York Region Interview

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ACTING LESSONSThornhill's Matt Austin hits big time playing Power Ranger for TV series

Sep 6, 2005
Roger Varley
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Actor Matt Austin attributed his scruffy look to the fact he is currently making a movie.

Referring to the stubbly beard and old T-shirt he was wearing, he said the movie, being filmed in Collingwood, is based on the city mouse-country mouse tale.

"I'm the country mouse," he explained, sitting on the patio deck of the Golden Star restaurant in Thornhill.

But his appearance didn't prevent the owner of the restaurant from recognizing him, even though he hasn't been there in a long time.

The mid-20s actor -- he preferred not to give his real age, given that he can still play 18-year-olds -- used to frequent the restaurant when he lived in Thornhill and attended Thornhill Public School and Langstaff High School.

It was while attending Kindergarten at Thornhill PS he received his "first piece of press".

"I won first prize in a contest in the Liberal," he remembered.

Since then, he has been receiving more press as an actor, writer, director and producer, on stage and in film.

Asked whether he sees himself more as an actor, writer, director or producer, his answer came quickly.

"That's what my dad wants to know," he replied.

Nevertheless, Mr. Austin has been making a living in the business for seven years.

"I've been doing OK enough to rely on acting without doing another job," he said.

That includes being a member of the cast of Dawn of the Dead, a zombie horror movie, which also featured Canadian actress Sarah (Road To Avonlea) Polley.

"I had a five-minute scene in which my character hits on Sarah," he said. "The shoot was awesome and the director was kind to me."

He later went to see the movie with friends.

"I was really excited, but they cut the scene," he said. "It was the worst feeling."

What made it worse, he said, was he told his mother about the scene and she told everyone she knew to go and see it.

"I've learned my lesson," he said ruefully. "I don't talk about projects much any more."

But, he understands the director's decision.

That's because he has had to make similar decisions when making his own movies.

He explained his father's entrepreneurial background must have rubbed off on him.

"I always wanted to start my own business, but I was always into entertaining from a very young age," he said.

Taking drama in high school -- an easy credit, he said -- he played the lead in his first play, Arsenic and Old Lace,

He said his drama teacher and friends told him how good he was but he wasn't convinced.

It wasn't until he played the lead in another play at the University of Western Ontario when he came to believe acting was the career to follow.

Since then, he has appeared in numerous national television commercials, was a regular in the first season of CBC's SpyNet and recently returned from New Zealand where he filmed episodes of the Power Rangers TV series, in which he plays the Green Ranger.

In 2002, Mr. Austin brought all four of his personas together -- writing, producing, directing and acting -- in Mind The Gap, a one-act play staged at Toronto's Poor Alex Theatre.

The play, a series of meeting between characters on a Toronto subway train, received mixed reviews, but he is planning on re-staging it as well as adapting it for the screen.

One of his most successful movies was a five-minute short called Jimmy, about a 10-year-old heroin addict.

"I did it in the style of (the TV newsmagazine) 20/20," he said. "I feel people believe anything they read or see on TV. I purposely made it an uncomfortable movie, with grainy film and rough sound."

The movie was a metaphor for the addiction of modern children to pop culture: clothing, music, fast food and television, he said .

"Kids are growing up today with scrambled values and broken minds and bodies," he said.

The film, in his words, did awesome, winning awards at film festivals in Calgary and Georgia.

Asked if he prefers acting on stage or in movies, he said both have different attractions.

"Theatre is really satisfying, but for a selfish reason," he explained. "That's where you feel most connected to the other actors, but maybe the audience doesn't get that (feeling). Films are made for the audience to connect to (the story)."

His plans for the next five years are centred around movies.

He hopes to work with Canadian directors such as Don McKellar and David Cronenberg.

In the meantime, he is directing a feature film in Toronto called Dirt.

The only thing from the storyline he could divulge is it concerns a party where something goes wrong.

He also said it was a film with private financing from a party impressed with work he did on Jimmy.

He is also writing a book for young children called The Whale That Ate The Elephant, due to be published later this fall.

Wherever his career takes him, Mr. Austin is determined it will be something to do with the entertainment business.

"I'm not going to fall back on an accounting job," he insisted. "It's got to be something colourful."

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