Could Matt Passmore be the new Simon Baker?
Matt Passmore & Kiele Sanchez, The Glades
US reviews for The Glades liken Matt Passmore to Simon Baker, but he doesn’t mind one bit.
Since he first appeared in the US cable series The Glades, Australian Matt Passmore has been frequently compared to Simon Baker. After all, both have the lead role in a crime procedural, passing themselves off as Americans; Passmore takes the observations as a compliment.
“Obviously you’re always going to get comparisons. But I’ve always said it’s not a bad person to be compared to. He’s a phenomenal actor and doing extremely well. I think he’s better looking than I am, so hell, compare me to him all you want!” he laughs. Matt Passmore, who has appeared in McLeod’s Daughters, The Cut and Underbelly, has attracted good reviews for the show which airs on cable network A&E, playing a Chicago cop who moves to Florida.
“The accent’s never been too difficult for me, just a standard American. I was going to go into a South-Western Chicago accent. But the executive producers made the decision that they didn’t want to make it that exclusive. So I put it a little bit more up in my nose, and threw a couple of things in, but it’s not exactly authentic Chicago,” he says. Matt prefers to keep the accent all day on set so that it becomes second nature and he can focus on the work. But even guest actors are surprised to then discover he is an Aussie.
“You get a funny reaction even from crew, or people who had no idea. And then you break out into the Australian accent. They think ‘Have you been trying to fool us?’ There’s a funny suspicion: ‘Have you been trying to fool us all day?’ “It’s not just an accent, it’s a rhythm. It’s not just your R’s and vowels. There’s a definite rhythmic nature to the American accent you have to embrace,” he says. “Sometimes we have guest actors and I’ll be chatting to them, having a good time, and then at the end of the day I say (in an Aussie accent) ‘Awesome! Great!’ and there’s always that little ‘Have you been foolin’ with me all day?’ look.” (more…)