Screen star Matt Bomer discusses making his Broadway debut in THE BOYS IN THE BAND, his directorial debut and what the first workshop for SPRING AWAKENING was like. | 19 July 2018
Career Conversations with Matt Bomer, currently starring in The Boys in the Band, moderated by Broadway World’s Richard Ridge of “Backstage with Richard Ridge!” | 12 July 2018
“Ryan Murphy turned to me one day with my dog-eared, well-worn script and was like, ‘You should be a director.’ Then he called and offered me the opportunity on Versace. It was just a really profound gift. I’ve never met an actor I didn’t like—even the prickly ones I love. It was a great opportunity to work with people like Darren Criss and Edgar Ramirez and all this great theater talent. Thank God you have someone like Ryan who is willing to look at someone like Jon Jon Briones and see the talent in him and give him a huge opportunity. It was a great, great first directing gig. I have a few directing offers for the fall. I’m not sure how it’s all going to go, but I know I will be directing for Ryan in the fall.“
Could this year’s Emmys see an equivalent to Lady Bird in its nomination pool? Like Greta Gerwig’s 2017 multiple-Oscar nominee, several Emmy-eligible episodes from acclaimed shows were directed by actors — take Tracee Ellis Ross, who directed an episode of her show Blackish, Jodie Foster (Black Mirror), Jason Bateman (Ozark) and Matt Bomer (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story). Even if these actor-directors don’t end up vying for winged women in September, they’re demonstrating that acting remains a unique pipeline to directing on television.
[…] Actors often say their experience gives them insight into working with other actors — in terms of giving both advice and space. “Knowing when to step back because [the actors] were already doing their thing, that came very naturally to me. I’ve been doing that for most of my life,” says Bomer, 40. Still, directing demands that actors understand a set in a more “holistic” way than they customarily need to, Bomer adds. The former Suits actor, who had never directed before Versace, read directing books, asked former directors for advice and went to the Directors Guild of America’s First-Time Episodic Director Orientation Program to pick up technical skills like how to set up a shot, in order to prepare.
carlottamontanari_: Couldn’t feel happier to have worked with the best people ever. What a story, cast and what an incredible @darrencriss !!! Tonight FINALE of AMERICAN CRIME STORY on FX! Amazing energy, sweet family from the producers and director to the incredible costume artists ever. Thank you for having me ♥️@mattbomer @edgarramirez25@americancrimestoryfx @mrrpmurphy@ricky_martin @allisonreneeleach@loueyrich @penelopecruzoficial #Versace#tvshow #fox #cast #actors #actress#italian #penelopecruz #acsfx#americancrimestory#americancrimestoryversace#theassassinationofgianniversace #setlife#grateful #lifeonset #filming#carlottamontanari #makeup #acting#hollywood #bestoftheday #tbt#mattbomer #edgarramirez
ACSFX: Twenty years later, the story still resonates. Our cast and crew discuss what they learned from the incredible and tragic events of #ACSVersace.
FX threw a “finale” celebration for the “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” at the DGA on Sunset Blvd. on Monday night to bookend a season that launched with a Mer-man and models strolling a glittering runway in Hollywood. Why don’t more hit TV shows celebrate the end like this? A few hundred guests (and Emmy voters) got a sneak preview of the last episode and some face time with the stars, writers and directors (including director Matt Bomer, far right) but unfortunately no Ryan Murphy.
Multiple media outlets tried to pry a St. Patrick’s Day-hued Judith Light for commentary on her other series, Amazon’s “Transparent.” The accusations against Jeffrey Tambor and his subsequent exit scrambled the show’s future, but Light is a pro and shut down all inquiries. “We’re here to talk about ‘Versace,’” she said repeatedly. Also Read: ‘American Crime Story’: Yes, Marilyn Miglin Still Sells Perfume
The “Versace” line snaked down Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood and extended to the corner of Fairfax. There were still about 75 people waiting helplessly in a standby line 20 minutes after the show had already started … that’s a good sign, showing that industry fans couldn’t wait two more days for their “Versace” fix.
“I’m not playing a killer. I’m playing a person,” lead actor Darren Criss, who plays serial killer Andrew Cunanan, said. “Once you enter it from that portal, it’s a little easier to understand.” We have a hunch we’ll be seeing a lot Criss over this Emmy season. It’s indisputably his show, even if he claimed a subordinate position in the group photo at the top of this gallery.
Could the series net FX a costume design Emmy nomination? Sure. Some of the memorable threads from this season graced the DGA lobby. There is also a new costume category this year: “Outstanding Period Costumes.” Ryan Murphy’s prior series, “The People v. O.J. Simpson” got a nomination and “America Horror Story: Freak Show” won a prior iteration of this category.
“I just came back from France and people were crazy about [the show],” Edgar Ramirez (left, who played Versace) told The Party Report. When not on stage, Ricky Martin introduced himself to other actors who he didn’t share scenes with. The season finale airs Wednesday night on FX.
Matt Bomer’s key to a successful marriage was actually someone else’s key first.
“My grandparents were together from the time they were teenagers on, and I used to ask them and they’d tell me, ‘One day at a time,’” the actor tells ET. “So, I guess I try to adapt that philosophy, but also just having perspective. You know, at the end of the day, the family and our home life is the most important thing and keeps everything else in perspective.”
The 40-year-old quietly wed his longtime love, power publicist Simon Halls, back in 2011. The couple share three sons, Henry, Walker and Kit, though Bomer admits they’re not very familiar with his work.
“I just have to make sure that I start working on more things that they can see!” the American Horror Story vet notes. “’Cause they’re like, ‘You do this, but then we can’t watch it.’ I’m like, ‘When you’re older maybe!’”
That includes Bomer’s latest project, stepping behind the camera on FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. He made his directorial debut on episode eight, “Creator/Destroyer.” ET caught up with him at a For Your Consideration event for the series at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, ahead of its finale, airing Wednesday on FX.
‘American Crime Story: Versace’ Cast on How They’ve Worked With the Designer’s Real-Life Family
“It’s a big responsibility,” Bomer says of directing the series. “It’s a big stage to step on to, to make your directorial debut, so I took it very seriously. I spent about four and a half months working on the project, from research I did, to here at the DGA, I did an intensive. I shadowed two of the great directors we had, Dan Minahan, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, and just exhaustively, I think I read over 300 pages of books on directing, and reached out to friends who were kind enough to mentor me … so, I guess it meant a lot of hard work.”
The actor lit up when asked what a nomination or award for his directing work would mean, saying, “I don’t think there are words for it, really.”
Next up for Bomer is another Ryan Murphy project, the Broadway revival of The Boys in the Band. The play officially opens on May 31 at the Booth Theatre in New York City.
“It’s the 50th anniversary of the play, The Boys in the Band,” Bomer notes. “It’s really the first mainstream gay play that there was, and I think it’s incredible how far we’ve come in 50 years, but also important to look back on what life was like for people 50 years ago in the LGBT community, people who couldn’t go out and dance together in public without being arrested, who had to live in the shadows. And so, this play is really about a group of friends who are having that experience together and how it affects their relationships in their lives, and what there hopes and dreams are.”
“It’s gonna be fun!” he adds. “Come celebrate the birthday party with us and I hope you have a good time.”
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