From Wales to Hollywood - DC Superhero Matt Ryan

Exclusive Interview:

In Swansea, Wales, becoming a Hollywood actor is a fantasy for many. Matt Ryan is one of very few who’ve turned that dream into reality – forging a career in the arts and ultimately transforming into a DC Comics superhero.

Ryan’s portrayal of mage John Constantine is considered one of the greatest superhero castings of all time. His debut as the character came in the form of a 2014 TV series, appropriately titled Constantine, which introduced his memorable portrayal of the demon hunter.

You would be fooled to believe that success came to Ryan without barriers however.

Matt Ryan starred as the titular role in DC’s Constantine

Image courtesy of Warner Bros

In an exclusive interview with Regan Elis at the actor’s former college in Swansea, Ryan reflected on his upbringing:

“I come from a family of artists. My mother had a dance school and my dad was a postman who then became a record producer.”

While the arts certainly ran in the family, Ryan emphasised that they lived “in a small town where there were nine-to-five artists. There weren’t many people doing the things they were doing to make a living at that time.”

Regan Elis chats with Matt Ryan at the actor’s former college

Image courtesy of Regan Elis

Ryan fell in love with dance at a young age thanks to his mother’s classes, which eventually led to him landing a role in the West End’s Les Misérables. At ten years old, Ryan performed in front of hundreds as street boy Gavroche. He smiled while reminiscing, “I loved it all.”

Secondary school forcefully introduced peer pressure to the young actor however, making a love for the arts “difficult.”

“Growing up in a small town, it wasn’t cool to want to be an actor, or to dance, or to sing,” he recalled. Ryan “gave in to the pressure” and abandoned his love of the arts to fit in with the crowd. When being offered lead roles in the school plays, he felt obliged to turn them down, even though he secretly would have loved the opportunity.

Surprisingly, it’s a decision Ryan says he’s glad he made. Ryan admits that if he had continued pursuing a career in the performing arts since childhood, his “journey would’ve been very different.”

Leaving school with no qualifications, the only realistic career option that was available to the secretly budding actor was working as a sound engineer in a recording studio – an opportunity he could gain thanks to his dad. There was one barrier however: he had to attend college to gain a BTEC First Diploma in Performing Arts to get the job.

“At the time [living in Swansea], there wasn’t much encouragement [to pursue a career in the arts].  Teachers were supportive, but [people would say] ‘go be an electrician, go be a plumber, go be bricklayer.’ That was what you’d do – I was the anomaly.”

Spending time with fellow aspiring actors in college made acting seem “cool” to Ryan, pushing him to pursue an acting career once again. Several years of college in his hometown of Swansea led to a successful audition for the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he trained for several years.

Ryan felt determined to prove himself to those who once name-called him at school. “There was a real drive and a real passion… I let it feed me rather than put me down.”

Performing as Lord Berowne in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost while training at the Bristol Old Vic in England, Ryan was required to read dialogue with an RP accent –  a standard English pronunciation. This was majorly different to his natural Welsh accent.

When Ryan asked his dialogue coach whether he should practice speaking in his RP accent constantly to refine his skill, she replied, “Well darling, why else did you come to an English drama school but to lose your Welsh accent?”. This statement felt like an attack to the actor.

“It just got my back up. For me, acting is about being an actor. An actor’s skillset should be the ability to play different accents, embody different people.” His Welsh heritage wasn’t something he would leave behind.

Training at the Bristol Old Vic, Ryan would look up words in a dictionary to understand the language being used by the other students, who were “from very well-to-do backgrounds.” Ryan refused to let a class divide hold him back.

Jude Law and Matt Ryan in a production of Hamlet

Image courtesy of Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Having starred as the lead role in several plays, a transition to TV was natural for Ryan. When an audition for the titular character in DC’s Constantine arose, Ryan submitted thirteen audition tapes, each one improving his performance based on notes from the studio, who loved what he brought to the character. Over 400 actors were considered for the role, and Ryan, having flown over to Los Angeles to do a screen test, became the envy of all, getting the once-in-a-lifetime job.

To prepare for embodying the “blue collar, working-class mage,” the actor stated that he “just threw [himself] into the comics as much as possible.” His priority was “to be true to the page” and  to “concentrate on the work” rather than focus on the expectation set by die-hard fans of the character. The comic panels themselves provided a sense of physicality for the character which Ryan drew upon, attempting to bring the still images to life.

Matt Ryan as Constantine

Image courtesy of Cate Cameron/The CW

The July before the series premiered, Ryan, along with the cast of Constantine, attended 2014’s San Diego Comic Con – the largest comic book and pop culture event in the US. “I was on all the busses, there were big cardboard cutouts of me and there were people dressed as Constantine,” the actor smiled. This is the moment that the scope of the series and the passion of comic book fans dawned on him.

Constantine being promoted at San Diego Comic Con 2014

Image courtesy of Denis Poroy

Matt Ryan with fans dressed up as Constantine

Image courtesy of NBC

After the initial Constantine TV series aired on NBC, Ryan returned to the character several times. 2015’s Arrow TV Series marked a brief return, followed by a recurring role on superhero team-up show DC’s Legends of Tomorrow from 2017 to 2022. Over the course of a decade, Ryan has lent his voice as Constantine to the animated world too. Animated DC projects such as Constantine: City of Demons were well-received by fans, as well as Justice League Dark, where the occult detective teamed up with famed masked vigilante Batman.

While DC’s Legends of Tomorrow “served the character as well as they could,” Ryan has always yearned for the opportunity to portray a version of Constantine more true to the darkness and grittiness of the comic books. Although he doesn’t feel as though there’s “unfinished business”, the actor views modern streaming services as an opportunity to create a Constantine TV show which is “more gory and more risqué” to encapsulate the “dark and twisted” comic books.

Matt Ryan provides the voice for Constantine in animated projects

Image courtesy of Warner Bros TV

Quoting The Godfather Part Three, Ryan joked “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” alluding to the many times he has reprised the Constantine role. He remains open-minded for returning once again in the future, stating “never say never” although he feels no sense of ownership over the character and would be supportive of whichever direction the next adaptation of the character takes.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow gave Ryan the opportunity to create and embody a new character too. After Constantine disembarked from the show, Ryan stayed on board to portray Dr Gwyn Davies, a Welshman who had invented time travel. He grew out his hair and beard to appear as unrecognisable as possible, attempting to create the antithesis of Constantine.

Matt Ryan transformed into Dr Gwyn Davies on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow following his role as Constantine

Image courtesy of Michael Courtney/The CW

“I fell in love with him”, the actor said of the character. “I didn’t plan for him to be Welsh… it just happened; I just found him.” 

Today, Ryan travels the world meeting fans at comic cons.

“[The fans] have received me as the character, and that’s a huge compliment – especially the people who are fans of the original comics.” Ryan often hears fans say ‘When I read I hear your voice’, which means a lot to the actor, as “serving the fans through the character” has always been at the forefront of his mind.

Returning to Wales, Ryan’s always keen to catch up with his old school friends at the local pub. “I love coming back,” he stated, adding “Some of those very people where there was a lot of peer pressure: we’re the best of friends now.”

Constantine is promoted everywhere in 2014

Image courtesy of NBC

Ryan’s gratitude for the opportunities he has been given is evident, but he emphasises the importance of “perseverance and study” in the world of acting.

“All art is a form of expression, and if you have to express yourself, no matter who knocks you back – do it. Do it, do it, do it.” Ryan’s story proves that with passion and perseverance, a career in the arts can be forged – even from a small town in Wales.