On CBS' Matlock, David Del Rio gets to play alongside Oscar, Emmy and Globe winner Kathy Bates – and it's no wonder that he is soaking up every opportunity to learn.
"It's a joy to collaborate and have a chance to sneak into that mind of someone who has worked with the Rob Reiners' and the Mike Nicholson's of the world and see what she brings to the table," David tells HELLO!
Pitch Perfect star David, 38, stars as Billy Martinez, a first year associate at Jacobson Moore working alongside Kathy's Matty Matlock. Not a reboot of the original series, the show follows wealthy retired lawyer Madeline Kingston who returns to practice to seek justice for the death of her daughter Ellie in the opioid epidemic – using the alias Matty Matlock.
As the first season wraps up for a winter break, David discusses finding the musicality and chemistry with Kathy, and his own winter plans.
© Dio AnthonyHow did Matlock come across your desk?
It was an audition appointment – and then I saw Kathy's name on the attachments. Maybe two weeks later the team at Sutton Street Productions wanted to meet me, and in the second audition, they guided me into where Billy is and that changed my representation of him.
It was really a quick turnaround and they needed me the next day to read for different Sarah's – and Leah Lewis got the role and that was my choice, by the way, I voted for her.
© Dio AnthonyWere you involved with creating Billy, or asked for any input?
Billy is absolutely in love with not only what he does but the concept of the law – he would fall asleep listening to murder podcasts to research how he could represent the people in those stories, and it's that commitment that speaks to Billy's grit and commitment in community college.
The direction I received helped dictate the cadence and the musicality for which Billy speaks and carries himself, and then when I was playing with that musicality, Jennie would come to me during, for example, episode three or four, and she'd say, 'I know what you're doing, here's what I want instead,' and I understood immediately.
It's real magic when Jennie comes in from her tower writing, and she gives one sentence that changes the trajectory of where I thought my character was going. Just one sentence covered four episodes down the line of where I was guided to take Billy.
© Sonja FlemmingYou and Leah get to work a lot with Kathy Bates, what has that been like?
You always tap into a small part of who you are to really get yourself in the place of complete surrender so you can listen, but sometimes it's hard for me to listen when looking into Kathy's eyes, eyes I've seen all my life and now seeing them directed at me.
But Billy's curiosity really does match my curiosity of how Kathy does what she does, and because of that, it was really easy for me to tap into treating Matty as my coworker.
The writing guides us, and yet Kathy has a way of having you listen to her even when she isn't speaking. It was very easy for me to try to find what was going on with her, Kathy makes that easy.
© Sonja FlemmingShe is one of the most brilliant actors of this generation and the generation before and generations to come, it really is a privilege and an honor to share the screen with her.
There's a fun chemistry on-screen between Matty and Billy, did that come naturally?
There was a scene Billy had to reprimand Matty for going about the investigative process without letting Sarah or Billy know, and I wanted to have a chance to talk to Kathy of what she thinks the scene should be, so we have had moments where we go to another room and dissect, then we go back out and let it ride.
But there have also been a lot of other times where Kathy and I would check in on each other and say, 'the writing is doing a lot of the work so let's have fun with it,' and there's a great balance between the two for us.
Kathy is always opening the door for any questions or ideas I may have, and the fact that she would allow me to pitch her stuff – even if she says yes or no – it's a joy to collaborate and have a chance to sneak into that mind who has worked with the Rob Reiner's and the Mike Nicholson's of the world. It's a real treat for any actor.
© Dio Anthony.Kathy once spoke of needing to be physically healthy to work on a set for 14-hour days, how does watching her work inspire you?
I think it was when we got back to shoot episode two, she said: 'You know, David, I just want to do a good job.' I'm like, 'Woman, you want to do a good job? If you feel this way, there's absolutely no hope for me or any of us for that matter!'
But it's that eagerness to go after the most authentic truth in the moment, that search and curiosity to go deeper but just going deep isn't good enough for her. Kathy doesn't come in with people trying to catch up to her speed of things, she's trying to really meld with everybody else's speed and then bring her magic into it.
© CBS Photo ArchiveThere is no arrogance or air about her that she knows what she's doing, she's just as curious in wanting to do the best work like the rest of us, and the benefit of having a season two is that I get to have another chance to try to steal that fuel to bring into my work.
How would Billy feel if, and when, he discovers Matty's true identity?
Matty's identity is one of those things that I would really love to keep close to the chest because I don't want to have the energy out there of what should happen, and I've been so surrendering to each draft that has been coming out.
Anytime the script is sent out the Matlock cast is on another text, literally texting each other after reading every page of like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe this,' and I want to keep that energy available and not mess up any authentic growth that Billy might go through to understand.
I just got off the phone with Kathy about half an hour ago [after the Critics Choice nominations] and the work that they put into their characters and getting to see them push through 19 episodes, it's absolutely so well deserved and we on the text are going crazy basically.
The show has been a major success, but you first began work on this in 2023, what has the wait been like for you?
My daughter was born a day before the WGA strikes so I had about eight months to be distracted.
But the position that we were in wasn't lost on me. I was praying every morning grateful for the fact that we got picked up and we were still going to shoot at the other end of the timeline of this strike, no matter how long that took, and so I was really concentrating on one thing which was to be the best dad I can be, and being there for my wife.
What are your holiday plans?
© Michael BezjianMy wife is going to be at the end of her third trimester, so it's going to be a real chill Christmas. I haven't been home in Bastrop, Texas for more than a month this last year, and it's going to be nice to introduce that Christmas spirit to our almost two-year-old.
What can we expect from the rest of the season?
More mystery to be unfolding!
Matlock's winter finale airs on CBS on Thursday December 12.
