For Oyster #96, we spoke to Matthew Gray Gubler about ghosts, dream girls and what the name of his band would be (if he was in one):
Matthew Gray Gubler isnāt like most other celebrities. His face features more regularly on Terry Richardsonās blog than in the pages of tabloid magazines and, although heās a director and actor at heart ā you might know him as Criminal Mindsā Dr Spencer Reid ā heās also an artist who is really good at the Internet. (It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge that he is also very cute ā when I interviewed him I had to pretend that he was hideously unattractive so as not to come across as a giggling teenage girl.) I spoke with him about Halloween costumes, seeing ghosts, and falling in love with fictional characters.
Ingrid Kesa:How are you?
Matthew Gray Gubler: Great! How the heck are you?
Good! How was your shoot just now?Ā
It was amazing. I love Mike, Iām a big fan. We rode around on bikes in this derelict part of Venice which is basically a housing community. There are probably 50 or 60 homes that are completely run-down, but heaps of families still live there. The governmentās basically biding its time until some super-developer can buy it all for, like, a billion dollars, and tear it down. Itās an amazing and eerie location.
Have you got anything else planned for tonight?
Iām still in Venice for a few hours, then Iāll head back to Hollywood.
How do you deal with Hollywood? You seem pretty normal ā I think it would wig me out.
Itās kinda funny. I donāt think negatively of the industry per se, but you can choose to prescribe to Hollywood, and luckily Iāve never had to do that. It sounds like a douchey thing to say, but I just go to work and come home. Iām not very good at, like, parties or things like that, so Iām not really in the Hollywood zone. The things that Iām part of are outside of that vibe.
Iām pretty bad at networking, but if there are free drinks on offer, I exploit them.
[Laughs] I know the feeling! Everything I do, I try to look at under the broad umbrella of āentertainmentā. This is a rambling way of me saying I donāt really go out much. I live in my own bubble. Iām in Gublerland. Gublerwood.
Whatās the etiquette when one celebrity meets another?Ā
Itās probably been my curse in life, because Iām too sincere. Iām not good at pretending to be cool, so I generally just go right up and say, āHey, Iām a big fan.ā Iāve recently been lucky to meet a lot of childhood idols, so thatās fun. But thereās no real etiquetteā¦ Maybe Iāve been left out. Maybe I didnāt get the memo!
I saw your artworks. What did you draw when you were a kid?
Kind of exactly what I draw today: a lot of monsters, dinosaurs and ghosts.
Do you believe in ghosts?
I absolutely, totally believe in ghosts. 100 percent. Iāve seen a few.
Youāve actually seen them?
Oh, yeah. Tonnes of times.
What were those encounters like?
I used to live in an apartment in Hollywood where a man had hung himself. Bizarre stuff would happen frequently ā my dog would wake up every night at the same time, barking furiously at this corner. I later found out that was where he had hung himself. As far as my own visions, I saw a gentleman who lived in the apartment above me ā Iām doing the worst job at telling these stories! Itās much better when I tell them around a campfire ā I saw a neighbour who had died in the stairway a few days after, and a face staring out of my upstairs window. I saw my grandmother after she died.
Thereās a ghost in my house that hates my music taste. It will always change the song to āLet Me Blow Ya Mindā by Eve featuring Gwen Stefani.Ā
Oh, man. Itās a DJ ghost!
This is a bit macabre, but seeing as we are talking about ghosts, how do you want to be remembered when you die?
As someone who ā in any small way ā made peopleās lives just a little bit more entertaining, or special, or enchanting.
If you were a genius and could invent anything, what would it be?
I would invent a machine that videotapes your dreams so that you could watch them the next morning.
I always have weird dreams and can only remember bits of them.
Yeah, exactly. I love it, itās magical. I love sleeping because I love dreaming. I wish I could hold them with me longer.
What did you dream about last night?
Theyāre doing tree-trimming outside my window, and Iām very neurotic and I love trees. I hate the fact that I have to trim them but, for their health, I have to. I had this intense nightmare that I woke up and this guy had cut down every tree in my yard, and I was so sad. Luckily I woke up and it was only a dream.
I love hypothesising about what my non-existent band would be called. My current one would be a bratty girl-band called The Pet Hates. What would yours be?
I love it! As a joke I told my friend he should name his band Nirvana T-Shirt, because Nirvana t-shirt reprints became really popular in LA. I thought it would be funny. I like the idea of making a band name sound like a law firm, like Ed Bernstein & Associates.
I can see that on a flyer.
Yeah, I would want people to see it and think that they were getting a consultation instead ofĀ going to a show. Like, āIs this guy going to give me legal advice, or play me a song?ā
Whoās the hottest woman on earth?
Itās tough to say. If weāre talking actresses, most of the ones Iāve been visually interested in are dead. I prefer womenās figures from the forties, fifties and sixties more so than the super-skinny trend today. I donāt know who is the hottest, though.
Surely this is something you think about a lot.
Iāve got a weird list of girls I find beautiful: Elvira, Clair Huxtable from The Cosby Show, Fran Drescher.
I feel you on Fran.
Sheās up there. I had the pleasure of having dinner with her recently. I didnāt expect her to be at this thing I was at, and it was a pleasant surprise. Iāve always had a liking for Disney princesses and Jessica Rabbit, even though theyāre not real ā theyāre animated.
Iāve always had a crush on Trent from Daria ā I know what itās like to be in love with a fictional character.
Heās so cool! I love Daria!
Heās my ultimate man. But he doesnāt exist.
His t-shirt was cool, his haircut was cool. I like Snow White quite a bitā¦ but I think any girl that has confidence and a good sense of humour is the hottest girl on earth.
Correct answer! Are you superstitious?
Iām really badly superstitious. Paralysingly so. I never wear matching socks, thatās the biggest one. I used to be obsessive compulsive about superstitions, but Iām a little less so now. I was just trying to avoid the cracks in the pavement walking to this coffee shop Iām at, though.
Whatās your coffee order?
Iām drinking a dirty chai. Have you ever had one of those? Itās a chai-tea latte with a shot of espresso. It tastes like Halloween.
I love Halloween, but itās not a huge celebration in Australia.Ā
Thatās so depressing. Thatās a bummer. I love Halloween; itās my favourite holiday.
What are you going as this year?
Iām going as this strange comedian from the eighties, Emo Philips. Heās an underground surreal comic, look him up; heās weird. I recently became friends with him and realised that we look similar, so Iām going to try to be him. Itās more of an inside joke. I think one person out of 200 will get it. You should go as Eve! Youāre black, right? Iām assuming youāre black.
I sound black on the phone? Weird. No. But I could be. [Not really ā I am a pale-skinned redhead.]
It might be a bit hard to pull off, then.
Yes, that would be a challenge. So, whatās the best age to be?
Any age, if you can figure out a way to remain genuine. I love children, because you never meet a disingenuous or insincere child. Itās really hard for kids under twelve not to be genuine, and if you can retain that all through your life then you never age. Around 13, people start getting cynical and, like, cool, and they start to care about things that donāt matter. Thatās why I think any age, so long as sincerity and genuineness course through your veins.
Itās almost like when you hit adolescence you just have to be a dick for a while. Iām scared of one day being a parent and having a horrible teenager. What were you like as a teenager?
I was a good teenager. Iāve always been exceptionally well-behaved. Iām lucky that I have cool parents, but Iāve also always seen the big picture. I knew that the things that seemed preposterous to me as a child ultimately made sense, like a curfew. My parents had the easiest time. I was probably a dream child. I was definitely not the guy that was doing anything bad or sneaking out.
Do you like sport?
Itās funny you should ask that. I just had a giant debate over that. Hereās my thing with sports: Iāve never really followed them; Iām not interested in them. I play a lot of badminton myself, but I am absolutely, 100 percent obsessed with boxing. To me, boxing is the only sport. Every other sport in the world feels like, at its core, it is boxing, but it has stuff getting in the way ā like nets and sticks and balls ā which take away from the essence of two guys fighting with their fists. Thereās nothing I love more.
I always lied to get out of physical education in school, but I really love ice hockey because itās so violent.
Thatās exactly what Iām saying! Every other sport is like, āOoh, youāve got a ball. Youāre trying to make a score. Congratulations.ā But then you watch this thing and itās actually sort of a primal gladiator-battle, and that, to me, is what sport is.
Speaking of primal urges, what do you and Terry Richardson do when you hang out?
[Laughs] Not really anything at all! People think we hang out a lot more than we do because Iām on his blog a lot. Typically we just take photos, and if anything weāll get dinner. Nothing interesting.
Do you like theme parks?
I love them! Disneyland is, of course, one of my favourite places in the world. Have you been to Disneyland before?
No, I havenāt. Iām hoping to go to Tokyo next year, mostly for Disneyland.
Thatās funny ā Iām going there in November for the same reason.
Words: Ingrid Kesa
Photography: Mike Piscitelli
germansingergirl
pixelskylines
tangentwithtanner
kianamaiart
origamiaround
yousharknotpass
discoholicmusic
