Matt Dotson(I)
- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Growing up on a farm outside of the Portland area, Matt spent his early
years acquiring an active love for the outdoors; snowboarding Mount
Hood, wakeboarding the Columbia River, and riding dirt bikes in the
country. At the age of 17 the opportunity to train in stunt work for
film presented itself and he jumped at the challenge. Literally, from
buildings, moving cars, down stairs, and through windows. It was
through this training that Matt began to get plugged into the local
commercial and film market. At 19 Matt landed his first large gig as a
stunt player for an international Levi's commercial campaign (Tackle)
where they decided to make him the lead actor as well. After touring
Germany with the campaign he directly moved to Hollywood and began
working primarily in the commercial arena landing numerous national
commercials (Coca Cola, Nestea, Pizza Hut, etc). During this time Matt
trained in the art of acting with Joe Palese
(The Actor Space). It was through Joe's approach to acting, gleaned
from the influences of Lee Strasberg,
Milton Katselas, and
Martin Landau, that Matt found his love
for acting. He soon won the lead role of Lyle Huck in the comedic
Disney Pilot Family Values along side
Susan Ruttan and
Jenna von Oÿ. Shortly thereafter Matt cut
his dramatic teeth as the socially inept Otis in the indie feature Neon
Signs. Since then Matt has continued to work in both film and
television as an actor and stunt player. He has had the honor of
working with a number of the greats such as:
Robert De Niro,
'Cuba Gooding Jr',
Mary Tyler Moore,
Edward Asner,
William Smith,
Carol Lynley,
Barbara McNair, and most recently
Timothy Hutton on Leverage and
Jaime Ray Newman on Grimm. Along the
way Matt has taken up the opportunity to share his experience in the
entertainment industry with others through teaching classes and
workshops in the areas of acting, stunts, and speech. As of late, Matt
has decided to put on the writing, directing and producing hats. His
ultimate desire is to tell good stories with great actors. Stories that
evoke emotion in the soul of the human condition. Stories that stir the
heart. To this day Matt personally still enjoys doing his own stunts,
and working on real, intense, gritty characters of substance that
create a good challenge for him as an actor.