In Conversation with Perry Mattfeld
In our efforts to keep ROSE & IVY original, we are delighted that an array of talented women with upcoming projects are helping us maintain our integrity by photographing themselves home.
Perry Mattfeld, the star of the CW series In the Dark—which is coming to Netflix on July 17th—talks about stepping into the shoes of her character, Murphy, how she came into performing, the importance of staying humble and how she recharges after a long day.
Photography Courtesy of Perry Mattfeld
Interview by Alison Engstrom
It’s so great to meet you. How are you faring during this challenging time period?
I keep saying that I am very lucky because we wrapped filming in January and we were just renewed for a third season, so even though I am not working, I know that I will have my job. It makes the break feel a lot better. It’s so interesting to talk to my girlfriends because they are saying, my job is in limbo and I don’t know when I am going to go back to the office and I am like, how do you think actors feel, all of the time? (laughs). I have been in limbo my whole life! We joke all of the time, every actor thinks this job is their last because we don’t know when we are going to get an audition. I will be on my way to the DMV, something that I have been holding off on, and then I have to make a u-turn because I got a callback. I have also learned a lot about myself. I realized that I am very motivated by other people and their deadlines and expectations. I am not as self-motivated as I would like to be, say to get up at 6 a.m. and go for a walk. If I didn’t already pay for a class at 7 a.m. then it’s hard for me to do it, just for me. It’s been a little bit of a challenge for me to stay excited, inspired and motivated.
Growing up, what type of child would you say you were?
I was always involved in artistic things but I don’t have family in the industry. I am from Long Beach, CA. I was raised as a normal kid and I went to public school. I did some community theater but I never thought that I was going to try to pursue acting as a professional career until I randomly ended up at an open call for the American Girl tour on the West Coast when I was 12. I got cast and I became an employee of Mattel; I did 169 shows. It was a live show and I played Kit and Kirsten. I did that for two years and then I started going on some auditions, I did some Nickelodeon and Disney things but I always wanted to stay in school. I remember all of high school being on the 405 doing homework, as my mom was driving me. Because I was on such a mainstream academic route and since everyone wanted to go to college, I wanted to go to college. At the time, I knew taking four years off was kind of a risk but it was the best thing that I ever did. I let go of my team, my manger and went to school. I wanted to be in a sorority, be a cheerleader and ride my bike, I wanted to have that experience. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting and a Bachelor of Arts in film theory. I feel like for my emotional development it was so important for me since no one really tells you how inconsistent and isolating your career can be as an actor.
Were you at all scared to step away from your career to go to school?
I was and I didn’t get a ton of support from my team, they were like, what are you doing? You have this momentum built. And I was like, this is four years, I’ll have the rest of my life!
What was your first big project after graduating?
Whenever you graduate from some of the theater conservatories, there is a showcase. You get about 90 seconds to do something for talent managers or producers and Josiah, my agent, who brought me to Innovative, my current agency said, I don’t have anything to show for Perry, she doesn’t have a resume or a reel, but I saw something and I want you guys to trust me and support her. I don’t know how much work they had to do for free but Shameless was my the first big thing where they took a chance on me and it turned into a two-season gig. For your first thing to be a show like that was a huge deal, I got so lucky.
How did the part for ‘In the Dark’ come about?
I was up for Homecoming with Julia Roberts and I really wanted it, I was so close but I didn't get the part but because I had been involved in the mix for the project for so long, the casting director asked me if I was willing to be a female reader at the table-read, so I had to read for the role that I didn't get. It was okay, I loved the project and I still do and it was so awesome for me to be there to support the writers. It was at that table-read that In the Dark said they were going to bring me in for a test. It’s so funny you never know why you don’t get something but I never would have gotten In the Dark, if I was working on that.
That is a very humbling experience to read for a part that you didn’t get.
It can be so hard sometimes because you are never told why you don’t get something—there is never feedback. From my experience, I have just tried to trust that it is out of my control and it’s not because of me, it’s because of something else. I wonder if that was karma.
I think so, you put out such great energy and it came back to you. So how do you deal with rejection which is so prevalent?
It’s so interesting to watch how it doesn’t go away. I have explained to my agent, you mean I am going into my third season, as a lead, for a critically acclaimed show and they are not going to let me audition. That is just part of it. I don’t think you ever really make it, I don’t think that exists. I am at a new level than I was when I graduated from school and was dog walking, babysitting and working at a restaurant. I am at a new tier of limitations in a way but that rejection just doesn't go away.
“It’s been so awesome for me to play Murphy because I don’t really wear makeup and I don’t do anything to my hair. I have been stripped down into a very vulnerable, raw physical state. But then I have been given the voice of someone who is so bold, unapologetic and sarcastic. It definitely has given me a lot more confidence in my physical skin.”
I like to think of life as steps and things accumulate, very rarely to things just happen. Life is a process.
I’m glad you said that because I have thought about it too myself, yes, I got really lucky to end up on a show like Shameless and the show I am on now, but I also started picking away at this at 12. You might hear about someone and think, wow, where did they come from, but they were going at it for a very long time.
You play a blind character on ‘In the Dark’, who has trying to solve her friend’s murder. Can you share more about your character, Murphy Mason and what drew you to the role?
When I saw on the breakdown in my audition that Ben Stiller was a producer, it was a huge pull for me, and Michael Showalter directed the pilot; he is the reason why the show became as comedic as it did. I don’t know if anyone knew it was going to be like that. Luckily because the show is based on a real person, Laurie, who is not only part of the writer’s room but she is the blind consultant on the show for everyone. As daunting as it was and still can be, I obviously realized that I had a huge responsibility to do my part. I educated myself as much as I could and can. I have her to mimic and study and when something comes up in the script all I have to do is ask her, how would you do this? So I studied her for a long time to at least get down the basics of her physicality of how she interacts with her guide dog, how she brushes her teeth, or cooks in her kitchen so that when it came to being on set, I could try to attack Murphy, who is an emotional disaster.
What do you like most about playing her?
It’s been so awesome for me to play Murphy because I don’t really wear makeup and I don’t do anything to my hair. I have been stripped down into a very vulnerable, raw physical state. But then I have been given the voice of someone who is so bold, unapologetic and sarcastic. It definitely has given me a lot more confidence in my physical skin.
It’s real and I think people gravitate towards that. I keep talking about authenticity and when this is over, I hope we remove so much of this fluff and get down to being our most authentic selves.
Brooke Markham, who plays Jess on the show, is brilliant and also one of my best friends, I loved how she said, we all needed a reset. I agree; I do think there is something really admirable about getting rid of the fluff.
The CW is a channel that has released so many iconic shows, back in my day it was Dawson’s Creek and Felicity. Do you have any shows that have defined when you were a teenager?
Gossip Girl, it’s funny Jessica Szohr who played my girlfriend on Shameless, was in the show and I remember right when I booked the pilot of In the Dark, she said, Perry, once upon a time I booked a CW show and it changed my life. I am also so proud of the network for getting behind our show, which is very different for them but also in general. They have been so supportive and awesome of a show that is darker—it’s filmed more like an indie.
What’s been one thing you have been surprised to learn about your field?
No one really told me about the speed of TV. We don’t have time to rehearse, you don’t get a rehearsal with everyone and get to play with things in different ways. All of your prep work has to be done before you come to set because once you get there, you are doing it. You can ask the director questions but you got to go, you don’t get a lot of wiggle room. In theater school you can spend a day rehearsing one scene between two people.
How do you recharge after a long day at work?
I think that maybe it goes back to your other question but I guess I didn't really know how over-stimulating being on set can be. If you think, you are being pumped with new script revisions, concealer is being put under your eyes, a wire is being shoved up your back, someone is putting lotion on your legs—there is so much going on. I get along with my cast so well and we spend so much time together since we are all here alone. The days I did have off, I’d be so overstimulated it was hard to even talk on the phone. I just needed my cat to sit on my chest.
Do you have any other aspirations in the industry?
I have always been interested in directing. I have gained a lot of insight especially on In the Dark, because I am there everyday—I am there from the first scene ti the last scene. There has been a lot of involvement to figure out what they are doing just like they are figuring out what I am doing. I’d love to direct an episode. I also really want to do a limited series or a period piece, I love historical pieces based on a true story.
