To showbiz born

Some people are to showbiz born. Matt Keeslar, male lead star of AXN Beyond’s The Middleman which premieres tonight at 10, belongs to this group.

“In high school, I participated in plays like musicals and in local theaters,” recalls Matt of his humble beginnings in acting. “Although it wasn’t my dream to become an actor, my interest in it was always there.”

There’s no small or big role and production for Matt. Proof of this is his string of mainstream and independent films. After all, an actor is judged not by the many scenes he appears in or his long speaking lines. He is judged by the level of realism he can give to his character.

To understand this and more about acting as a craft, Matt studied at Julliard School of Dance and Drama where he realized acting is his calling. His college years introduced Matt to the actors’ world through Shakespeare, classical plays and Lee Strasberg, plus different acting approaches and characterizations. He also worked while on tour.

After Julliard, Matt‘s challenge was how to apply what he learned in school in his work.

Being around for years and crossing over from the movies to TV and vice versa, Matt has come up with an acting style that works to his advantage.

“It is my biggest project,” says Matt of his stint on The Middleman with Natalie Morales as sidekick Wendy Watson. “Absolutely it’s challenging playing one of the leads on the show. (Aside from the fact that I am the lead), I have to set an example for the production people in terms of how I work like memorizing my lines and playing my part. My work ethics affects the entire production.”

On The Middleman, Matt holds the top secret job title Middleman and he is out there to fight evil forces. Like all modern-day superheroes, the Middleman relies on his high-tech, NASA-style weapons to seize and save the day. His favorite drink — milk — gives a light, kid-like side to his American hero identity.

To help him accomplish his huge tasks, the Middleman hires sidekick-protege Wendy, a struggling artist who supports her art by doing part-time jobs. Her lively, high-spirited personality gives a funny atmosphere to the fight sequences in the series.

“He is an iconic American hero,” says Matt of the Middleman. “He is clean cut and an all-around hero. The comedy comes from the contrast between Matt and Wendy.” The Middleman is knowledgeable about the world, while Wendy is full of life and sense of humor.

According to AXN, villains like slimy, multi-faceted monster and a mobster ape with a machine gun will double and even triple the comedy on The Middleman.

Making the spy, sci-fi, comic TV show more appealing to televiewers are the android assistant of The Middleman who can change her appearance and the activist Lacey who admires the male lead.

Before The Middleman, Matt has appeared in movies like Safe Passage, Renaissance Man, Quiz Show, The Run of the Country, Mr. Magoo, The Last Days of Disco and Scream 3. He has worked with big-time actors like Albert Finney and Susan Sarandon.