We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Grant Mateo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Grant below.

Grant, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I would say that I view being an artist or creative not as a means to be happier, but as a way to live a life that fulfills me and that leaves behind no regrets.

The thought of having a “regular job” crosses my mind almost daily, and there is absolutely a part of me that wishes I could pursue a career outside of acting right now. In fact, before I’d made my decision to attend university for a film and television acting degree, I’d applied to a couple nursing programs at other universities. A regular job would mean steady income, a routine, stability—all things that have high value in todays society. As an artist, I saw all these benefits laid out in front of me, a clear path to an almost guaranteed success, yet I still chose to go into the unknown. I understand also that most career paths remain open, and can be revisited throughout any point in my life, but I knew that if I didn’t chase after what I want the most out of life I would always live with the regret of knowing I had the chance but didn’t take it. It’s the gamble of success that makes having an artistic career difficult, and being the first in my family to pursue a creative field with no previous connections, I knew this was something I needed to start sooner than later. Even though my family doesn’t come from an artistic background, they have an incredible work ethic which they instilled upon me, so I firmly believe that through honest, and consistent hard work, I will be able to achieve great success within this career.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have professionally acted for about 7 years now, having worked on a couple major motion pictures such as “No hard Feelings” (2023), and “Mean Girls” (2024), various indie features/short films/music videos (2022-2025), unscripted television “Dead Curious” (2025), with upcoming network television credits underway. I also recently made my off-broadway debut during the 2025 Broadway Bound Theatre Festival at AMT theatre.

I also work as a stunt actor/choreographer/coordinator bringing my experience as a martial artist to the screen in various projects.

I am currently in my senior year at PACE University looking to graduate with a BFA in Acting for Film, Television, Voiceover, and Commercial (FTVC).

One of my proudest accomplishments which I share with my friends, was the creation of our production company “Dimwitty Productions” which gave us the opportunity to gain real set experience, while providing that experience and acting opportunities for other upcoming artists as well. Under this company I have produced over 12 projects, directed 8 of them, and have acted in all of them.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was having perfection as my standard. Perfection is something that we all strive towards but in reality it is something that can rarely be achieved outside of a few (often controlled) settings. I had to unlearn this during my first film shoot as a director. I had spent about an hour attempting to get a single 15 second clip, with each new take trying to perfect the actors blocking, the camera movement, etc. However with each take I realized I was losing more and more time, and if I’d remained hyper focused on making this one tiny moment perfect I wouldn’t be able to complete the film. Taking a step back and recognizing that your work will not always be perfect, especially when you are first starting out will allow you to have the space to let yourself make mistakes, learn from them and grow as an artist. If you are worried about being perfect, it will be incredibly hard to take the necessary steps towards achieving greatness.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think one of the goals that drive my creative journey is the knowledge that if I achieve a certain level of success and visibility, I will become someone that people like me, who look like me, and relate to my story, can look up too.
I recently had a conversation about representation in media with one of my friends and realized that there are too few actors in the industry who share the same characteristics and background as myself, and I hope that with my success I can inspire more people to create spaces for everyone in this industry the way I hope to do so myself.
I hope that part of the success I achieve in my career is able to be measured by the amount I am able to give back to the communities I represent and the pride that I bring them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: grantmat_
• Linkedin: Grant Harrison Mateo
• Other: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm14732403?s=2ccd44ad-bcc5-4b64-79bd-b3d09c3d61b5&site_preference=normal

Image Credits

Self, Davie Osborne, Eduardo Contreras, Jonathan Gallo, Alex Petersen, Christina Morgan