Since moving to the “90210″ Zip code last season, bad boy Liam Court has gotten into plenty of fights, bedded older women and broken hearts.
But Matt Lanter, the 26-year-old Georgia native who plays the teen Lothario, doesn’t remember his high school days being anywhere near that dramatic.
“We were not that sexy and not that cool. A good time to us was maybe some beer and if someone had a hot tub or a pool at their house,” he told me during a recent phone interview. “These guys, they’re hanging out on hundred-foot yachts and going to the beach. Definitely not the life I lived in high school.”
Things don’t calm down for Lanter’s character when the new season of the CW drama kicks off at 7 p.m. Tuesday on WGN-Ch. 9. He’s trying to get back together with Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) after being tricked into sleeping with her older sister, Jen (Sara Foster), but Jen is keeping them apart.
“Oh man, it gets worse. It gets definitely worse,” Lanter said of his character’s troubles. “I kind of feel like Liam and Naomi are going to be a power couple on this series. … Before they get together, if they do, I think there’s going to a lot ‘oh’ moments.”
I’ve seen one episode of the new season. Are you guys going to be doing a lot of surfing?
I’m going to be surfing, definitely. There’s going to be a lot of surfing this season. Matter of fact, we were just out there two days in a row … doing a lot of surfing and a lot of water stuff. So it’s a whole new look and feel [for the show], which is kind of cool.
Had you surfed before?
Not really. I had gone out to the beach and gave it a whirl, but I didn’t know what I was doing. So this is actually kind of the first time that I’m going out and [doing it right.] We had a couple of lessons here and there. Hopefully, I can pick it up pretty well. If not, at the very least, [they] make me look good with the stunt doubles.
At least you know how to hang out on a beach, right?
Yeah, exactly. I mean, I’m a fairly athletic guy, so I can get out there and catch a wave and stand up. Now whether I can stay on is another story.
Is this going to open up a lot of new story telling on the show?
Yeah, definitely. Speaking about the surfing specifically, Liam gets into surfing because of his dad. He has some problems with his stepdad and his family life, which we’re going to see a lot of. Last season we learned that he was being forced to get more involved in school activities. This is one of the ways how he tries to get more involved. And it’s another way for the guys to bond. The guys start forming a tight crew and we’re going to see that a lot this season through the surf team.
So Liam won’t be fighting as much, and getting into trouble?
I don’t know. There could be [more fights]. I’m sure there’s going to be some drama going down somewhere but no, no fights just yet.
Speaking of your step dad, John Schneider is playing him.
Yeah, John Schneider was cast as my step dad. I’ve worked with him several times now. The funny thing is he got cast as such an ass, but he is like the nicest guy you can ask for to work with. He’s just a great guy, but he plays the part so well. Liam and his step dad get to have a lot of arguments, or butting heads kind of. They’re kind of butting heads and his mom’s kind of in the middle of it and it’s a very interesting dynamic, that’s for sure.
She protects Liam?
Yeah, she’s protecting him a little bit but at the same time she’s married to this guy and then we see how it affects Liam almost as if the Dad is stealing his mom. Really she is his best friend, and it’s kind of like him and his mom versus the world. And now this new guy has come in and started taking away Liam’s mother. So we’re going to see how that affects them.
How will things shake out with Naomi and her sister who, I have to say, is a real beaatch?
Yeah, she’s a horrible, horrible bitch.
In every episode, Jen is just really mean.
Right now, I honestly don’t know how it’s going to shake out with that. Even past those first few episodes, there’s even more drama and kind of manipulation on Jen’s part of the whole situation. I think Liam is trying to be a stand-up guy and he’s trying to do what’s right by trying to tell Naomi what’s really been going on here. You’re going to see how Jen manipulates the situation even more. It just makes things tougher for Liam and Naomi to get together. I think it’s going to one of those things where they’re just destined to be together, but as of right now they’re having a real hard time getting together. I don’t know if that’s going to last all season. There are going to be break-ups and shake-ups and getting back together along the way. I honestly don’t know yet. AnnaLynne and I are hoping for it. We like working together.
Is it strange playing a high school kid at 26?
It’s not strange playing a high school kid because that’s pretty much all I play since I’ve gotten to Hollywood. I mean, “Commander in Chief” and “Heroes” and the theater work that I did and now this. I can’t get out of that realm. It’s kind of interesting for me, not to mention I’m pretty much an immature kid myself so it’s not too hard.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Georgia. Born in Ohio and then basically moved to Georgia when I was young and that’s pretty much where I grew up–in the South.
I did that you were a bat boy for the Atlanta Braves.
I was a bat boy for the Braves, yeah, for two seasons. Baseball is one of my passions and has been since I was young. So to be able to have that opportunity with the Braves was a dream come true for me; hanging out with guys and getting to be on the Braves field. It was a great, great experience for me. I am so glad I was able to do that.
Are you still a Braves fan or have you adopted an LA team?
You know, I’ve adopted LA to agree, but I’m still a Braves fan. If the Braves are playing the Dodgers, I have to go for the Braves. I am a Dodgers fan. They’re in the [NL] West, Braves are in the [NL] East. So unless it comes down to some kind of playoff game or something, I’m a Dodgers fan. But a Braves fan at heart.
I remember you from a show that I liked that I was kind of surprised when it was canceled, “Commander in Chief.” It was doing really well and then all of a sudden it was gone.
I know. That was such a crazy time. We had like three different show runners on that show and when we premiered it, I don’t know, 18, 19 million people and it just kind of just kept dwindling. Then, of course, there was several scheduling things that were kind of odd that the network pulled us off the air for awhile, put us back on, then pulled us back off and put us back on. It was just weird. I think people had a hard time sticking with it because of all that. … I guess that’s just the business, but it was a great experience and I don’t regret doing that one second.
And I remember one of your guest star roles that really sticks out was Patrick Bridger on “Life,” another canceled show. You were a nice guy on “Commander in Chief” and then kind of a dick on “Life.” That’s a lot different.
Yeah, not many people bring up “Life,” but doing “Life” was a lot of fun. He was a very strong character who was just cocky and it was fun to play. It was fun to get to exercise that side of me and experience that manipulative side, because a lot of characters that I’m going to be playing in the future have that side. So to have gotten to actually exercise that and feel that out was pretty fun. I think it turned out real well.
Yeah, I actually thought that was kind of one the unsung shows and I really liked that episode. Another mean guy you played was Brody Mitchum on “Heroes.”
That’s right, Brody. Yeah, that was my first real asshole of a guy role. I mean, that guy was just mean. He pretended to be a nice guy until he wanted what he couldn’t have, and then he just turned it upside down. I get that a lot; I get a lot of recognition from the asshole quarterback who tried to rape the cheerleader.
Do you have any favorite role of any of those roles?
I’ve really enjoyed a lot of them for, I guess, for different reasons. “Heroes” was fun. I got to do some really cool special effects stuff with the make-up. Working with Hayden [Panettiere] was a blast; I love working with her. “Commander in Chief” is one of my favorites, though, because it was kind of first big break and first experience at being on a series. I got to work with some great people. One of my pieces of work that I’m most proud of, that not many people know, is actually the theater work with Laurence Fishburne out here in LA at the Mark Taper Forum. It was me and Laurence Fishburne and another girl doing the play. We we’re out there for the full hour-and-a-half.
What was the play?
It was called “Without Walls.” It was written by Alfred Uhry, who wrote “Driving Miss Daisy.” That was just an incredible experience for me getting to do that, be live in front of 800 people every night for seven weeks, and, of course, working with Laurence was just an experience that I’ll never forget.
Did you study theater?
I didn’t really study theater. Of course, I’ve taken acting classes and stuff like that but that was my first venture into theater and I loved it. I would like to go back when my schedule calms down and I’m not doing two shows at once. It’s a different ball game than film.
OK, let’s talk male modeling and the reality series you were on in 2004 called “Manhunt.”
Oh, “Manhunt,” yeah. [Laughs.] You know what, that was a good experience for me. I was actually living in Atlanta at the time and they had an open call in the paper and I went down there just for shits and giggles to see what it was all about. I had never really been into the modeling industry or business. I mean still to this day, I’ve not done any–well, I’ve done one photo shoot–for pay.
So I never was really in the world and never really done it, but I just went down there for shits and giggles and ended up getting the call to come out to LA and I said, “What the hell, I’ll go out there and have a free trip to LA.” It was fun, man. We had a good time. Some of the guys were taking it real serious because it was their career. Me and a couple other guys, I don’t know if you remember there was another guy, Jason from Georgia, a real tall blond guy? We kind of hit it off and we were just out there laughing and having a good time with it. It was a good experience. I met some great people on the show and some of the producers.
At that time, were you looking to get into acting?
I wouldn’t say specifically I was chasing acting when I decided to do that show. I was still in college doing my thing. I would have jumped on an opportunity to get into the business in some degree. But after getting on there I realized modeling just really wasn’t me. I don’t think I really particularly enjoy that side of this whole industry. It just does nothing for me.
The judges were a little hard on you every week, but every week you’d stay.
They were hard on me, they were! I ended up getting kicked off the show. I made it into the Top 10, but I got kicked off the show and it was fine. On our exit interview, I said, “It’s totally cool. I’d rather be an actor, anyway.” It’s all good.
It did give you good exposure. No pun intended, I guess.
It did. It did. My manager happened to see that one episode where I said, “Hey, I’d rather be an actor,” and got in touch with me and said, “If you’re being serious about that, I can help you out.”
Where did you go to college?
I went to college at University of Georgia.
And what did you study there?
I was actually studying a sports business, sports management degree. I was working with the Braves and, at the time, I thought I was going to just kind of move into a corporate position with the Atlanta Braves, just to be around the game of baseball.
What were you doing with the Braves at that time?
That’s when I was a batboy. With the Braves organization you have to be older because we actually did a lot of hard work. To tell you the truth, we would come in at 3 or 4 a.m. after the Braves got off and unpack the buses and everything like that. With that organization, particularly, they really work their club house guys/bat boys. They hired older kids to do that. So, yeah, I think it was my first or early college when I was doing that.
Matt Lanter also voices Anakin Skywalker on “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” I’ll have more from him when the show returns Oct. 2.
