Kevin Mattson: Actor, photographer (still) and stunt performer.

Happy Saturday/IYW everyone! Hard at work on some Work for Hire gigs and the novelization of my stage musical, which has the logline: "What if an ambitious surgeon found the journals of Jekyll, Hyde, and Moreau." Had a great time interviewing an I Ching master, composer and photographer on my weekly Livestream, "Into the Outer Realms" yesterday before doing an interview on American Road Trip Talk about pirates and the Crystal Coast. My latest blog article for Stage 32, on the Role of Creatives in this Time of Crisis, is available here: https://www.stage32.com/blog/The-Role-of-Creatives-in-This-Time-of-Crisis

“Honestly expressing yourself...it is very difficult to do. I mean it is easy for me to put on a show and be cocky and be flooded with a cocky feeling and then feel like pretty cool...or I can make all kind of phony things, you see what I mean, blinded by it or I can show you some really fancy movement. But to express oneself honestly, not lying to oneself...now that, my friend, is very hard to do.” Bruce Lee Sssooo... This I can relate to on so many levels, I know Bruce is talking about his Martial Arts here. But for me it hits home with being a creative, & actually in all aspects of life. Remaining focused with a positive outlook. I have been "networking" for over ten years. Over time I believe I have improved. Creating my own and sharing other creatives content. Putting yourself out there in the public eye where everyone's a critic. I have failed so many times... You feel utterly worthless! Especially when people tell you to "get a real job". It is difficult to muster up the courage & tell people you are actually doing good working as a creative, landing lead roles & working with Hollywood talent, (and the Hollywood talent actually is excited to work with you on your next project & actually calls you on your phone to talk about it), but at the same time you are still struggling just to survive! You humble yourself, bite your tongue & swallow your pride, making those sacrifices & working hard in all aspects just to get where you are & although you have come a long way. You are just beginning. But I know from experience you gotta stay Consistent... Putting in the Reps! Which I know is not easy to do. It's all in Perspective. Thank you for sharing your wisdom RB... I am truly grateful. Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one. Bruce Lee

This was good to watch & confirmation of the sets that I have had the opportunity to work on! Action has always been my favorite and it is a blessing to be able to perform your own stunts! I love training & working with the Director, Fight & Stunt Coordinators & everyone on set! We have a such good time... It is so rewarding to me being able to combine both my passions as an actor & athlete and see the finished sequence come to life on screen! To me its absolutely priceless!

Here's a Collage I put together, BTS on the set of the Lionsgate Beatdown movie back in December of 2009. I had a Kick Ass time working with Kyle Woods (stunt man), Hans Marrero (stunt man), Don Lee (fight coordinator), Marcus Young (stunt coordinator)... These guys were awesome, made me feel right at home & everyone treated me like family.. And Yeah, I got to meet and work with Michael Bisping, Bobby Lashley, and Heath 'The Texas Crazy Horse' Herring too. My scene is just a vapor... Fighting in the Octagon Cage. However, this has been a solid stepping stone forward in both my Acting & Athletic Journey! Beatdown was shot in Austin, Texas in early December of 2009. They filmed at night and the temperatures had dropped to the low 30's. My adrenaline from all the excitement & the ring hot spot lights kept me warm though. They took several takes at different angles. I was in the ring for several hours... It was a lot of hurry up and wait. Consistent activity and you had to be ready and prepared when the Director Mike Gunther yelled, Action! Training keeps you mentally focused. We had an Awesome time for sure! Beatdown has played on HBO on Demand. There is a 1 minute BTS fight choreography of my scene on the DVD/Blue Ray movie release under the special features too. While I appeared in this MMA movie Beatdown, I also was also training in the 2009 Double-T Sports Transformation Challenge through Bodybuilding.com.

I am so Grateful to have had this awesome experience. Thank you very much to Director Daniel Zirilli for going to bat for me. And good supportive friend Director Jude S. Walko. I appreciate you all so much.

NOTE: This was a "walk on role" that I had won entering an MMA Video Contest. When I uploaded my video entry for the MMA Video Contest, at this point, I was just learning how to edit, my videos. So I had to find clips to make them work. I looked through my footage from previous videos, to see what I could make work. There were very strict rules and guidelines to follow for this contest, and knowing that I fudged my previous entries to other video contest that I had entered, So I payed close attention. Some of the contest requirements were as follows. Contest Requirements: - Video must be between :30 and 2:00 - No nudity, swearing, real violence or blood - No background music, logos, or 3rd party video - All identifiable people must sign a release. So I carefully looked through my footage, trying to find clips that would not only work under the 2 minute limit, but would show creativity, talent and originality, as what the panel of judges were also looking for.The judges loved my meticulous details of both writing what each segment meant & the footage that I used for my entry. That is something to to write for another post... Possibly one day a story that Stage 32 might consider publishing?

Kevin's performance working the heavy bag while upside down in gravity boots won this tattooed (and cut) Grandpa the role in MMA-powered action film Beatdown.

Hey I really enjoyed the videos RB! The first one, "Richard Linklater on Patience" has many similarities that I can relate to in my own life for sure! The second one, "Script Breakdown 101" is very meticulously detailed oriented! But yet... despite it's "complexity", Andrew Spieler made it pretty simple to follow. Working with a variety of Directors, each has their own way of doing things. But under the same guidelines of course. Sometimes not everything goes as planned... You need to have Patience. pun-intended. haha! However... when you are truly passionate about film making you relish each & every aspect! I have been told by many that I am patient with much humility. Recently I have been enjoying taking on a lead role in a feature film we have been working on since June 2018. We have been challenged with many setbacks, that has caused cancellations and rescheduling, delaying our feature film. However, I have been able to use some of my hidden gems of helping a little with assistant directing. Indulged in method acting with my character being able to also write in some of my own lines into the script for my character has been very rewarding to me as a creative writer! Also helping much on set with continuity & script details as well. Hey, I seen one of the full size movie posters... and it looks amazing! When I seen it I was so taken back, with the three starring actors in big bold letters on the top, my name in the top left... as trickling tears of gratefulness flowed, knowing how hard and how long I have worked just to get where I am at now... and my Journey has only just begun!