Matt Lanter – Commander In Chief

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  This past summer I came off of a play here in Los Angeles.  I did the play with Lawrence Fishburne and another girl Amanda McDonald.  It was quite an experience!  It was quite an experience to perform in front of that many people almost every night for seven weeks.  So, I did that and coming out of that I was actually offered a role on a show called “Shark” for this fall.  It’s James Woods and it’s on CBS, it actually premieres tonight.  On the show I am playing the role of the boyfriend of Danielle Panabaker, she’s his daughter.  It’s a quality show, I’ve seen the pilot, and it’s a good, well written and quality show.  I am also working on the show “Heroes” on NBC.  I know it has gotten a lot of pre-season buzz.  It’s supposed to be one of the big shows, capturing the young demographics.  It’s if real life people were to discover they had superhero powers, how that would happen.  So, that’s kind of what happens on “Heroes” and on that show I am playing the boyfriend of Hayden Panettiere’s character.  Just recently I booked a lead in the animation series “Star Wars.”  They’re doing a 3-D animation cartoon of “Star Wars” and I’m playing Anakin Skywalker.  I have my plate full and I’m having fun!

Q.  It seems like you’ve been keeping quite busy since “Commander In Chief” was cancelled.

A.  Yeah, that was such a great experience for me.  I got to go in there and work with such great actors and to work opposite of Geena and some of the others on there; was really a dream come true.  That was kind of my first big break.  I actually didn’t get to work with Donald Sutherland because of our characters and the plot lines; we never really crossed paths.  It’s unfortunate, but it could be good because he’s very intimidating.  His character was extremely intimidating; he’s such a great actor.  I tell you what, that was so much fun to do that show.  It was a show with a good premise and it felt like we were all doing something for a cause.  Not just for entertainment purposes because it had a possible culture changing plot.  So, supposedly that might open up doors for the future.  It was a great time, they’re actually trying to bring it back.  A lot of people don’t know what happened to it, to be honest, the network took it off and didn’t really say what happened.  But, they’re actually trying to bring it back with a two hour movie in the Spring.  I am not sure when we’re filming, I’m not sure the details.  All I really know is they are trying to bring it back as a two hour movie.  If it goes over well, they’re going to try to carry that momentum into a new season.  It’s interesting because that’s never happened before on any show.  We’ll see, we’ll see where that goes!  I don’t know who is coming back, I’m not sure on the characters.

Q.  Since “Shark” is premiering tonight, why should viewers take the time to check out the show?

A.  Well, of course, number one James Woods.  He’s such a talent and he always brings such an interesting character to his performances.  I think the character that he plays in “Shark,” I’ve really only seen the pilot and can really only speak for that, he’s got a lot of different sides to this character.  He’s this kind of hard nosed lawyer and at the same time he’s got a soft spot for his daughter.  He’s trying to be a good dad and a good defense lawyer at the same time.  Tonights pilot he goes from defense to DA office.  So, he kind of switches sides and his character is dealing with those emotions.  It’s really quality written, it’s one of those clever and smart shows that could be towards the older demographic.  But, from what I saw, it was really quality.  You watch some shows and you’re like, “Oh, okay.”  Then the other ones are very clever and quality shows.  It’s got a great time slot, it’s right after “CSI,” which should be good for it.  Thursday is a tough night now with “Grey’s Anatomy” and “CSI,” we’ll see.

Q.  With working on “Heroes,” do you have a really memorable moment from filming?

A.  Well, I don’t really want to give too much away.  So, honestly, a memorable moment from “Heroes” was the heat filming. We were in the desert up above Santa Clarita, which is pretty much desert area.  About a month and a half ago we were having severe heat.  I think it was a hundred and nineteen degrees when we were filming.  So, that probably is my most memorable moment.  Trying to get through the heat, actually, we were filming out there and three of the extras passed out.  They weren’t hydrating themselves well enough.  That was pretty intense. 

Q.  When taking on a role, how do you get yourself into character?

A.  Well, with “Commander In Chief,” I was a re-cast.  Being cast, they don’t tell you much about the role.  All I knew was that I was supposed to be starting out as the first son; the golden child.  I was compared to John F. Kennedy Jr. and that was kind of my only basis to base the character around.  I did some research and read a book on John F. Kennedy Jr.  I did some Internet research to see what he went through.  He went to law school and did all this other stuff, that’s pretty much how I tried to base it.  Other than that, I wasn’t copying any one character or person.  I just took that information and had it stored and some ways tried to represent that.  Other than that, I took my own spin on it.  Script to script I went with it and tried to find the character through the several episodes that we did. 

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  Let’s see the little spare time I have between working, voiceover and auditions for film, I recently bought a house.  I am trying to fix that up and make that work.  Other than that, hanging out with friends.  I have a girlfriend out here and we’re just hanging out and having a good time being young, living in LA. We’re not huge partiers, we just try to stay normal.  It’s fun to stay normal and do things that we would back home in Georgia or Florida, something like that.  I have a couple of buddies from Orlando, we get together and play some board games.  Just try to do something laid back, not always try to go out to a club. 

Q.  Do you have a latest obsession?  Are you into any particular book, music group, sport or activity?

A.  Don’t get me wrong, I love music and love to listen to it.  I do the whole Ipod but I don’t really get obsessed with one band.  I just kind of flip on the radio, I bought FM radio a couple of weeks ago for myself.  It’s the best thing ever, it gives you like a hundred stations.  You just flip it on and go from station to station and listen to whatever is on.  As far as a latest obsession, I am so busy I don’t feel like I have time for an obsession.  I wish I did!  Lately though, it is the Falcons, the NFL came on a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve been into that and following the day to day website reports of injuries and stuff like that.  I bought a Falcons jersey the other day.  They’re having a huge game against New Orleans this Monday back in the Super Dome.  So, that’s my latest obsession, football being back on!

Q.  What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A.  Thanks for watching, thanks for being a fan.  Keep looking out, because I’m in the beginning of my career.  I’ll be doing nothing but working more and trying to bring some interesting characters to more projects.  So, be looking out!