Movies & TV / Columns

411 talks with Beth + Jeremy and Steve actor Matthew Dibiasio!

May 30, 2025 | Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz

Image Credit: Freestyle Digital Media

The 411 Interview: Matthew Dibiasio

Image Credit: Matthew Dibiasio

Matthew Dibiasio is an actor who has been working in movies and television, according to his IMDB page, since at least 2006. Dibiasio has appeared on such television shows as Leverage (2011) and Grimm (2011), in such short films as Baby Ipecac (2014), My Brother (2014), and There’s a War Going On (2016), as well as the feature film Spunk’s Not Dead (2018). Dibiasio’s latest effort is the dark comedy Beth + Jeremy and Steve, which is set to hit all major HD digital internet, satellite, and cable platforms and DVD starting May 30th, 2025 from Freestyle Digital Media. In this interview, Dibiasio talks with this writer about making Beth + Jeremy and Steve, working with director Daniel Hill, working his fellow cast members, and more.

Image Credit: Freestyle Digital Media

Bryan Kristopowitz: How did you get involved in Beth + Jeremy and Steve?

Matthew Dibiasio: Dan Hill saw me in a production of Sam Shepard’s True West and we connected through another cast member. We went out for lunch and he offered me the part. I wish it was always that straightforward! It took me a while to see how he connected the roles of Lee in True West to Steve in Beth + Jeremy and Steve, but after talking with him and thinking about it a bit, I appreciate how he was able to see the charm and menace in both characters and make the leap from Southwestern freewheeling criminal to Chicago bred husband who is trying to figure out (in arguably all the wrong ways) how to connect with his wife.

BK: How did you approach your character “Steve”? Is Steve misunderstood?
MD: In the world of the movie, I think there are parts of Steve that people easily write off. He is this guy with a lot of maybe stereotypically masculine traits, Midwest born and raised, living in a west coast liberal city where the values just aren’t the same. So, I think he has these charming elements, and a kind of social bravery, that maybe others would say is sleazy, cheesy, or domineering, but I don’t think of him like that at all. I think how Steve exists in the world on a day-to-day level is coming from a set of values that isn’t necessarily better or worse than the community that he finds himself in, just different. Yes, he does things that are worthy of condemnation-he is cheating on his wife at the beginning of the movie, but he also seeks redemption.

BK: Describe your working relationship with director Daniel Hill.
MD: We both come from the Midwest, so we had that connection and would frequently refer to our upbringings and perceptions about that area of the country when working to create Steve. Dan really pushed for a lot of freedom within the performances. He would give us permission to go off script and dive into the situations that he had created, but in our own way.

BK: Describe your working relationship with Briana Ratterman, who plays “Beth.”
MD: We worked a lot on the backstory between Beth and Steve. We did exercises that simulated things they would have done in their day-to-day life. Both Briana and Lucas are dedicated, talented performers and so, from a collaborative standpoint, that made things really easy and enjoyable.

Image Credit: Freestyle Digital Media

BK: Describe your working relationship with Lucas Friedman, who plays “Jeremy.”
MD: We got along well. Lucas really dove into the role of Jeremy and that made it really easy to connect with him through the character of Steve.

BK: What was the hardest part of making Beth + Jeremy and Steve for you as an actor? What was the easiest?
MD: Hardest part was probably the condensed filming schedule. I think we shot most of it in three weeks. The easiest, maybe, was understanding Steve’s relentlessness. It was something I just felt like I understood immediately after reading the script for the first time.

BK: What is your favorite scene in the movie?
MD: I love the club scene at the end. In the club and then spilling out into the street. It’s a great culmination of the tensions in the movie that leads to some real honesty and emotional nakedness for the characters.

BK: According to IMDB, you’ve appeared in two TV shows, Grimm and Leverage. What was it like working on those shows?
MD: Fun! I got to work with Jonathan Frakes and Timothy Hutton on Leverage, which was a blast. I was in my early/mid-twenties, so it was a real “prove yourself” time in my life. I remember just going onto those sets ready to give it my all in this totally new world of TV. They were network shows, big crews, bigger production budgets than I’d ever seen. They kept things moving, but also gave you the right amount of time to shoot a few good takes.

BK: What was it like making the movie Spunks Not Dead?
MD: That was an all-nighter. It was awesome. Showed up on set at like 6pm and left at 4am. Had a sizable crew for that one and some impressive make- up effects involved for the strange rashes that the characters had. I knew a lot of the people involved and we had a lot of fun just diving into the creepiness of that savage world.

BK: Any moviemaking heroes?
MD: Orson Welles, probably. I’ve gone on Robert Altman and Richard Linklater kicks that have been really enjoyable.

BK: Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
MD: A site specific two character play that is loosely in the works.
I also just shot a short called And Then They Came for The Artists that I’m excited about.

Image Credit: Freestyle Digital Media

BK: What do you hope audiences get out of Beth + Jeremy and Steve?
MD: I hope people are able to enjoy the ride that the characters are on, as messy and painful as it is at times.

BK: How good are you at hitting a baseball in real life?
MD: Today? This moment? Probably not good. After a few brush up sessions with Dan? Maybe…