Biography
Matt Harrison grew up on 100 acres of land with 4 brothers and 2 sisters in Melrose, a pretty small town in upstate NY. Bitten by the acting bug in the 4th grade when he played Amahl in "Amahl and the Night Visitors"; Matt never missed another performance from then on through college at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.; where he also played the starting free safety on the varsity football team his freshman and sophomore years. Halfway through his junior year though, Matt decided it was time to make his move to NYC to pursue acting more seriously. And so the journey began....
Matt spent 7 formative and fun years in NYC, where he completed Jim Bonney's 3 year Meisner Intensive program, booking numerous national TV commercials and some smaller roles on As The World Turns, Sopranos and Sex in the City before moving to LA. Alas, the SAG and Writer's strikes drove him into a hiatus from acting to make ends meet. During this 12 year hiatus, Matt went to work on the other side of the camera, producing (instead of acting) in TV commercials for talented directors such as Jesse Dylan, Michel Gondry, Rob Lieberman, Tony Kaye and Gary McKendry, among others. In this role and from this perspective, Matt learned invaluable lessons from the set and film making experience, resulting in a much more informed, professional and well rounded actor.
After spending a decade on the other side of the camera, Matt left production to once again focus on acting. He has spent the last 14 months on stage originating the role of Colin in Five Second Chances at The Pacific Resident Theater, originating the starring role of Ron in "More Guns: The Musical" and recently finished starring in "The Marriage Zone" as Cal at the Santa Monica Playhouse. Recent roles on stage throughout LA include playing Mike Talman in Wait Until Dark at the 2nd Story Theater in Hermosa Beach, Alan Raleigh in God Of Carnage at the CAP Theater, all the Adult Males in Spring Awakening as well as Franz Liebkind in The Producers at the Morgan Wixson Theater in Santa Monica.
Matt has spent the last few years studying at Krater Studios in their intensive on camera classes including scene study, cold read and audition technique. In addition to his studies, Matt won multiple Acting Challenges that landed him meetings with a dozen casting directors including Corbin Bronson, Tara Treacy, Erica Silverman Bream, Sibby Kirchgessner, Garrett McGuire, Kevin Mockrin, Karina Walters and Rory Schleifstein.
Matt's favorite charity is SU2C as his family has been ravaged by the disease and SU2C does so much to ease that suffering.... A community of support is the only way to survive the devastating effects cancer has on the patients and families involved...
