Matthew Wilkas (born April 20, 1978) is an American New York based theatre and film actor, playwright and reality television personality. He is best known for his lead role as Matt in the 2012 feature film Gayby.
Early life
He grew up in Camden, Maine, with his two sisters. When he was 12, his father died. He later went to Boston University on the theater program because they gave him a student-aid package. He later moved to Hartford, Connecticut, before moving to New York.[1]
His television career started in 2003 with a token role in the TV series Hope & Faith followed by brief appearances in The New Twenty and Ugly Betty. After many small roles on television, in 2012, he had a lead role in the feature film Gayby which debuted at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival.[5] In the film, Matt a comic book store worker (played by Wilkas) and Jenn a yoga instructor (played by Jenn Harris), best friends from college, now single and in their thirties, in agreement with a pact they had made in their youth, decide to have a baby ("gayby") together, even though Jenn is straight and Matt is gay. In 2012, Wilkas and Harris co-won the Award for "Best Acting Ensemble: Feature" during the Ashland Independent Film Festival for their roles in Gayby. The film won a number of other festival awards, named one of the top ten independent films of 2012 by IndieWire, and nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. For his performance in the film, Wilkas was named one of Out magazine's "Out100" and one of the Los Angeles Outfest Film Festival's "Five in Focus".[6]
In 2014, Wilkas appeared in Undateable, an American television sitcom that aired on NBC where he was cast as the character Brett, Justin Kearney's gay friend (pilot only).[7] He also appeared in a number of shorts including This Bachelorette Party Sucks and Masc Only.
In 2017, he had a lead role in New York Is Dead, a series that he co-wrote and produced. As Felix, he co-stars with Gayby actress Jenn Harris. Also in 2017, he is appearing in a lead role as X in "Boy Culture: The Series", an episodic sequel to the original 2006 LGBT American drama film Boy Culture. A Kickstarter campaign was launched for the production.[8] The series will also include Darryl Stephens (as Andrew), Matthew Crawford (as Chayce), as well as Stephen Guarino and singer Steve Grand.