Matt Lauria – Kingdom

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I’m just doing “Kingdom.” I’m looking for other things, but this year is my ten year anniversary with my wife. We took a nice long trip together in Austin, TX. Then, we’ll be taking some more trips. It’s been kind of a sweet year for me personally. “Kingdom” is amazing and so much more all inclusive and time consuming than any job I’ve had because even when we’re in our off season there is always training. You have to stay in shape and keep the diet somewhat under control. Then, you’re constantly working out for strength and conditioning, but you’re also training in the various marital arts that are in MMA. So, it’s a pretty tall order. As we shoot, we’re also incorporating all of those aspects of training. Also, the writing is demanding. So, it’s hard to look anywhere else and find time for much anything else. It’s pretty all consuming. So far, it’s been finishing “Kingdom,” I took a vacation and now I’m feeling like Matt again. [laughs] And I’m ready to look at other things.

Q) How was Ryan on “Kingdom” originally described to you?

A) I read the pilot and he seemed like a pretty fascinating guy because there was such a juxtaposing between what you saw Ryan do and how you saw Ryan behave and how you heard Ryan speak compared with how everyone else spoke about Ryan and referred to him. It’s a guy who comes out of jail and looks on the surface like a redemption story. But there was some little whisper, something delicately and very subtly woven into the first script that it may not me the obvious redemption story. It may be a little more complicated than that. Then, as I said, it’s the juxtaposition that everyone calls a “mobster” and a “diva” and generally not the greatest guy. You see this contrite and humble and soft spoken guy and that doesn’t match up with what everyone is saying about him. So, it was rife with interest and curiosity and I was drawn to it immediately.

Q) What was it that you added to your role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) That would be a question for the creator, Byron Balasco. I can only play my version of him. It’s just like any type of art. We all appreciate and understand and digest art in a way that is unique from anyone else on the planet. This was how I saw the character and my focus was just bringing him to life and making that life truthful in the best way that I knew how. All I have are my tools, my life experiences and my imagination. You go off your imagination, life experiences or your observations. So, you do a lot of research and fill in the blanks. I don’t know. I think that Byron and I have really had a beautiful collaboration on this. I think we’re both grateful for one another’s comradery.

Q) A lot of viewers see such depth to Ryan and your portrayal. How do you get into character?

A) These are great questions. Like I said, we have a couple of gifts and the gifts are that the set is beautiful and the art department has created such depth with the sets. The environments are so evocative and they really help place you where you need to be. We also have extraordinary makeup crew and hair department that every day you get in there and you get the tattoos on and you get your cauliflower ear and that helps a lot. Then, we’re also surrounded by actual fighters on set. The background actors in the gym, for instance, are all fighters. You’re observing them and sort of infiltrating their ranks. You’re getting a very hands-on immersion into the world of being a fighter. Then, we have Joe “Daddy” Stevenson and Greg Jackson who are MMA icons guiding us and giving us constant input. These are sort of gifts of it, but then in terms of how you get into the role these characters involve a lot of heavy lifting emotionally and psychologically. They are really well drawn, complicated characters. I’m working with a cast who are terribly, terribly, terribly invested so I think we all feed off that. You end up having to sort immerse yourself very deep in the role and sometimes it takes a while to shake it off. I think all of our wives have commiserated a little on how involved we are required to be in these roles. When you are training in the morning before work and then you go to work and you come home and then you’re lifting and memorizing your lines – it’s your entire world. So, you’re not afforded a lot interruption. And we shoot at a very fast pace. It’s a pretty steep challenge. The gift of that is there is a purity and an authenticity in the characters, but then the challenge of that is shaking it off and realizing the next thing I could do is be a ballet dancer and not a fighter at all. I need to be able to separate it. And it’s a gift to be able to work with people who are so invested and everyone has their own approach. But it is a process and it is challenging and it does take a lot of commitment.

Q) How will dynamics shift for Ryan this season?

A) Ryan is such a weird guy. First season, you see him in a really humble way and everyone is saying he’s a monster. But all you are seeing is a really contrite soft spoken guy (expect for in moments). In the second season, Ryan seems to fit the bill in terms of his previous reputation and he seems to be more of a killer, more confident and more arrogant at times. Then, in this Season 2B, you kind of see the rug get pulled out from under him so everything shifts. He’s suddenly scrambling around looking for something solid to stand on in a way that makes Ryan very uncomfortable. He doesn’t like to act. He wants to be the alpha dog, be confident and be the top dude, but he doesn’t like to be in an unsure position. So, you’ll see as it pans out what the relationships that he has in the story from Alvey (Frank Grillo) do. His mom is gone. His dad is gone. His niece is gone. Alvey is an unsure relationship. Jay (Jonathan Tucker), we’re going to fight. So everything is precarious.

Q) You take on quite dramatic roles. What is it about this genre that draws you to it?

A) I just want it to matter. I just don’t want to do fluff. I would love to do a comedy. There are extraordinary comedies and actors who play roles that are very truthful and detailed and deep. Everything from Bridesmaids to The Overnight are getting remarkable performances. But I think I would love to do a comedy. It’s never about getting a job or a paycheck. My thing is that I want to do roles that mater and when I read a script if it doesn’t have substance and seems too fluffy…It’s hard to explain. It’s not a matter of comedy versus drama. It’s a matter of whether or not I find the role to be substantial and truthful.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from filming “Kingdom?”

A) I think that sometimes as an actor you have clear highlight moments, but I feel like “Kingdom” has been so rich with those. The actresses I get to work with are so talented and so committed and challenge me so much. The entire experience of “Kingdom” has just been one of extraordinary growth, passion and commitment. It’s just been such an evolutionary experience as an artist that the whole experience of training, the brotherhood and sisterhood too (siblinghood)…I don’t have a sister, but I do feel like I have sisters on the show. The whole experience has been so rich, challenging and rewarding.

Q) What do you hope people take away from watching the series?

A) I hope that it moves people. I hope it moves people on a journey somewhere they have never been before. I think the aim with any great art is that you want to keep people sitting on the edge of their sit, leaning forward and never letting them get comfortable and relaxed into the ideal credo or values that they brought with them to this art. You want them to maybe have to reevaluate or just reexamine those ideals that they came in with. Hopefully, it is challenging material that brings insights into types of people they have never seen before and make them question the motives of people they are seeing depicted and either relate or be repelled. Hopefully, it is challenging art that has an effect on people.

Q) You’ve been in two successful, iconic television shows. How does it make you feel having two series that have a lasting legacy?

A) I feel so grateful and so blessed. I feel very lucky that I kind of snuck in on both of them because everyone else had already done that sort of heavy lifting. I just got to come into something (in both cases) that was very well established and well regarded and just do my very best to honor it and not drop the ball.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) I think it is a great opportunity to express gratitude for people invested in your endeavors. Then, it’s a great way of staying connected with people who are big fans of “Parenthood” and “Friday Night Lights” and wanting to know the next project is. I think it is almost the way fan mail used to be. I think fan interaction on social media, the most meaningful ones are being able to give my appreciation for people supporting what I’m doing. It’s very humbling to know people want to follow it. Social media is tricky for me because I’m not very adept at it. I’m not naturally suited to it, but I try really hard. And I never want to reveal too much because I think it takes away to be convincing in a character in a way that they’ve never seen before.

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I couldn’t possibly say thank you enough. I take what I do very seriously and I work really hard at it. I’m always trying to improve. So, I hope that it serves them as an audience and as a fan. I surely hope that they will continue. I would just say thank you from the bottom of my heart for being supportive. Ideally, we’ll continue to go on as many challenging, heartwarming and enlightening journeys together over the next several decades.