Matthew Shear is a filmmaker and actor based in New York. He starred in Noah Baumbach's "Mistress America," as well as the limited series "The Alienist." His other credits include Baumbach's "The Meyerowitz Stories," M. Night Shyamalan's "Old," and Nathan Silver's "Between the Temples." He makes his debut feature as a writer/director with "Fantasy Life," (opening on March 27th) which he stars in opposite Amanda Peet, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, and Bob Balaban. It world premiered at SXSW '25 and won the Narrative Feature Audience Award. On this episode he talks about writing that script, never thinking he'd star in it, nor direct it, and what had to change to make him see those possibilities. He explains why he wanted to tell a story about "mental health embedded in a normal world," why The Barrow Group suited him well in his younger days, how he learned to "not get in the way" of the scene, and much more.

Back To One is the in-depth, no-nonsense, actors-on-acting podcast. In each episode, host Peter Rinaldi invites one working actor to do a deep dive into their unique process, psychology, and approach to the craft.

Subscribe to Back To One on Substack

Follow Back To One on Instagram