By Kurt Anthony Krug
Legal News
Matt Letscher has portrayed plenty of historical figures.
Letscher, 45, of Los Angeles, has played Capt. Harrison Love, leader of the California State Rangers, in 1998’s “The Mask of Zorro”; Mike Love (no relation to Harrison Love) in 2000’s “The Beach Boys: An American Family”; and attorney Larry King, ex-husband of tennis pro Billie Jean King (not to be confused with the TV/radio host of the same name) in 2001’s “When Billie Beat Bobby”.
At the same time, he’s played Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2001’s “Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot”; Col. Adelbert Ames in 2003’s “Gods and Generals”; defense attorney Paul Ford in 2013’s “Devil’s Knot”; and Joseph P. Kennedy, patriarch of the Kennedy family in a 2014 episode of “Boardwalk Empire.”
Recently, Letscher played J. Christopher Stevens — the U.S. Ambassador to Libya who was killed when the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was attacked September 11, 2012 — in the film “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.”
For the Stevens role, Letscher said, hewent to YouTube and studied his speeches.
“I’d found the memorial website his family had created and dozens of people who talked about the nature of his character, his work,” Letscher said. “You try to take all that in,”
At the same time, he said, “you have to recognize in all these cases that you’re usually telling a very specific story, you’re usually capturing a very specific point in time in these people’s lives.”
“It’s your job as an actor to serve the story,” Letscher said. “It’s not your job as an actor to serve your character.”
Based on the 2014 book “13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi” by Mitchell Zuckoff, the movie chronicles the story of the security team that defended the U.S. Consulate when terrorists attacked.
Stevens was pronounced dead as a result of this attack — which lasted 13 hours — on Sept. 12, 2012. He was the eighth U.S. ambassador to be killed in the line of duty.
“I think (Stevens) is a real hero and a patriot. This is a movie telling the Benghazi story from a specific perspective,” said Letscher. “It’s really… I wouldn’t say apolitical because it
can’t be completely devoid of politics, but it’s not a story told with a political event.”
The more research he completed on Stevens, “the more impressed I was with him and the bigger the loss I felt,” Letscher said. “ It felt like a great story and a great opportunity.”
The oldest of three, Letscher grew up in Grosse Pointe. He graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School in 1988 and the University of Michigan in 1992 with an undergraduate degree in theater/drama.
His interest in acting began with an ultimatum from his parents.
“I hit a point in high school where I wasn’t playing sports anymore,” he said. “I just didn’t have a lot of other things occupying my time. There reached a point where my parents said, ‘You need to find something to do with your time or we will.’ That’s when I — for whatever reason — walked in for an audition with the theater group at school. Yeah, so once
I started going, I just really never looked back; it felt very much like home to me,” he recalled.
His first professional role was in “The Tropical Pickle” in 1992 at the Purple Rose Theatre Co. in Chelsea run by Jeff Daniels.
This led to a small part in 1993’s “Gettysburg,” which co-starred Daniels.
“It was the summer after I graduated, which was the second official season of the Purple Rose,” said Letscher. “It dovetailed very neatly with graduation.”
After moving to L.A., Letscher guest-starred on several TV series before landing his first role in the 1995-96 sitcom “Almost Perfect,” starring Nancy Travis and created by Ken Devine, David Isaacs and Robin Schiff.
Throughout his acting career, Letscher has gone back and forth between TV and film. If he had to pick a favorite role, he said that four or five come to mind.
“Oftentimes you confuse the role with the circumstances surrounding the role: the cast that’s supporting you, the story that’s being told, the experience you had on that particular project – all that informs your memory of whether that role was a favorite one of yours,” he said.
Narrowing it down, he picked Dr. Nathan Stone, older brother of the titular character played by Jonny Lee Miller on “Eli Stone,” ABC’s 2008-09 legal dramedy. created by Greg Berlanti and attorney-turned-writer Marc Guggenheim.
“Being in a family with two brothers, I felt that the relationship between them was written so honestly and was so heartfelt,” Letscher said.
Though it was critically acclaimed and had a small, yet devoted audience, “Eli Stone” was cancelled after 26 episodes that were spread across two seasons.
Guggenheim praised Letscher as “a gentleman and a scholar and an actor’s actor.”
“He’s also phenomenally collaborative and a genuinely sweet guy,” said Guggenheim. “It also doesn’t hurt that he’s enormously talented.”
Currently, Letscher’s web-series “One and Done” — which he created, wrote, produced, directed and stars in — launched at the beginning of 2016.
He’s also slated to reprise his role as the villainous Reverse-Flash later this season on “The Flash” — Berlanti’s super-hero drama — despite dying last season.
“At one point in time, I die,” he said. “I obviously can’t speak to how I return, but I can tell you that last season I died. But they’ve found a way to bring me back… I will say that the return makes sense within that world; it’s not something strained or unusual. I think when fans see it, they’ll understand it.”
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