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2023 – Max Matenko

Max Matenko played the role of Leo Falconeri on General Hospital. More recently, Max has been busy with commercials and can be seen as Simon on the AppleTV+ series Platonic!

1. Do you prefer in person auditions or self-tapes and why?
I prefer in person auditions, because it is good to have the casting people give me feedback and I like interacting with people more than just doing it on my own.

2. What was your shoot for McDonald’s like?
It was a long time ago so I don’t remember it that well, but I do remember everyone was very friendly and we were all talking about how much we love McDonald’s!

3. What was the experience like filming your commercial for Wienerschnitzel?
I loved filming the commercial for Wienerschnitzel! The people were really funny and I loved filming there. The food is really good, I love their hotdogs. The director was really nice, he kept giving me new lines, we did it a few different ways, and had a lot of fun with it.

4. How did you react when you heard you booked Platonic?
I was really surprised and I actually thought my mom was joking when she told me. I couldn’t believe it, I was so excited!

5. Was there a different dynamic in working on set with other children and as part of a family for a season compared to other projects?
Yes, it was very different working with other children as part of a family. I haven’t really done that before, and it was so great. We all bonded and it actually felt like we were a family. We kept in touch after we finished filming, and we got together for ice cream. We still write each other sometimes, they are all really nice.

6. What did you enjoy most about working with Rose Byrne?
I loved working with Rose. She is so nice and she always seems to be in a good mood. She was very encouraging and always told us we were doing a great job. She is also really funny.

7. What was your experience in working with Seth Rogen?
Seth is really nice, and he is a funny guy. He laughs a lot and is a lot of fun to be around. He was very nice to all of us.

8. Did you do anything special to watch your scenes?
When the first couple of episodes came out, we had a little party to watch them. I also watched with my grandparents when I was visiting Toronto.

9. Do you have any funny or weird stories you can share from set?
This isn’t really funny, but I broke my elbow playing baseball before we finished filming the season. We had to work around my cast and I had to wear a big sweatshirt to try to hide it. I don’t think it’s something you can really tell when you watch those scenes, but I remember being worried it would be obvious. It ended up being okay, and it was a little funny while we were filming, we kept making jokes about how I could hide the cast.

10. What are your goals for 2024?
In 2024, I would love to do more acting. I love being on set and getting into new characters. I also would love to play more baseball and tennis.