Matt Keeslar: The Middleman

By Amanda Brumfield
Pop- Rock Candy Mountain

Tonight, Matt Keeslar will star as the hero in the premier of ABC Family’s “The Middleman”, a sci-fi action adventure series that finds the actor battling aliens and saving the world, along with co- star Natalie Morales.

The show has already received praise from critics. The Daily Variety claims the show “manages the increasingly rare feat of being knowing but not snide. It’s a show, frankly, for people who love (and have probably watched too much) TV.”

The hero himself, Matt Keeslar gave us a little insight into his character and his soon to be a major hit television series, “The Middleman”.

Pop- Rock Candy Mountain (PRCM) You are starring in the television show,“The Middleman” (which premieres June 16th at 8/7c on ABC Family.) From what I’ve read about it, it seems very stylish and funny. Could you tell us a little bit about your character and the story?

Matt Keeslar (MK) The premise of The Middleman is that Wendy Watson is the latest apprentice in a top secret crime-fighting organization that keeps the world safe from threats, infra-, extra-, and juxta-, terrestrial. Natalie Morales plays Wendy, and I play the Middleman, the head of the crime-fighting organization.

PRCM: What is it that led you to play this character?

MK: Javier Grillo-Marxuach, the show’s creator, sent me the script for the pilot. I read it that night, and immediately I decided that I wanted to play the Middleman.

PRCM: What do you enjoy most about playing the Middleman?

MK: The Middleman is unapologetic about who he is and at the same time he is a bit enigmatic. This makes playing him fun because there is so much to discover.

PRCM: What is your favorite part of the show overall?

MK: The quirky dialogue is my favorite part of the show. It is what makes the show unique, and also what makes the show challenging for me.

PRCM: You have appeared in a lot of cult classics, like “Psycho Beach Party”, “The Last Days of Disco”, “Dune”, and Stephen King’s “Rose Red”. You have a gift for bringing unusual, and complex characters to life in very subtle, and natural ways. Tell us about your creative process when working with offbeat characters or unusual scripts.

MK: When approaching a character, I first look at what the character is doing. Then, I try to think of a truthful way to carry out those actions. For me, the goal is always to avoid commenting on the character, to avoid signaling to the audience, “Just acting here, this is not who I am, this is the character I am playing”. The combination of truthful actions and the commitment to those actions is what makes up my technique.

PRCM: What do you enjoy most about acting? Which part of the creative process do you find most fulfilling and rewarding?

MK: My favorite part of acting is discovery, and that generally comes from working off the other actor in the scene. When something occurs to me for the first time, or an emotion bubbles up that I hadn’t planned on, it makes all the monotonous parts of the job worth doing.

Top Photo- ABC Family