Netflix's Archive 81 dives into the found footage genre. The supernatural series follows Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie), an archivist hired to restore scorched videotapes from 1994. While reconstructing the work of documentarian Melody (Dina Shihabi), Dan learns she vanished under mysterious circumstances. Dan and his best friend Mark (Matt McGorry) dig deeper into the case, becoming obsessed with finding Melody and her cult research. Dan becomes convinced he can save Melody from her terrifying fate, despite the strange ties between the cult and his past. Archive 81 is executive produced by showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine (The Boys) and Malignant's James Wan and Michael Clear.
Ahead of Archive 81's Netflix debut on Jan. 14, CBR spoke with McGorry about his role in the supernatural thriller series. McGorry discussed what it's like working within the found footage genre and the fun he had in unraveling the mystery of Melody's disappearance.
CBR: After coming off of How to Get Away with Murder, what made Archive 81 the right show to lock you down as a series regular again?
Matt McGorry: For me, as an actor, one of the most exciting things is to play a variety of characters, in a variety of different genres. I feel like I have been very fortunate and lucky to have had the opportunity of this being the third show I have been a regular on, shows with different tones and different characters. A new challenge and inhabiting someone new is always really exciting. The script itself was complex and layered in a way that really drew me in.
Archive 81 is your first deep dive into horror. Are you a fan of the genre?
I'm "a highly-sensitive person." I remember watching an episode of The X-Files when I was in junior high school. There was something about little white cockroaches crawling under people's skin. I definitely had some nightmares. I haven't even seen The Shining all the way through because it freaks me the fuck out. I have a lot of respect for the genre. Get Out was one of my favorite movies, with such an amazing social commentary. But my gentle disposition can't handle too much of it.
Found footage is a big subgenre of horror. What makes it an effective and eerie storytelling device?
I remember seeing The Blair Witch Project in the theatres. That was an experience. There is something so intimate about it. It takes down a bit of the distance we know that we get from watching something that looks like a standard film or television show. It definitely looks a lot more intimate. At least from my own experience of it, I find that it really draws me in a different way. I am imagining myself on the other side of it, in a way that doesn't come as easily with things that are not found footage.
Introduce us to your character Mark and where he fits into the bigger picture?
Mark is an eccentric, larger-than-life character. He is extremely passionate about and verging on obsessed with this live podcast he does, Mystery Signals. He is really smart. He is a bit of a loner. He also craves to be a part of things and receive validation. Dan is his best friend, and they've been friends for a very long time. He is very loyal to his friends. They are very different in their personalities, which is why they work so well together.
Even now, this is the second project that Mamoudou and I have worked on together, where we've played friend with each other. The first one is Uncorked. Mark is driven by the loyalty of his friend, but also to get information that he can, that could possibly be useful in his podcast and his storytelling.
How much does Mark actually buy into the supernatural and what these tapes represent? As a result, how much is he pushing Dan or pulling him back?
I do believe Mark is a believer and a skeptic. He very much wants to believe. I can imagine him telling a story that he thinks is a good story, whether or not he believes it is true, about something supernatural. I believe that when it comes to trying to discern if a story actually does have supernatural elements, he is very much a skeptic. He's seen so many stories like this and been a part of so many stories like this, that he has a pretty good radar for that.
But I don’t think he has to believe a story is 100% true to make that an interesting story. However, when Dan is finding out all the different details and Mark is supporting him, he does make a very clear distinction between what is his podcast and what is real life. That's very important to him.
There are some truly creepy soundstages and on-location settings. Which ones elicited some heebie-jeebies from you and why?
A lot of my scenes were in relatively familiar places. I did get the opportunity to look around and explore. At the compound, it has a creepy vibe. It's cool in terms of how it looks, but it has a certain deadness to it... A certain soullessness to it. There's something interesting about that contrast of, ''Oh, it would be cool to be in this really large place all by myself, but also it's sterile and feels like it has no soul.''
Looking back, what surprised you the most about filming a horror TV series?
In some ways, the similarities between playing in this genre and other shows like How to Get Away with Murder. The experience as a viewer is vastly different. From the perspective of an actor, I'm still trying to create the most grounded, real performance. I am used to always taking everything in front of me as factual. In terms of the acting process, taking things that feel supernatural… When you imbue them with the same level of meaning, as the events that we all know happen daily, the actual process ends up feeling very similar. That's just my experience of it.
Fall down Archive 81's mysterious rabbit hole, now streaming on Netflix.