“My advice is to work at your craft every day. Professional athletes don’t just wake up one day and decide to be that. They get there from practice. You can have raw talent, but if you don’t work at it, it will be tough to succeed.”
August Maturo
August Maturo is only 15 years old and already has a bevy of projects under his belt, ranging from the hit Disney Channel show Girl Meets World to the indie-horror film, Slapface. Soon, audiences can watch Maturo in the new crime anthology series ACCUSED in the episode “Danny’s Story.” ACCUSED takes viewers on the defendant’s journey and shows how an ordinary person can get caught up in an extraordinary situation. Maturo talked to NYOTA about working with his costars Reid Miller, Jack Davenport, and Rachel Bilson, preparing for emotional scenes, and working on a deeply personal project through his production company MATURO ENTERTAINMENT.
What initially sparked your interest in acting?
At the time I started acting, I was only 3 years old. I don’t know if I understood what it meant, but I do know that after I was on a stage in front of an audience in a church play, I loved being up there. I didn’t want to be in the audience as a spectator. I wanted to be the performer. So my mom nurtured that.
Who are some of your acting inspirations?
My acting inspiration is my best friend, Mckenna Grace. We grew up together in this business, and I’ve seen her dedication and hard work. I’ve seen her rise to the top. It’s really incredible to see what she’s accomplished in the years I’ve known her. If I’m even half as successful as her, I’d be lucky. She can literally do anything. She’s a once-in-a-generation actor.
What about ACCUSED interested you and made you want to audition?
I always love when I get an audition that has crying in it, and this one did. I also loved that the story kept you guessing until the very end. Another great thing about this audition was that the casting director needed it by the next day. I didn’t have a lot of time to memorize it or think about it, which I think helped as well. It was more raw and real that way.
Since ACCUSED is an anthology series, you don’t get to spend more than one episode with the characters in each episode. How did you go about building out your character Matthew and preparing for the role?
We shot the episode in about two and a half weeks, and it really helped to have incredible actors to work with. Reid Miller plays my older brother Danny, and he is the lead of this episode, which is called “Danny’s Story.” I play Matthew, his younger brother. Reid was really like a big brother to me. On our days off working in Toronto, we hung out and explored the city. So having a real-life connection with him helped me in our scenes. Jack Davenport plays our dad. He’s originally from the UK, and when I met him at the table read, he had an English accent. But in the show, he plays an American, which he does perfectly. Even between scenes, he would speak with his American accent. That was really cool to watch how he stays in his American character. Rachel Bilson plays the hospice nurse taking care of our dying mother. (I don’t want to say too much about her character because I don’t want to give the story away.) We learned that we are both Virgos and that our birthdays are a couple of days apart, and we immediately bonded over that. She’s such a legend, and I can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with her. She’s so talented and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. The entire cast was amazing. We even had a little wrap party with just our small cast and director, which you don’t normally do after guest-starring in an episode of television. But we all just got so close it felt like the right thing to do. We are pretty proud of what was created.
In your episode of ACCUSED, one of the interesting parts to navigate as a viewer is whether you should believe that Danny is telling the truth. When you first got the script, did you like how ambiguous things were?
I really did love that. I love how every episode of this series starts in a courtroom, and then you learn from flashbacks how the person ended up there. It takes you on an emotional journey with the defendant. I love that my role in the script mirrored what the audience might be feeling and thinking while watching what is happening to my brother Danny.
There are a few emotional scenes throughout the episode. How did you get ready for those emotionally fraught scenes?
When I first began acting, I used to think of sad things to get ready for an emotional scene. But after a while, it became easier for me to pretend that what is happening is real. I just kind of lose myself in the moment. It’s something you learn to do as an actor with practice. It really helps when your scene partners are as incredible as Jack, Rachel, and Reid.
Did you learn a lot from working with director Jonathan Mostow?
Jonathan Mostow is amazing! He’s normally a film director (he directed big films like Terminator 3), so I loved to see how he took that film sensibility and used it for this episode of television. Since ACCUSED is an anthology series, each episode is like a mini-movie. The whole time we were filming, it felt like we were filming a movie, the way he framed the shots and every little note he gave. However, I would say the greatest thing I learned from him is how to be open, collaborative, and generous with feedback. I’ve never had a television director text me directly and discuss things with me. After I booked the project, he called me and was so complimentary about my audition. And he would do the same thing after each scene; he would come over to me and tell me how great it was. He even did that during the editing process and when we did ADR. As an actor, we audition way more than we work, and you rarely get feedback. Sometimes you question yourself as an actor if you’re any good at what you are doing. To hear Jonathan say these things really meant so much to me. That kind of encouragement is so rare in this business. He helped me more than he knows.
You started out working on Disney Channel and now have been able to work on projects such as Slapface and ACCUSED. Do you have a preference for roles that are more on the dramatic side?
I really do love to be dramatic. As I mentioned, I love it when I have to cry in a scene. Recently I filmed another dramatic role for television and had to cry as well. Someone on set asked me if that bothered me, and I said, “No, I love it! I get to cry and not be judged for it!” It’s actually very cathartic. The very first dramatic film I was in was called Shepherd: The Story of a Hero Dog, about a little boy and his dog during the Holocaust. I filmed it five years ago. It was in select theaters when they first reopened during the pandemic. A lot of people ask me how they can see it, and I’m excited to share that it’s finally going to be available on DVD and VOD this Valentine’s Day. And spoiler alert: the dog and the boy do not die in the movie! If you love history and you love dogs, you will love this film.
Another passion of yours is food allergy and anaphylaxis advocacy. Tell our readers a bit about your upcoming project Just Like You – Food Allergies, and the purpose of the project.
I am so proud of this project! A lot of people know that I have life-threatening food allergies and that I want to raise awareness about that. I recently started my new production company MATURO ENTERTAINMENT, and this is the first thing we are working on. I partnered with an incredible documentary film company called JUST LIKE YOU FILMS to create a docudrama hybrid about food allergies with my former Girl Meets World cast mate Ava Kolker. We filmed a narrative portion of the film about a boy who has life-threatening food allergies, gets bullied at a birthday party with his allergen, and winds up going into anaphylactic shock. The most exciting thing about the project is that we also shot it in virtual reality, so viewers will be able to put on their oculus headsets and be with us at the party. It’s a new way of immersive story-telling that is really revolutionary. We are in the editing phase now and can’t wait to share it with everybody.
What advice do you have for aspiring actors?
My advice is to work at your craft every day. Professional athletes don’t just wake up one day and decide to be that. They get there from practice. You can have raw talent, but if you don’t work at it, it will be tough to succeed. I heard a saying that for actors, auditioning is the job, and that’s so true. Often, actors spend more time auditioning than working, and the more you audition, the better you’ll be, so don’t turn any audition down. When auditions slow down, use that time to take classes, watch movies or write your own scripts. And, of course, never give up! To get to the “yes,” you have to go through the “nos.”