“In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast” features in-depth conversations with today’s most noteworthy actors and creators. Join host and Awards Editor Jack Smart for this guide on how to live the creative life from those who are doing it every day. This episode is brought to you by HBO.
If you’re an auditioning actor, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has a strange but effective tip for you: wear mismatched socks.
“I’ve already fucked up,” explains the Emmy-winning “Watchmen” star. “I’m already imperfect. So then it takes the pressure off of trying to be perfect.” Abdul-Mateen II also advises his fellow performers to “never go into the room asking for a job. You go into the room and you play the part.” (Another tried-and-true trick: toss your sides into the trash on your way out of the audition.)
That advice speaks to the actor’s overall approach to his craft and career. Despite adoring Dick Van Dyke films growing up as the cheeky youngest of six (“I was the star of the group!” he remembers), it wasn’t until after studying architecture at UC Berkeley that Abdul-Mateen II considered a profession in the arts. Once he did, acting became a single-minded focus. “I didn’t have very many examples,” he says. “I thought that the way to become an actor was to move to Los Angeles and get a McDonald’s commercial.”
Instead, he booked a Bay Area stage production of “Twelfth Night” and was inspired to audition for graduate schools. “Once I found out that that was an outlet, then I began to read a play every single day,” he recalls. “Even though I’m a dreamer, sometimes I’m also hyper-literal.” His methodical goal-setting paid off; three years of training at the Yale School of Drama led to Abdul-Mateen II booking his breakout role as Clarence “Cadillac” Caldwell on Baz Luhrmann’s disco-era Netflix series “The Get Down.”
How Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Nailed His ‘Get Down’ Audition His roles since have run the gamut from musicals like “The Greatest Showman,” to horror projects like “Black Mirror” and “Us,” to action hits “Aquaman” and “Watchmen.” Abdul-Mateen II is set to star in both the upcoming sequel to the “Matrix” films and Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele’s “Candyman.” He aspires to have the artistic license of actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, “the freedom to be malleable to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to follow my appetite’... It’s acting. It should be fun.
“The experience and the craftsmanship and what you learn and how you surprise yourself and the effect that you have on other people—those are the things that I’m reminded that I’m in it for,” he adds.
How Damon Lindelof + Cord Jefferson Made ‘Watchmen’ So Watchable, Imposter Syndrome Be Damned Abdul-Mateen II is now SAG Award–nominated as part of the ensemble of Aaron Sorkin’s Netflix film “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” in which he plays real-life activist Bobby Seale, embroiled in the infamous 1969 legal case against a group of anti-Vietnam War protesters. “There were so many forces that were placed up against Bobby Seale in order to silence him, in order to defeat him, in order to break his spirit,” he says. “I wanted to protect him.... My job was to be an advocate for him and for his experience and for others like him, when I stepped into that role.”
Asked how actors can weave that kind of advocacy into their work in Hollywood, Abdul-Mateen II says, “Know what you bring to the table and love what it is that you bring to the table.... We come out asking for jobs and asking for roles, and we just love it so much. Sometimes you can get caught up in wanting a job that you lose track of who you are, what you represent, what you’re after. I would say to any young artists out there, young or older stepping into this profession, love what you bring to the table and work on that.”
The industry is making space for a greater diversity of voices, he adds. “Aside from making space, people are taking space! ‘I can’t find a yes? I’m going to make a yes. I’m going to put my art out into the world, I’m going to love it, and I’m going to appreciate it.’ Whether it’s your activism or your artistry, right now is the time to take and to not ask for permission.”
For more, and for Backstage casting insider Christine McKenna-Tirella’s follow-up advice, tune into this “In the Envelope” episode wherever you listen to podcasts. Recommended casting notices for the week include “Euphoria” Season 2 and a TV hosting gig for a food expert.
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