Before reading this article, read THIS ONE. This is Matt's last post/article on elitefts.com. This article and his acting success is what put the article you are going to read in motion. When looking at these two pieces you will begin to understand the significance of what going ALL IN means. - Dave Tate, founder Elitefts.com Inc
With the success of its original series “House of Cards” and the continuing seasons of “Arrested Development,” Netflix has changed the landscape of television and how viewers see their shows. Entering its third season this summer is its other successful comedy-drama, “Orange is the New Black.” In 2013, Matt McGorry began a recurring role on the series as Corrections Officer John Bennett. And last year, he won a series regular role on Shonda Rhimes’ drama series “How to Get Away With Murder,” and was cast in the indie drama, “How He Fell In Love.”
What many probably don’t know about McGorry, however, is that he was a certified fitness trainer and had been named Men’s Fitness’ “Top Trainer of the Month” back in 2011. Even more surprising to most is that he had a log on elitefts.com, writing as “The Unlikely Powerlifter.”
While he might have ended his powerlifting career and his work with elitefts.com about five years ago, he certainly hasn’t forgotten about his powerlifting roots. In fact, his time training has made a huge impact on his acting career and his life as a whole.
OITNB's Dasha Polanco & Matt McGorry Reveal Their Most Emotional Scenes | MadameNoire
“I went to the Academy Awards for the first time a few months ago and it actually kind of reminded me of when I first met Dave and some of the other guys from the team,” McGorry said. “In some ways, I actually think I was even more excited back then to meet Dave then I was to go to the Academy Awards.”
McGorry estimates that he was just about 18 years old when he started getting more involved in powerlifting and meeting some of the members of Team elitefts. But his training career goes back even farther than that.
McGorry was interested in both fitness and acting from a very young age. He attended a performing arts high school in New York and started training at Peak Performance NYC at just 14 years old.
During his stint as “The Unlikely Powerlifter” with elitefts.com, McGorry learned a lot of important lessons that helped prepare him for success in both competitive lifting and acting. Those lessons started right when he first had to sell himself to Dave on the idea for the Unlikely Powerlifter log. He felt like he had a unique angle that people might be interested in, but he prepared himself for rejection anyway.
“I thought, 'why on earth would he want me on the site? I can’t squat 1,000 pounds or anything.' But he ended up saying yes and it was such a huge moment for me," McGorry said. "I think he saw something unique and was willing to take the chance. Maybe it was my ambition? Or maybe he just got a sense for my resolve and had faith.”
During the years when he had his log and was competing in powerlifting, McGorry's acting career took a backseat. He attended acting classes, but his mind was constantly consumed by thoughts of training and diet. He even got a D in an acting class during his freshman year because he was so focused on training over school.
During this period he also contributed regularly to several different media outlets including Men’s Health, Muscle & Fitness, Life & Style, Men’s Fitness and the television station NY1. He even set New York state powerlifting records in the USAPL.
USAPL Raw Nationals (385 squat/308 Bench/573 deadlift)
“Acting was something I was pursuing in school, but training was taking the majority of my focus,” he said. “I had my log on elitefts and I was sort of making a career out of competing.”
However, that focus on training didn’t mean he wasn’t learning some important lessons that could come in handy for his acting career. Powerlifting requires constant growth in order to achieve success. That means that McGorry had to learn how to set specific goals and stick with them.
“I’ve always been a pretty expert goal setter," he said. “I’ve never not accomplished my goals, and that’s just because I know for myself that I have to set very incremental goals to keep moving ahead and not getting stagnant or discouraged.”
His ability to set goals and stick with them helped him achieve success in powerlifting, where he competed in several different weight classes. He even competed in bodybuilding as well, which he still claims was the most difficult experience of his life.
Although the ability to set and stick with goals is something that can translate to different parts of life, he was still very focused on training. At some point, he knew he was going to have to choose whether or not all of that energy would be better focused on his acting career.
“I was at a point where I was still taking some classes and going on auditions for commercial stuff, but I could have just continued training and making a good living out of that,” he said. “But I knew that if I wanted to really make it as an actor I would have to refocus and put that same amount of energy into acting if I wanted anything to happen.”
Posing practice six days out
In his last year of training, McGorry competed in three different powerlifting meets and one bodybuilding competition. He felt like he had accomplished pretty much everything he was capable of, and decided it was time to move on.
The tipping point for McGorry that really convinced him to focus on acting was seeing some of his friends find success in the industry. In fact, he still remembers seeing advertisements for a TBS series called “Glory Daze,” which starred his friend Hartley Sawyer. He thought that if people that close to him were finding success in acting, he also could.
Throughout the first few years of his career, he made appearances in various TV shows, shorts and independent films. But his big break came in 2013 with the release of Orange is the New Black.
In fact, it only took a couple of days after the release of Orange is the New Black for him to start experiencing the joys of fame. Since Netflix releases seasons of its shows all at once, a fan approached him on the street just days after the release and told him that she had already watched every episode.
Today, McGorry says those interactions are nearly an everyday occurrence. But it’s still strange for him to be recognized and approached by fans. While he doesn’t train with the same intensity as his days as “The Unlikely Powerlifter,” he’s tried a variety of other different activities — from hiking to boxing and more, that keep him in shape without pulling focus away from his career.
How To Get Away With Murder cast. Photo via www.zap2it.com
So far, he hasn’t gotten any roles that require him to change his size or appearance much. But if he does, he knows he’ll be up to the challenge. And a big part of that confidence, both in his abilities and his career as a whole, comes from the lessons he learned while training.
“In this industry there is a certain amount of luck involved, and that makes actors lazy sometimes. So one thing I felt like I had a heads up on was work ethic and discipline. I knew how to approach a situation and figure out how to climb slowly to achieve my goals.”
Looking forward, McGorry thinks it’s unlikely he’ll ever return to the powerlifting world. But he plans to continue building his acting career using the hard work and goal setting that also helped him succeed in powerlifting.
Header image via OITNB Facebook Page
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