At the tender age of eighteen, Matt Keeslar made the bold decision to leave his hometown of Adrian, Michigan behind, embarking on a journey to the city that never sleeps - New York City. His destination was none other than the prestigious drama division of The Juilliard School, where he had been selected to join the esteemed Group 24, the twenty-fourth class to participate in Juilliard's rigorous acting program.
As a member of Group 24, Matt was tasked with numerous group projects, which he tackled with ease. He also had the opportunity to hone his craft in various productions, including a touring production of Moliere's Don Juan, directed by the accomplished Joseph Chaiken. Additionally, Matt produced and starred in a student production of "Waiting for Godot", and made appearances in several interdepartmental productions, including a performance as the title role in Igor Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale.
Matt's talent did not go unnoticed, as he signed with ICM during his second year at Juilliard. This led to a series of notable roles, including appearances in Quiz Show (1994),directed by the renowned Robert Redford, and Renaissance Man (1994),directed by the accomplished Penny Marshall. In his third year, Matt won the lead role in the movie Safe Passage (1994),where he played the son of the talented Susan Sarandon and Sam Shepard.
However, after completing his third year at Juilliard, Matt made the difficult decision to drop out of the program, opting instead to take on the lead role in Peter Yates' film, The Run of the Country (1995). This marked the beginning of a long and illustrious career in professional theatre, where Matt originated the roles of Boyd in Nicky Silver's Fit to be Tied, Nathan Hale in David Stanley Ford's The Interrogation of Nathan Hale, Bo in Laura Cahill's Mercy, and Ricky in Jack Heifner's Earth to Bucky.
Despite his love for the stage, Matt's true calling seemed to be in film and television. Some of his most notable film credits include Waiting for Guffman (1996),The Last Days of Disco (1998),Scream 3 (2000),and Art School Confidential (2006). He also made guest appearances in several television projects and starred in The Middleman (2008),a series for ABC Family, where he played the title role.