It hasn’t always gone to plan for Levi Mattey. He ticked off most acting clubs as a child, then got a place at the National Youth Theatre, and even got signed by an agent after being scouted at Edinburgh Fringe. But the London-born actor found himself in a perpetual cycle of perfunctory no’s in 2021 with call-backs leading to disappointment. His only move was to break the conventional mould. His youthful ambition and indomitable pull to screen found him on set. Just not in front of the camera.
After finding his feet as a runner, two years on he gained a plethora of producer credits from Rudimental’s “Die Young” ft. Venbee and Fred Again’s “Stayinit” ft. Lil Yachty’s music videos to adverts for Beats by Dre collaborations with Off-White, Verdy and GDC.
But, it’s more recently that the 24-year-old has found himself moving from behind the scenes to in front of the camera. But this has been far from an awkward transition and more of a natural evolution. He has cultivated a duality rare of someone so early on in their career, gaining successive roles in Sky’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz to ITV’s Tell Me Everything.
At a time where the industry is recalibrating itself to create new in-ways into what was once a deeply guarded industry, young creatives like Mattey flourish in this unchartered territory where you can’t be a one-trick pony but rather a thoroughbred thespian. Weaponising his clear shapeshifting ability and finding himself at a career-defining intersection, 1883 speaks to the actor in a momentary pause just before he embarks on a new role in an undisclosed Barry Levinson-produced film.
Let’s start from the very beginning. Did you have some lightbulb moment where you were like acting is what I want to do for the rest of my life?
There wasn’t a definitive moment, as long as I can remember I just knew I wanted to be an actor. On Saturdays, my brothers used to go and play football, and I used to be taken to drama clubs – like small drama clubs around London. I probably went to seven – and I loved every one of them. I asked my mum why this was, she was like “You had all this energy and were incredibly articulate for someone so young, it just made sense to take you to drama clubs”.
Like many British actors, you joined the National Youth Theatre. What did that experience in traditional training teach you – especially considering this is your only bit of formal training?
[Laughs] I was 14 when I got in. The youngest person on the intake course, that year. I used it as an excuse to slightly fuck around for three weeks in the summer. I was a performative mess. I remember getting told off for chucking a broccoli out of the window and they threatened to kick me out. Within the first three days, I shaved all my hair off because I thought it made me look really hard. I was this rambunctious 14-year-old and there were 17-18-year-olds actually trying to do some serious training ahead of Drama School applications. I was this attention seeking adolescent with a lot of energy and no hair. However, turning up to do a full days worth of acting lessons for three weeks left me with the idea that this was something that I would love to be able to do for the rest of my life.
Why did you decide not to study acting, and instead read English?
I was actually gunning for it after the National Youth Theatre. I finally woke up hearing other students comparing what drama schools they were going to apply for, or whether they were getting an agent. These terms were so foreign to me at 14. But by 17 I got really into it. I became more disciplined and it seemed like these were the blueprints towards acting professionally. One of my teachers told me to apply to drama school. Which was super encouraging. The rest were like ‘No. You would be wise to get an academic degree.’ I yielded, turning towards the safer option of having something to “fall back on”. But I am so grateful that I never went to drama school.
Why is that?
By no means is that a criticism of drama schools. A lot of my good friends went and had an incredible time training for however many years. Ultimately, I still got the opportunity to act whilst at university. There was a year where there wasn’t a single day where I wasn’t rehearsing or performing in a play. I did like six or seven back-to back. Which felt like a quasi training, in itself. By the time I got round to graduating I was just so hungry to make my first steps in the industry. A handful of younger actors, that really inspire me, didnt train. Which heavily informed my decision to just plough on. After four years at University, I also started to develop this feeling that it was important to me to graduate as a dynamic individual outside of being an “actor”. I have other interests, and partake in other things. This is something that has served me in the industry, thus far.
After graduating, why did you find yourself contemplating two paths – actor and producer – rather than just one?
It was because I was out of a job. I graduated and signed immediately with my agent. I started taping, with the hope of working as an actor. In the first few months of auditioning, your working it all out and trying to build important relationships. First tapes, first meetings, first recalls et cetera. It was a lot of firsts and that was all great, however, I was still jobless. Producing came as a natural progression from starting as a runner. Theo [Hue-Williams] needed an extra pair of hands and asked if I wanted to do it. I was like “Great. £100 a day” I finally had a bit of money and I could be on set. It snowballed from there.
Working as a production manager for two years, doing projects like Beats by Dre x Off-White, Verdy and GDC, was there ever a moment when you thought that you would just keep being a producer?
The dream has always been acting. But there was a moment where I was like the two could perfectly co-exist alongside each other. Just because I am an actor doesn’t mean I can’t be a producer, and vice versa.
Notably, you produced Fred Again’s “Stayinit” ft Lil Yachty music video in New York. What was the experience like working on something of that magnitude, having to fly to New York?
If I look back I just can’t believe we pulled it off. It was just so amazing to be in New York with Theo and George [Muncey] together, eating burgers and tacos one moment and then heading to reccies and big meetings, in the lead up to filming this video. It was a massive jigsaw and working it out at times was complicated. Especially with the live crowd element. There were a lot of deliverables on this one. We had to shoot the music video and album cover during the day, before the venue opened its door to 3,200 die hard Fred fans. Once the fans were in and partying, we then had to shoot the live video element. We had something like four camera operators, amongst the crowd, which was a bit of mental gymnastics. We made it work though.
Have you ever had to improvise on set?
I like to approach the work, always, with at least some degree of improvisation. Each set, each project, each character will come with their own unique challenges, so I couldnt tell you the exact rubric. Being light on your feet is something that has always stood me in good stead. This very much applies to producing jobs as well. About a year ago my friend was producing a music video for Bakar – quite an ambitious one at that. The night before he called me and said, ‘Listen, Levi, I have got a job and this geezer has just pulled out, can you help?’. I was like ‘Yeah, anything to help’. These directors, rubberband, from the States, had the ambitious vision of holding up live traffic at Piccadilly Circus for the video. We had five camera operators filming amongst the public as Bakar performed on a Friday afternoon. My job was to pick up this bad-boy old-school Mercedez, drive it to set, and then be the hero driver. I had to drive around in a loop and then park in front of the lights opposite the statue of Eros. From there, Bakar would swap with me and then the cameras would start rolling. We only had four chances to make this video before the police would shut it down. We did it in three.
Do you think being a producer makes you a different actor?
I will tell you what it does do, it has allowed me to feel incredibly relaxed on set and not blind-sided by the big lights, big cameras and huge crew. You don’t fear what’s around you anymore.
Earlier this year your first major role was in Sky’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz – how did that project come about?
I auditioned for it, it was my first audition of 2023 – literally the first week of January. I remember seeing the subject being ‘Tattooist of Auschwitz Audition’, and I thought ‘Here we go again’. I had gotten close to two projects the year before that were similar sorts of things – Jewish, Holocaust, WWII stories – to play Jewish roles. You get really close and it’s really exciting because this is my heritage and culture, and it would be such an honour. So when the Tattooist came around, I laughed at the prospect of another Jewish role that I would get close to but wouldn’t book. Classic. But I looked again and it said ‘We would like you to audition for the part of SS Officer Franz Krauss’. I called my agent straight away checking they were sure they had the right guy, knowing I was Jewish, she was like ‘Yeah they do’.
How did you get your head around playing a Nazi as someone of Jewish descent – was there an internal dialogue that you pushed aside on set or something that you were constantly aware of?
You’re never not aware of it from the moment you audition and then get cast. And then the wait until you go out to Slovakia and then when you’re there. It’s constant. Especially because I come from a very big Jewish family, I was around the dinner table every night having conversations about it – everyone from cousins to aunties and uncles, everyone wanted to chat about it. I had two months between getting the role and being on set, and in that time I tried to work it out myself from having those interesting conversations with family members. But you can intellectualise it all you want, but then you get there and see it for what it is, it all dissipates and you think ‘Well I am here to make the best thing possible’. I was in a very unique position on that set and I was honoured to hold it.
What was something that you took from playing on such a large set with such a large variety of actors?
I was so blown away by Jonah [Hauer-King]. I was even saying it to someone last night, he leads a set with such courage, decorum, humility – like all the best attributes you can find in a leading man he has them. Like so kind and so generous. Though I had a small role it allowed me to sit back and take it all in. My biggest take was if you’re going to lead a set, lead it like Jonah did.
Now, in ITV’s Tell Me Everything, you played the bad guy in the second season. What did you enjoy most about working so closely with the cast?
It was incredibly fun. It’s fun because it’s six principal actors, all of which were either their first big job or second, we were all young. We just got on so well. We shot it over the summer and it was just such a vibe to be on set. We all stayed incredibly close, and go out together still. I don’t have a whole heap of acting mates so its super cool to have them as friends.
Looking forward, do you think you will continue the duality of actor/ producer, or do you think you will aim to create more of a tunnel vision?
I couldn’t say, I don’t quite know. I like rolling with the punches. So I guess wherever the next one lands.
And finally, what is a story that hasn’t been told that you would like to be a part of telling on screen?
There’s a lot of these big music biopics coming out at the moment. [Yawns] People seem to be shying away from shining light on, perhaps, the lesser known artists that have far more engaging stories to tell. There is a scene of musicians that emerged from South London in the early 2010s, who got up to some rather deviant ventures. A friend and I are always toying with the idea of adapting some of their stories into something. A feature, a miniseries, who knows? Perhaps its time to take the plunge.
Interview Imogen Clark
Photography George Muncey
Styling Zahra Asmail
Talent Levi Mattey
Feature image
jumper – Archive Armani by La Nausée jeans Archive Junya Watanabe by La Nausée