Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: Grosse Pointe Garden Society

Grosse Pointe Garden Society: Davis on What Drew Him To NBC Series

Matthew Davis (The Vampire Diaries) spoke with Bleeding Cool about what drew him to NBC's Grosse Pointe Garden Society and how the twisted new series works on a number of levels.

Matthew Davis has come a long way in his career, celebrating a quarter century in Hollywood since making his debut in the war film Tigerland and the horror classic Urban Legends: Final Cut in 2000. While he's largely made his splash on films, he's developed a bigger presence on TV with his runs on ABC's What About Brian and The CW's The Vampire Diaries franchise, which includes the original series and spinoffs The Originals and Legacies. Davis' latest is the NBC ensemble dark comedy Grosse Pointe Garden Society, which follows four members of a suburban garden club as they get caught up in murder and mischief as they strive to flourish. He spoke to Bleeding Cool about the refreshing nature of Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs dark comedy, and how his Officer Joel developed chemistry with Melissa Fumero's Birdie.

Grosse Pointe Garden Society Star Matthew Davis on Cast Bonding Through Spotify, and How Dark Series "Blew" His Mind

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'Grosse Pointe Garden Society?'

The writing is superior. It's so well written. The characters are so dynamic and engaging. I remember getting the audition about a year ago, reading the two sides I got, and immediately feeling connected to [my character] Joel, the world, and the writing. It oddly felt in alignment and in sync, and I could see immediately Joel's connection to Birdie. You could get a sense of where it might be heading, and I was immediately captivated by it.

I put myself on tape, and then I sent it off. Normally, when you send out an audition on tape, you forget about it, but I couldn't let this one go. I kept thinking about it. There was something so clear about [Joel]. There was something about him that I resonated with right away, and then a couple of weeks went by, and I got the offer. Weirdly, I wasn't surprised. I felt so connected to this character from the beginning. I was beyond thrilled because of working with Bill and Jenna, and the writing of this caliber was so exciting. Here we are, a year later and we're coming up on the end of the season. It's been a thrilling process and a thrilling year.

What does a dark comedy like this allow you to do that you don't find yourself doing enough in your career?

I'm playing Joel Thomas, and there are a number of perspectives and similarities he and I share. He has a unique relationship to Birdie, who's like this enormous, beautiful, powerful, dynamic character, and it requires him to match her energy in these interesting ways, and I like that challenge. I've been in the game now about 25 years, and I've been through a lot of life and a lot of things recently in my life that, on the other side of it now, has opened my eyes in a lot of ways, and it's allowed me to see him clearly and to bring my experience both in the business as an actor, a man, a father, and all of these things. There are themes within the show and themes he represents that resonate with me now.

How would you describe Jenna and Bill's work as creatives on 'Grosse Pointe Garden Society?'

I've not sat in the room with them. I chat with them on text. They're incredibly generous with their time and their praise. If you nail a scene and it's popping, they're happy to let you know they're pleased with what you're doing. That's great in that it helps keep you aligned.

Bill did something fun that I've never experienced before in a show, where he created a group playlist on Spotify so people can chime in and share songs. Over the year, we built a massive playlist of all these fantastic songs that people key in on. Some of them make it in; I shared one song I made it in, which was cool. It's in episode two; that was fun. That was a smart, creative, and fun way to keep us all connected, and I appreciate Bill for doing that. That's fresh and new for me, and they're amazing people. They're so cool, happy, upbeat, and they're grace under pressure. They've written a show I fell madly in love with. I don't know if I've ever been in love with material like I am with this.

How do you break down your chemistry with Melissa, and Joel and Birdie's chemistry/dynamic?

What captivated me about the Joel and Birdie relationship…I didn't fully understand when I booked the part because I had booked the role off two scenes. One scene was from episode two ("Pests"), and the other scene was from episode three ("Companion Planting"), and it was enough to triangulate the dynamic. When we shot the pilot, I'm only in one scene at the end, I only have two lines, and then it was, I don't remember if it was like towards the end of the pilot or right after, they gave us the full episodes of two and three.

When you read two, that's when my mind was blown wide open! [Birdie] runs to Joel; you don't know what their relationship is. She's confessing this murder to him, you don't know what's going on, and then, scene by scene, he slowly confiscates the weapons, and then I find the shocking moment at the end. He turns to kiss her, and you realize they have a relationship, he's going to help her, and protect her. What I love is you have a relationship with these two people where she gets involved in this murder, and the first thing she does is run to Joel to help her cover up a murder, and he does. I love that kind of relationship and dynamic, for me to play a guy who would do that is a dream. I'll play that guy all day long.

Grosse Pointe Garden Society, which also stars Aja Naomi King, Ben Rappaport, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Hodge, Nancy Travis, and  Felix Wolfe, airs Sundays on NBC and is available to stream on Peacock.

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