.

The toughest scene to film was the frat party. [laughs] When they pulled that little glitter rhinestone thong out, I was mortified. No one has ever asked to see my tiny booty on a TV screen. [laughs] I was so afraid. I had a deep conversation with my husband. I sent him a picture of me in the costume, and he was like, “You look beautiful.” In that moment, I decided that I wanted to wear the costume. This is not about Griffin, it’s about D’Unte and what he is wearing.

It was important that we show different body types on television. I happen to be in this particular body, and it’s rarely represented on television as a sexual object. I love that my little skinny body is trotting throughout that episode, feeling very confident, and fully alive in my sexuality. Justin [Simien] and the whole team created that space for my body to exist. This is what men actually look like.

PC: It’s apparent that you took a lot from this project. What has being a part of this project meant for you and your career?
Griffin: I’ve been in this business for a long time, but this is the first time in my career that I walked onto set and I wasn’t the only person who looked like me. I sat down in the makeup chair, and they had all of my color. When I sat down in the barber chair, the barber gave me a haircut. That’s never happened in my entire career; I’ve never had a haircut on set. I’ve never had a black woman director. The frat party was directed by Tiffany Johnson, and she was the first black woman I have ever encountered behind the camera as a director. When you’re on a set where diversity is actually a real thing, it allows you to give your best performance. I would never have been able to give that performance if there were not people of color, gay people, trans people—everyone! Everyone was cheering and supportive. I pray to God that I have another experience in this career where that can happen again.

To keep up with Griffin, follow him on Twitter and Instagram, and binge-watch Dear White People on Netflix today.

Photo Credit: The Riker Brothers