Art and Presentation of Gender – MATTEO In His Own Words

Art model Matteo talks about his acting career and how modeling has played a part. He describes his personal exploration of gender and sexuality including a role in a recent film as a male to female trans woman. Interview by Shungaboy.

Matteo will pose for Men Drawing Men on June 24, 2021.

https://mdmjun24.eventbrite.com

Model https://www.instagram.com/mr_mattrossi/

Interviewer Shungaboy: https://www.instagram.com/shungaboy/

Music: "At The Shore" Kevin MacLeod (www.incomptech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

ACTING

I went to school for Music Theater. I originally thought I was going to come to New York and try out for Broadway and tours, which I did a little bit, but then I realized that I was more interested in TV and film. I most recently did an independent film in which I portrayed male to female trans woman. And it was really, it's really interesting how the two tie together because, being on film is like being on a big canvas and the little moments are like little snapshots or little sketches and it's so much you can see into a character just by little tidbits.

FIGURE MODELING

I actually have been modeling for about 10 plus years now. I originally auditioned for FIT and was scouted by someone there for Parsons. I started working with the National Academy and sitting privately for some people. And I also worked with the Gay Men's Sketch group at the Center. It's a nice way as an actor to be an artist to be indirectly involved in creation of a piece.

GENDER

Basically, what I love about it is that I get to explore different sides of myself as far as my sexuality. Allowed myself to wear heels or to butch it up or be flirtatious, coy, explore both the masculine and feminine sides of myself. It's helped me develop that vulnerability and that open-mindedness to explore in my acting. I think modeling has helped me to utilize stillness in my characters, which is, I think really important in film and television, as much as movement is important. Being an actor, I enjoy an audience, but there's also that whole exhibitionist thing that I hadn't explored before. It has been a journey for me and allowed me to explore parts of myself that I hid or I wasn't aware of until I started modeling. So far as what is traditionally represented as masculine or feminine. I mean, there's a whole conversation to be had about art and presentation of gender. The whole dialogue there is interesting to me and has allowed me to grow, and kind of own my sexuality and at the same time, discover different sides of myself.