Biography
Matthew was born in West Hills, CA, in 2002, to an Asian mother (of Indonesian/Chinese descent), from Palembang, Indonesia originally and an American Caucasian father (of Scotch/Irish/German decent). Matthew grew up for the most part in the west San Fernando Valley area, in the suburbs of the great city of Los Angeles, CA. At the age of six, Matthew auditioned for and was accepted into the elite Young Actors Conservatory at Gary Spatz's: The Playground, in Beverly Hills, CA. Matthew had no acting experience at the time, only a dream to become an actor and/or singer/entertainer. Soon after starting acting school, and in the summer of 2009, at age seven, Matthew was recognized for his innate talent and gift of "making people laugh" at a Performance Showcase at The Playground and signed by a talent management company. Soon after this, Matthew landed his first agent representation, Abrams Artists (for commercial) and soon afterward began building his resume, with numerous student films, independent films and background work on TV shows, such as Ghost Whisperer (2005) and _Eastwick_. Matthew did his first lead in a commercial for Trek Livestrong Bicycles, in the winter of 2010, followed soon afterward, with a minor part in a Walmart commercial as a backup player. Matthew added to his resume, with a run of short films, shooting seven shorts in a span of eight months between June of 2010 and March of 2011. He added two independent feature film roles, one shot in December 2010 (The Guest House) and the other one (Two De Force) wrapping, in June 2011 and now in post-production, to be released sometime in early 2012. All of this hard work earned Matthew his first theatrical agent representation in early spring of 2010. Matthew graduated the two-year Kids Professional Program at Gary Spatz's: The Playground, in May, 2011. It was at that time that Matthew landed commercial/theatrical agent representation, with Coast to Coast Talent Group. Matthew is extremely grateful to all who have gotten him this far and very grateful to have worked with Coast to Coast Talent Group representing him theatrically and commercially, as well as William Morris Endeavor - WME - Los Angeles representing him for voice over, for several years up until 2015.
It was at this time, in early 2015, at the age of 13, that Matthew parted ways with his manager of two years, and was fortunate to hire on his new manager, Mia Cho, of the Vincent Cirrinciones Associates Ltd. talent management firm, the same firm that represents the likes of Halle Berry. Mia sought new agent representation for Matthew, and in very short order, Matthew was signed across the board for theatrical and commercial agent representation by IDEAL Talent Agency, Mr. Ryan Haden & Lara Feinstein, theatrical agents and Andrew Vosper, commercial agent.
Some highlights of Matthew's young career include, being invited to and acting as a presenter at the 2010 OMNI Awards for Young Actors & Musicians, which he repeated again at the 2011 event, and a nomination for a Best Actor Award at the 32nd Annual Young Artist Awards, for his role in WURM. In September 2011, Matthew starred in a new kids cartoon, voicing the lead character role for Home Plate Entertainment, produced by Bill Schultz (The Simpsons, and more...) . The show aired on the Disney Jr. Cable television network. Matthew did 52 episodes on this one! Meanwhile, he continued on other projects as well.
More recently, between 2012 and 2015, Matthew has guest starred on numerous hit television series, including iCarly (2007), The Middle (2009), New Girl (2011), The New Normal (2012), and About a Boy (2014). He also starred as one of the lead characters, Redford, in the feature film Camp (2013), which was released in February of 2013 in select theaters and is now available on Netflix and Amazon streaming. Matthew received great reviews for his role in this fact based film, based on real people and true events.
Matthew also attends and participates in several charity events, benefiting children, a deed that Matthew enjoys doing immensely, and is proud to help children of all ages with medical needs and disabilities, or from broken homes and families in need of a helping hand. Most notable of these was the CHOC Event, to benefit Children's Hospital of Orange County, in November of 2010. In 2011, Matthew continued his charity work, with numerous appearances and assistance given at numerous different events all over the greater Los Angeles and Orange County, CA area. A couple of other charities that Matthew participates include filling the role of a celebrity ambassador and participating volunteer for the Ronald McDonald House Pasadena Walk for Kids (annually) and The Shoe Crew Organization for numerous fundraisers and shoe distribution events for under privileged kids and teens.
Matthew enjoys swimming, playing with his cousin's dogs, basketball, football and singing! He and his family go to karaoke on a weekly basis, if time permits. Matthew also loves to go to the Midwest and visit his grandpa and aunts, uncles and cousins back "in that part of the country", as he says. Matthew is still in public school and hopes to remain in a public school as long as his work will allow him to. Matthew is a good student who maintains a straight A grade average. Matthew has two older brothers, one living in Singapore who is married and has a young son, and the other here in Los Angeles, also with a daughter, making Matthew an 'uncle', with both a nephew and a niece! Matthew's older brother in Los Angeles is a recording/sound engineer, and a graduate of the Los Angeles Film School with a BA in Music Production.
