Actors

Lionel Wickliffe – Matt

Name:	Lionel Eric Allan Wickliffe
Date of birth:	9 April 1983
Favourite actor:	Al Pacino, Chris Tucker
Favourite movies:	Dumb and Dumber, Friday, Billy Madison, and Menace to Society

Key questions:

Is this a girls' TV show?
What research did you do for the role of Matt?
What can boys get from taking drama as a subject at school?
Is there anything you don't like about the character you play?

Lionel Wickliffe got his acting break after taking a special course designed to give teenagers direction.

The Project K Course, which Wickliffe did in form 4 (year 9) at school, helps children with low self-esteem achieve their goals.

"I said I wanted to be and actor but I had no idea how to get started," says Wickliffe. "It just seemed like a fantasy at the time but Project K set me up with an agent which started things off for me."

Having an agent enabled Wickliffe to begin doing modelling work which led to some small television roles on shows such as Hercules and, eventually, the part of Matt Te Ahi in Being Eve.

Matt is one of Eve's best friends and while the other guys are on the rugby field, Matt's usually hanging out on the sideline with the girls. The truth is Matt never has a problem getting a date and it riles the other guys at school. They hassle him, and refer to all the girls he hangs out with as his harem.

Matt dreams of being a dancer and an artist (think graffiti and rap music), and he's already worked out that his chances of getting an Arts Council grant are much higher than those of most people he knows.

Playing a talented breakdancer on the show proved one of the biggest challenges for Wickliffe who received special coaching for the dance scenes.

"Learning to break dance was one of the hardest things I had to do for Being Eve," he says.

"I'm a skater – which is actually what Adam is in the show – but I had to play a breaker. It was really tough man!"

Lionel Wickliffe plays Matt.