www.matthewfahey.com PC: Deidhra Fahey

Tonight on an all new episode of RIZZOLI & ISLES, we finally get to meet the young boy who Korsak helped raise with his ex-wife, played by Lolita Davidovich.  Playing his stepson is a familiar face to all of the AWKWARD. fans I know – Matthew Fahey, Ricky Schwartz himself, guest stars in tonight’s all new episode and spent a few minutes chatting with us about the role, what he knows about S2, his two new movies, and what he does when he’s not acting!

What is your role on tonight’s episode of RIZZOLI & ISLES- what will we see from you on this episode?
I play Detective Vincent Korsak’s stepson, and I get into a lot of trouble.  And he tries to help me out in a fatherly way, but at the same time, trying to do his job.

We got to see the first mention of your character last week when the ex-wife came back – is this someone who could come back / would you want to come back on a recurring basis?
I am hoping [laughs].  There hasn’t been any official word, but I think there’s definitely a place they left off on that there could be more of my character in the show, but there’s been no official word or anything about that yet.

I want to of course talk about AWKWARD. – such a surprising (in a great way) show, one of the best of the past few years.  Did you all know, filming it, that it would be what it was, and have such an impact?
Thank you very much for the compliment! [laughs]  When I read the script, I thought oh, this is such a well written show, and I kind of expected it to be taken in really good way, but you know, there has been a lot of shows out there that were really well written, and had a cult following, but still was canceled because of the ratings.  It’s always a mystery when a show comes out – you don’t know if people are going to accept it as well as others would.  I knew that it was a great show, and I knew that MTV has a huge following with its fan, so it was kind of a yes and a no.  You never know how people are going to accept it, but in my heart, I knew that it was a great show and that a lot of people were going to like it!  We’ve been very fortunate, and have gained so many fans and it’s incredible.

The fans run the gamut from the teenagers to the people in their 40s and 50s. 
Exactly!

Has there been talk about what happens in Season 2 for Ricky and Tamara?
Nothing official yet.  The writers are in the writers’ room, and I guess everybody is going to have to stay tuned for next year ha!

What would you like to see for a character like this – he gets a bad rap for pushing Tamara away or not being the nicest guy all the time?
We’ve seen kind of a little bit of a softer side to him.  Maybe he’ll change, maybe he won’t, and hopefully, he’ll get out of that band outfit.  Try out for the soccer team with the guys or something, and have a friendship with Brett (Jake) and Beau (Matty) on the show.

I love when the show pairs new people.  When Beau was with the girls for the first time, it popped.  I feel like, everybody in the cast is so strong, it could totally work.  What was your high school life like?
I was homeschooled, so I didn’t actually go to a real high school.  I definitely had girlfriends or dated girls.  I was never one to go out and date numerous girls [like Ricky].  I didn’t like doing that.  My mom brought me up to really respect, so I could never really go out with more than one girl ha.  So there was definitely all of those awkward moments that everyone dating in high school has.  So I can’t say that I was like Ricky in that sense.  But definitely, always with friends, joking around, I definitely was like him.

What would you say to people who haven’t watched – why should they catch up on AWKWARD.?
I first would say you should watch Season 1, to get an idea for what’s going on.  No matter how old you are, if you’re in high school, or you’ve already been in high school, it’s a very truthful show.  To see everything that goes on in a high school. Everybody who has gone through it, they know about the awkward.  Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, you’re still trying to find your place.  I think that’s where every character in AWKWARD. is searching for their place in life.  It’s a very truthful show, and they’ll find a lot about it that maybe they’ll relate to or just really enjoy watching.  Lots of laughs [laughs].

Switching gears a bit – you have two movies heading to Sundance this year – that’s exciting! What can you tell us about both?
“Excision” is a movie with AnnaLynn McCord, Malcolm McDowell, Marlee Matlin, Jeremy Sumpter, Ariel Winter.  It’s one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen. I saw it, and it left me speechless, it was so good, and just so different than anything I’ve ever seen before. I was so blessed to be a part of such a great movie like that.  Got to work with amazing people.  It was out of the box.  Such an incredible movie, and I’m very thankful to be a part of it. “The First Time” is a film I did with Victoria Justice and Britt Robertson.  It’s a quirky little love story.  Two high school kids getting together in a weird, quirky, different way.  It’s a really cute movie, wonderful script.  I got to work with incredible people on that.  I’m just so proud of everybody doing their jobs and making something that is so great, and being able to pull it out and get to Sundance.

I love reading this here in your bio – in between acting jobs, you created a production company!  At such a young age, what was the decision, and why did you make the decision to start your own?
I started doing like, little short films when I first moved out.  I had bunch of friends when I lived at this apartment complex, and we were just like, kids and bored, out here for acting, and decided we were going to shoot little short films.  We went around with cameras, we really didn’t know how to work it – you just kind of pressed record, and whatever came out, came out. Last year, my brother and I started filming music videos, and it kind of exploded from there, into shooting short films, and web series, and we have features that are in the works, and we’re talking to people about those.  It’s a whole other way, different aspects of the acting world.  On set, I would sit there, I would just watch the directors, the producers, the lighting people, and the gaffers, the grips, and the photographers.  I would just sit there and watch them.  It’s so incredible – everyone has their own little job, and they all get put together, into one giant moving picture.  It’s the most fascinating thing.  I just wanted to see what it was like, and I really fell in love with it, and really enjoyed it, and now we have this production company, Auteur Legacy, and we’re just doing the same thing everybody else is doing, on a smaller level [laughs], but we definitely really enjoy it, and it keeps us busy when we’re not acting.  It’s a lot of fun, we all really enjoy it.

Do you have someone whose career you’d love to emulate / career path you’d love to follow?
Definitely!  Leonardo DiCaprio has had an amazing career path.  “Basketball Diaries” is one of my favorite movies, and kind of where I definitely saw something where I was like, this is where I could see myself going, and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?”. Wonderful movies, like “The Departed” – I really enjoyed that.  I could definitely see myself in that career path.  It doesn’t seem like he’s chosen any bad roles, ever, and I just really admire him as an actor and as a person.  It would be wonderful to go on that path.

Do you have a chance to catch some TV in your downtime, or have favorite shows you try to catch each week?
I do.  I don’t watch much TV, and it’s awful for me to say, being an actor.  I’ve been watching BREAKING BAD a lot.  It’s such a wonderful show.  My favorite show of all time was FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

Amazing!
It was such an incredible show!  I would stay in for like 5 years, stay in every weekend, Friday, and just watch FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.  I recently went back and started watching every season over again.  I watch it, and can’t believe how good the show is, and it got canceled, and people sent it lightbulbs and it got picked up.  It’s such an incredible show and that’s pretty much my all time favorite show.