FINDING HIS LIGHT
Matt Backer has played many roles to great acclaim but he hopes it’s his work with his youngest fans (the Play School audience) that inspires the most. Matt Myers speaks to Matt for DNA.
Acclaimed actor Matt Backer hopes his work with his youngest fans inspires the most.
Matt Backer’s face is very recognisable. On TV he’s appeared in everything from dramas to comedies – and even a Toyota ad – while on stage his theatrical roles have included Jersey Boys to rave reviews for Young Frankenstein currently. Then there’s the ABC’s iconic Play School where, for the past three years, Matt has been entertaining children as host alongside Big Ted and Jemima.
Dark, good-looking, and with an infectious smile, the actor is enjoying a rewarding career but, like many gay men, his road to selfdiscovery included obstacles like bullying, homophobia and the resulting self-doubt.
“I went to an all-boys Catholic school in the ’90s which, I think, says enough!” Matt reveals to DNA.
“I just didn’t fit in. I loved acting, played the trumpet, I was in the choir, and got bullied ruthlessly. That school has changed now but at the time my best friend and I went through hell every day for five years.”
Needless to say, it took Matt the schoolboy some time to find himself and become the outand-proud man he is today.
After a short stint as a regional journalist, it was performing that truly opened up a world of many new discoveries.
“Being bullied takes its toll, but I really ‘found’ myself through performing,” he says.
“I remember walking on stage for the first time thinking, ‘This is really cool! This is where I can find myself!’ I lived in the school’s performing arts complex because I didn’t play sport and just didn’t want to mix in a place where I would get yelled at. I left school without a shred of confidence in myself as a man, let alone as a performer, so I took up journalism and worked as a cadet on the Fraser Coast Chronicle in 2006.”
Although gaining his Bachelor Of Journalism
from the University Of Queensland, Matt still had a yearning to perform. He auditioned and was accepted into Australia’s most prestigious acting school, the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), known for its famous alumni such as Cate Blanchett, Baz Luhrmann, Mel Gibson, Toni Collett, Sam Worthington and Hugo Weaving. It was here he befriended fellow classmates and other DNA favourites Kurt Phelan (American Idiot) and David Berry (A Place To Call Home).
“We recently had our ten-year reunion and around 12 of us are still acting, which is great odds,” says Matt. “It was lovely to all get back together and a lot of us are still kicking goals. David and Kurt are also singers, and the three of us bonded. However, I didn’t really know what I was doing, whereas they were such proficient singers and I learnt a lot from them.”
After NIDA, Matt’s first professional successes came quickly – something he believes, with great modesty, was more luck than talent. Many would disagree, as evidenced by numerous accolades: The Sydney Morning Herald named him one of their Hot List Stars, while for CULT magazine said he was one of the Faces To Watch.
“Three months after graduating from NIDA I got the role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, which was huge!” he says. “I was stoked to get it, but I feel I fluked my way in with the right look, height and sound! It was actually a bit daunting and I felt like I was climbing Mount Everest every night, but I finished that year thinking, ‘If I can do this, I can do anything’. It gave me such confidence.”
Matt followed Jersey Boys with roles at the Sydney Theatre Company in Orlando, The Bell Shakespeare’s The Tempest, The Belvoir’s Kill The Messenger, Queensland Theatre’s Nearer The Gods and Only Heaven Knows at The Hayes.
“Over that period, I had four years of backto-back work and it was constantly a pinchyourself moment. There were shows on top of each other, and I just ran with it. I worked with incredible actors and directors. It was like drama school 2.0, and each day I could feel myself growing as an actor.”
Matt’s foray into television has included stints on A Place To Call Home, Operation Buffalo,
Five Bedrooms and Harrow. But it was Play School, the iconic long-running children’s show, where the actor began to feel comfortable with who he was and could work on becoming an openly gay role model.
Nowadays I would never censor myself while performing. That’s not the world we live in anymore.
“I’d never want the kids watching Play School to grow up knowing that one of their hosts wasn’t being truthful,” he says.
“It’s important for those kids to realise, later in life, that they were watching a gay guy on Play School. That means a lot to me because it’s been such a personal struggle and journey. >>
>> Nowadays I would never censor myself while performing. That’s not the world we live in anymore. Play School and The ABC are so welcoming of diversity and I’m really proud that they let all their presenters be themselves and live their truth.”
While other out actors such as Simon Burke and Andrew McFarlane have also hosted Play School over the years, Matt has the honour of presenting the show’s first spin-offs: Play School Art Time, getting kids to be creative, and Story Salad involving improv based on words sent in by children.
It’s important for those kids to realise they were watching a gay guy on Play School.
“Art Time and Story Salad have been going so well because we’ve had so much time at home, especially in Melbourne,” says Matt, referring to Victoria’s extended hard lockdown at the height of the covid pandemic.
“Parents with kids in lockdown found it a little bright light at the end of the day. A lot of parents listen in and get their kids to join in, making up their own stories. It’s an outlet for killing time in an otherwise mundane day.
Play School is such a wonderful world to be in. All my theatre work has really helped with the program’s specific style. Play School has been such a gift.”
Still taking on diverse roles, Matt’s recent return to the stage involved playing Dr Frederick Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein at the Hayes Theatre which, he reveals, has been a cathartic experience.
“The pandemic meant we had to rehearse on the actual stage, which was wonderful. The show is so stupid and exactly what everyone needs at the moment, which is a big belly laugh with zany, kinky humour,” he says. “We really went over the top and I found it therapeutic.
“The main character constantly says he’s not a ‘Frankenstein’, he’s a ‘Frankensteen’, because his grandfather did horrible things and soiled the family name. But, by the end of the show, he loves Transylvania and all its insanity, proclaiming that he is indeed a Frankenstein. It also took years for me to say that I’m gay. Finding your community and your people can help you shout from the rooftops – ‘I am gay!’ The more people do that, and the more people will hear it, the less people will remain in the shadows.”
One of the inspirations for Matt stepping out of the shadows was meeting his current partner, fellow actor Stephen Madsen (RENT/ Muriel’s Wedding) who came along at just the right time and place.
“When I studied acting, I still didn’t know who I was and what I wanted,” says Matt. “Looking back now, I think high school did more damage than I thought it had. If you’re called a piece of crap for five years, you start to believe it. I still wasn’t truthful with myself because I also thought there was no place for gay actors in the industry, and after a few years I was just so tired and thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore’. Meeting my partner, Stephen, changed my outlook. When I met him, it gave me courage and strength. I love him, so why would I not be honest about that? That’s when I started happily telling people that I’d met someone.
“He’s younger than me and we’re so opposite in terms of types,” laughs Matt. “He does musical theatre, too, and it’s great to support each other, and open different doors. We met just after he had finished Heathers and I was doing Orlando at the STC. Looking back, it was such a wonderful time.”
In terms of taking chances, diving in at the deep end and making self-discoveries, Matt Backer could already write a great memoir. There’s no doubt he’s inspiring young gay people to step out of the shadows. Besides facing one’s demons, the actor has also proven that a career change is not only possible but can help set you on your true life trajectory. So, what’s his advice?
“If you feel that little tinkling in your gut, just do it,” he says.
“I was nervous about leaving my job with the newspaper, but I’ve found there’s no time like the present, and you can always figure it out on the run. There’s something in-built with actors where we just take each day as it comes because the career trajectory is so up and down. But I’ve never looked back and who knows, in ten year’s time, if I wanted to return to journalism, I can see myself doing it. But I’m on such a lovely path at the moment.” •
Finding your people can help you shout from the rooftops – ‘I am gay!’ The more people do that the less people remain in the shadows.