An Interview With Matt Lanter (Liam, '90210')

March 2009
After spending much of the '90s hanging with Brandon, Kelly, Dylan and the rest of the Peach Pit gang over at 90210, imagine my delight when the CW announced plans to bring back one of my favorite shows as a brand new series. To add to the excitement, the CW managed to bring back Kelly Taylor, Brenda Walsh and Donna Martin (in the coming weeks).

As the new 90210 developed, a whole new set of teens hit the scene and all seemed just about perfect -- except the lack of that "Dylan McKay" bad boy.... until now!

Enter Matt Lanter, who now plays the incredibly hunky Liam on 90210. Lanter is a seasoned actor and has starred in roles on hit television show such as Heroes, Commander in Chief and Shark.

I had the opportunity to speak with the very charming Matt about his role on the hit series and what we can expect from Liam as his mysterious character unfolds during the remainder of season one and into season two. After being made a full-fledged cast member, fans can take comfort in knowing that Liam is going to stick around the zip code for a long time to come.

Q: How did the role of Liam come to you?

Matt: "It was kind of like any other role, they were adding a new character and we went to the audition. It was supposed to be for a few episodes at first, and then they added on some more episodes and now I'm going to be a series regular."

Q: Were you a fan of the original show?

Matt: "I had not seen a lot of the episodes, I had seen a few and I knew the characters and some of their names, but I didn't really follow the storyline. After I booked the role, I decided to see what it was all about. I'm actually watching season one right now, I'm about 16 or 17 episodes in."

Q: Your character has been touted as the new Dylan McKay, what similarities does Liam share with Dylan?

Matt: "They're both that kind of loner in a way. When Dylan was first introduced, he was portrayed as a loner. They're both intelligent, smart guys, with a lot of depth, which is really a cool thing. There are some similarities with the family life. I know Dylan had a rough family life with his dad and Liam does too. We're going to get into that a little bit this season and definitely next season, we'll see how his home life affects Liam. They're both cool people who don't let people push them around. Dylan seemed to be past the high school drama when he came on and Liam's the same way."

Q: What's ahead for your character?

Matt: "In the next several episodes, we're going to see him interact with some of the other characters and how his relationships start to form. Some will go well, but some aren't going to go so well -- in fact, some are going to go very badly. We're going to see how Liam's influence affects other people at West Beverly."

Q: Can we expect there to be a love triangle in the future?

Matt: "Without giving too much away and with what little I know, there has been some teasing going on with Annie perhaps. Nothing real serious, but maybe somewhere down the line there could be something more serious."

Q: How has it been working with the cast?

Matt: "It's been great! You know, you come into a show that's already established, with a tight group of individuals that are already friends and hang out off set, so you never know what to expect coming into something like that. I can honestly say that I'm having a great time and everyone there has been really welcoming and very friendly. I'm already hanging out with some of the guys and girls offset. It's been a pleasure, I'm really excited to be around for season two."

Q: Are you in the episode directed by Jason Priestley?

Matt: "That is the only episode that I'm not in. I did meet him, I talked to him and he's a really cool guy. I would have loved to work with him."

Q: You've guest starred on several other television shows, do you have a favorite role?

Matt: "Heroes was really fun for me. I did 5 episodes and I got to work with Hayden, who I worked with on Commander in Chief, so it was a lot of fun to be able to work together again. I'm recognized a lot from that role. What's funny is when I filmed Heroes, it wasn't even on the air yet, so it wasn't the huge phenomenon it is today. The popularity from being on that show didn't really kick in until the second season. I was on Commander in Chief for an entire season and when people see me, they remember me from Heroes."

Q: Anything to say to the fans?

Matt: "Stick around and make sure you catch these remaining episodes because they're really, really good. I honestly think they're getting better as the show goes on, I think the show is finding its place. We've got some pretty fun and interesting storylines that I definitely think the fans are going to enjoy."