MATT HEKKING

Hey! Thanks for stopping by :) I’m Matt.

An actor, writer, and director currently living in Brooklyn with my best buds. We recently put on a show at The Tank called Mom and Dad Are My Friends, which I co-produced, directed, and starred in. It was a blast, and I can’t wait to keep creating in NYC and growing my community.

 

Working with friends has always been at the heart of why I act. Ever since I was a kid in Acton, Massachusetts I've loved messing around with my friends. Acting, at its best, still feels like those carefree days when my heart was fullest. When I started high school, I was very shy. I found acting both mesmerizing and terrifying, so I joined the lighting crew instead. That didn’t last long. Our drama director saw something in me and pushed me to audition. I ended up landing a role in our competition show, a spot usually reserved for upperclassmen, and from there I fell deeply in love with acting. It gave me freedom I’d never felt before as a quiet kid. I could be big, bold, and fearless. It helped me discover who I truly am.

 

Around the same time, I became obsessed with movies. My routine was: get home from rehearsal, watch a movie, take a nap, do homework while watching another movie, then sleep. I needed to understand what made a great actor. What I settled on was emotional truth. Great actors aren’t liars, they’re so immersed in the imaginary world that they respond truthfully to it. That’s what makes them undeniable.

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Since then, acting has been my driving force. I live and breathe it. I chose to get my BFA at Rutgers not because it was easy, but because it was hard. Acting demands lifelong effort and growth, which is exactly what I want: to give my life purpose and commit to something bigger than myself. It remains a very difficult pursuit. Being young in this industry is both exhilarating and uncertain. There’s no right way, only your way. I’m still figuring mine out. Which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

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"Being an artist means, not reckoning and counting, but ripening like the tree which does not force its sap and stands confident in the storms of spring without the fear that after them may come no summer. It does come. But it comes only to the patient, who are there as though eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly still and wide. I learn it daily, learn it with pain to which I am grateful: patience is everything!"

Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

 

At Rutgers I learned so many things, but I can distill it down to this: I learned how to transform that electric feeling of acting into a repeatable craft. Thanks to the Meisner technique, training at Shakespeare’s Globe, and a lot of soul searching, I now work with emotional truth and presence always. It’s in my blood. None of that would’ve been possible without my time at Rutgers.

 

Okay, enough about the work. Although I've devoted myself to this craft I do many other things. Most recently, I ran my first marathon - the Mad Marathon in Vermont! I love hiking (when I was 16 I backpacked in Alaska for a month), meditating in the park, and I’ve been teaching myself guitar, too! I write poetry and sketch comedy (more about that below), and I’m working on my first screenplay. All of these things, to me, are an extension of my acting. They are me developing myself, working towards long, hard, unattainable goals and learning along the way.

 

There's so much more, and if you'd like, I can tell you. Reach out, maybe we’ll grab coffee. I'd love to hear your story too. And to work with you. Thank you for giving me your time. It means more than I can say. Sending my love to you on your own journey, and thank you for caring about mine. 

 

With Gratitude,

Matt