If you are a fan of the "Scream" series, John Malkovich, or Christopher Guest, then chances are you may have already seen Matt Keeslar in action. We chatted with him recently about his training at Juilliard, earlier roles, and his upcoming series "The Middleman," which premieres June 16 on the ABC Family Channel.

You sound sleepy.

It's been a long week.

We heard. You are right in the midst of shooting "The Middleman"?

We're in the middle of episode 105, the fifth episode of season 1.

How many episodes are there altogether?

They have asked for 13, with an option for 9 more, so that will be fulfilled (or not) come August. It will depend on popularity, ratings, and the overall success of the series. And I think that even if we only shoot 13 episodes total, it would still make a great boxed set.

Tell us more about it.

"The Middleman" is based on a pilot that was made into a comic book series and subsequently graphic novels that has now been made back into a pilot and television series. This all started about 20 years ago when Javier (Grillo-Marxuach,) the writer and producer, made a pilot that didn't get produced. He decided to hire a comic book artist. Now it's been readapted to television again.

The basic premise is somewhere between "X-Files" and "Get Smart." It doesn't have the seriousness of the "X-Files" but it has a lot of the same ideas, battling aliens and supernatural things. It's basically battling comic book evil. The main character is Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales,) who is an artist that just graduated from art school. Because of her relative ease in evasive danger, she gets indoctrinated into a secret society called The Middleman. It is also the name of my character.

 

ABC Family's The Middleman Trailer

 

The Middleman is an organization that deals with all things extra-terrestrial and supernatural. The term that I use is infra, extra, and juxta-terrestrial. We have everything from mind-controlled gorillas to a reanimated Terra Cotta warrior from the Chin Dynasty, to aliens from other planets who are hiding on the earth, masquerading as plastic surgery victims.

(laughs) How clever.

(laughs) Yeah. Javier is a bit of a boy genius. He's like the smartest 14 year old that you will ever meet. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture and particularly sci-fi culture. He combines all of these references into making a very tongue-in-cheek spy/sci-fi thriller.

It isn't much of a secret now that it is the title.

We play with the idea that even though it's a secret organization, the characters of Wendy and myself go undercover. We never really change costumes or do anything to make ourselves appear different, other than carry around badges that say things like we are from the Center for Aquatic Disease Control. We flash the badge and everyone believes us. The whole premise is that there is a suspension of disbelief. The "Get Smart" part of the equation is a sort of silly humor that is parodying the "X Files" half of the equation.

Tell us about Natalie Morales.

This is her first television series. She's a very talented girl from Miami and very easy to work with. It's nice when you find someone who is fresh out of acting school and really interested in doing the work. There is a self-serious male character that I play and a sort of wry humor character that is Wendy, so the two play off each other.

This is your first starring role?

It is. In fact, it is my first television series.

How do you like it so far?

It's good. It figures that I would get a television series that would require a lot of work. It's the challenges of this particular character and tongue-twisty dialogue that makes it a lot of fun to play.

Do you have a Henson creature named Spanky in the show?

Spanky is the gorilla. For the first episode, about mind-controlled gorillas, we used one of the characters from the Henson Creature Shop. It's amazingly lifelike and realistic. One person operates the movements of the gorilla and another person operates the gestures on the face. We had a lot of fun playing with it. At the end of every episode we have our "Moment of Zen" (like "The Daily Show,") where they use some clips. So at the end of the first episode the gorilla does Tai Chi.

It's quite clever. We also have a Flying Peruvian Pike, which is also a puppet.

You have a flying fish?

Yes, it's an evil, attacking fish.

(laughs) Okay.

(laughs) It jumps out of the lake and bites people and turns them into trout-craving zombies.

Sounds fun. We like sci-fi.

Me, too. This is the meeting point of all of the minds on this show. We are all into "Battlestar Galactica," "Star Wars," and "Star Trek." "Dr. Who" is also a huge influence. We have one episode coming up that is inspired by "The Prisoner," Patrick McGoohan. When I was a kid it used to scare me, that bouncing pink ball.

The ABC Family part of the equation is that the show plays well on several different levels. There are a lot of references that are more for adults (but not in the Rated R way) that might go above kids' heads. At the same time, there are puppets that are much more focused on the younger demographic. One of the things that Disney does well is putting together something that can be watched by several generations and appreciated on different levels. That's really what this show is, too. The monsters are fun for kids and the relationships are more for adults.

You were in the TV Version of "Dune."

I played Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, which is the part that Sting played in the movie. It was a great part, although it was hard to live up to Sting in a bikini. I did my best. (laughs)

Did you wear a bikini?

No, but we had this designer, Theodor Pistek, (who won an Academy Award for "Amadeus,") and his costumes were really bizarre, like stuff with metal flags coming out of the back, and satin pants. We did the final fight scene half-dressed.

It was a wonderful experience. I also got to work with Fabrizio Storaro, the lighting designer. It was like a dream sci-fi role. My agent at the time warned me, "Do you really want to go to the Czech Republic for two months to do this relatively small part?" I said yes, that this was important, being only the second version of Dune that was put on film. I had a great time and I believe that a lot of sci-fi fans were also fans of the Dune series.

We don't think that the original movie stuck to the theme of the book as much as your series.

The television series was mostly a translation of the book. The book fits better into a mini-series format because the chapters progress relatively slowly. It makes more sense to turn it into a 4 to 6 hour movie than a 2 hour one that will have a lot of compression.

What was it like working with Christopher Guest in "Waiting for Guffman?" Was there a lot of improv?

Yeah, yeah. It was my second biggest job out of college and I had a great time working on the project. I was a bit overwhelmed and felt out of my league. I had studied improv but not the comedic type. I felt it was a cool thing to be a part of. Like "Dune," it is a cult favorite. Even though I have done the big box office movie, "Scream 3," it doesn't have the same lasting impression that "Guffman" did.

During Guffman, it appeared that you weren't much of a singer/dancer. Was that the character?

Yes. I can sing and dance. Johnny Savage was supposed to be a guy who worked in a gas station who was more or less in the production because Corky (Christopher Guest) had a thing for him. And there had to be a reason for me to drop out of the musical as well.

It couldn't be that this was his calling in life. On some level, it never occurred to him that there would be a problem with dropping out of the play at the last second. It's like, so what if I don't show up for work? It's like not showing up at the gas station for a day. From a performer's point of view, that's an anathema, to miss the play. The show must go on. So it was important to have a separation between who Johnny Savage was and who the rest of the characters were, who were so involved in making this production.

Tell us about "Scream 3."

I played the David Arquette character. They were making a movie of the first movie, so it takes place in Hollywood. I play Dewey. He gets blown up in the house.

I'm so sorry. Do you like doing horror?

I do. I like doing horror and sci-fi movies. I think the sci-fi genre, although I think it is looked at as a 20th century phenomena, has been around as a form of fantasy for a long time. Look at The Winter's Tale, the Shakespeare play. It had a lot of sci-fi elements to it. Phillip K. Dick said that sci-fi requires the participation of the reader as well as the writer because the reader is the one who is imagining the entire world that the writer is creating. I like that kind of participatory matter. It requires the person that is watching to be interested in what's happening. It draws the audience in because they have to think about it.

You were born in Michigan.

Yes. I was born in Madison Heights and grew up in Adrian. We used to go to Detroit all the time for Tigers games. I lived in New York for 8 years and I have lived in LA for 9 years.

What made you decide to go to Juilliard?

I applied to the U of M and got in, so I was set to go there but wasn't sure about a major. On a lark, I decided to audition for some drama schools because I was also into acting when I was in high school. I was accepted to the three schools that I auditioned for, so I thought since Juilliard had such a great reputation and was right in the center of New York, it was a great location. So I went there right out of high school.

Was it tough there?

They prepare you in many ways for working once you get out of school. For example, they have a twelve hour turnaround. You have twelve hours between when your last class finishes and your first class the next morning. That's basically what you do in film and television as well. You get up in the morning, you work all day, take a lunch and dinner break, then you go home to learn your lines. You get up the next morning and go back to work again.

That's not much of a private life.

The great thing is that you get to do the art that you love. My wife and son come to the set a lot and we try to squeeze in a much time as we can.

You also did "Art School Confidential" with John Malkovich.

That was a great experience, too. Getting to work with Malkovich was awesome. I was always a big fan of his. He is a fascinating guy to talk to. He has a very eclectic and broad scope of knowledge, of history and politics.

What is your favorite genre to work in?

It depends on the character. It's hard to describe but you know it when you see it. First and foremost I have to have some empathy for the character and it has to stimulate my imagination. I would have to think that would be a cool thing to play or an interesting thing to try. That's the main thing. The genre really doesn't matter that much. Drama is best when there are some comedic elements in it and comedy is best when there are dramatic elements or when it is based on some reality. So I don't think there is much of a delineation between the two.

It was nice talking to you. Thanks, Matt.

It was nice talking to you, too. Take care.

Interview by Sheila Franklin
Starpulse contributing writer