“90210” and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” vet Matt Lanter returns to the small screen alongside Abigail Spencer’s Lucy Preston with NBC’s heart-pounding adventure series, “Timeless.” As Wyatt Logan, a soldier tasked with stopping a man from going back in time to change history’s most world-altering events, the actor hones his inner Indiana Jones to save the world as we know it.
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On his character, Wyatt Logan.
“Wyatt is a special forces military guy—he’s Delta Force. He’s been kind of plucked off the battlefield and thrown onto this team of three people (the historian, the scientist who pilots the time machine, and then himself). His ultimate mission is to go after Garcia Flynn; he’s our villain who’s stolen a time machine and who is taking the time machine back to wreck havoc on the world. So that’s how [Wyatt] fits into the group. We find out quickly that he’s got some skeletons in the closet. He’s lost his wife and from what we understand, he is an amazing soldier. I think we’ll find out more as to why [and] what makes him a good soldier. But I believe it’s because of his loss. I don’t think he’s got a whole lot to live for in his life, and so he takes these missions and he goes balls to the wall, so to speak.”
On having the opportunity to play.
“There’s a lot to play with strictly from being able to go to different time periods every single week and do something new. But yeah, he’s got a lot of secrets that he’s holding onto and a lot of layers and complexities to him.... Upon first glance, I see a script that is so much fun. I see a script that is full of adventure. It had a very ’80s Spielberg feel to it. [Wyatt] reminds me a lot of Indiana Jones; he reminds me a lot of Han Solo. He’s a character that’s as tough as nails, but he’s light with the sarcasm at times, and he’s kind of reckless, but all in a fun way. I feel like that’s Wyatt, but that’s also the series. I’m an actor because of movies like ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Jurassic Park.’ So that’s what jumped out at me: the opportunity to be a part of something that was just so adventure-filled and fun for an audience member.... It’s the reason why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
On his first major acting gig.
“I moved [to Los Angeles] in 2005. I was living in Atlanta and just made the decision to go on out to L.A. I did some background work for a movie called ‘Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius’ in Atlanta and got bit by the bug. That was it. I saved a few thousand dollars and packed up my car. I had hoped that I would start working just doing some modeling stuff or something while I studied acting. I thought I could support myself that way. I actually started booking acting jobs before modeling jobs. Within six months, I was a regular on an ABC show with Geena Davis called ‘Commander in Chief.’ ”
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On becoming a voiceover actor.
“ ‘Star Wars’ [and] Lukasfilm is so secretive with everything they do across the board, and it was no different for this animated series at the time. I knew it was an animated series, and I knew it was ‘Star Wars,’ but I didn’t know anything else about it. And when I went in, they just said, ‘Here’s the copy. Give us your best interpretation of Luke Skywalker combined with Han Solo. Whatever that means to you, just do it.’ About three days later I got the call that I got the job and it was for a character called Anakin, and he was the lead of the show.”
On preparing for auditions.
“I prepare for auditions differently depending on what it is—what the material is, what the project is, who I’m reading for. Sometimes you get auditions day of or day before, and you’ve got two other ones that day. So a lot of auditioning for me is trusting my gut and trusting my instinct and just going with those choices. Sometimes, whether they’re wrong choices or not, if you make the choice and commit to the choice, then at least you’ve done what you feel like you could do. So those quicker auditions, that’s pretty much all I do. I’m really bad at memorizing, so that’s one of my big struggles in an audition setting, with the lines. It’s a lot different on set because you have the other actors and you have the set and the costumes and the props and you’ve got multiple takes. But with an audition, it’s an art in and of itself. For me, I spend time with the lines and the dialogue and dissecting what they mean, but a lot of it is gut instinct and just trusting yourself and making the choice.”
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