It’s been a matter of days since the new sports-comedy series Chad Powers debuted on Hulu in the US Disney+ globally, and already the show is climbing the streaming charts.
The new Disney+ show sees Glen Powell star as disgraced football star Russ Holliday, who goes undercover on a college football team as Chad Powers to revive his superstar career. The show is a masterful balance of comedy and drama, but it’s actors like Perry Mattfeld and Quentin Plair that bring it to life.
Mattfeld stars as Ricky, the assistant coach and daughter of the team’s head coach Jake Hudson, who’s played by Steve Zahn. Meanwhile, standing on the sidelines alongside her is Plair as Coach Byrd. Both are integral to running the college football team, and I was luckily enough to speak with them both about their respective journeys from script to screen.
From their individual research methods to dissecting the vulnerabilities beneath their characters, Mattfeld and Plair don’t hold back revealing all the details behind their approaches to preparing for their roles – they even share their hopes for the future of their characters in the world of Chad Powers.
Research is key
When they’re on the pitch, Mattfeld and Plair are forces to be reckoned with as Ricky and Coach Byrd, but they didn’t pluck their characters out of thin air – a lot of research went into it.
For Mattfeld, it was quite hands-on. “Luckily I had the chance to talk to quite a few different women in sports before filming”, she said. “I also spent some time at different NFL training camps.” However, it wasn’t just the players she observed, instead she looked for the finer details. “I was focussed on the coaches and watching the sideline and taking notes. How do they stand? Who’s chewing gum? Who’s on their phone? I tried to pick up on as much of the coaching culture as I could.”
In Plair’s case, it was his own background in sports that was the key to unlocking coach Byrd, revealing that he “had a couple of coaches that (he) pulled from (his) college days” – a different approach to Mattfeld, but one that resulted in an equal pay-off. “I think that helps with the nuances because, obviously I’m going to bring my own thing, but having people to spend time with really helped me formulate Coach Byrd”, Plair said.
Perry Mattfeld is ‘the quarterback whisperer’
Aside from being the coach’s daughter, Ricky is her own unique person. Being a woman in the male-dominated world of college football comes with its challenges, but her determination and ambition defies that. She “just wanted to make sure (she) did the right thing,” Mattfeld said.
Indeed, there was a lot to nail down.“She needs to be likable, but also really wants to be taken seriously and wants to be respecte,” Mattfeld said. “There were a lot of boxes to check and it was definitely a challenge. I’m obviously going to hopefully still be challenged by Ricky, but I’m also propped up by incredible writing and an incredible cast to be able to bounce off of”.
One of Ricky’s most monumental lines in the show occurs in the very first episode when she tells Chad/Russ: “You decide who you want to be.” This is a nod to Ricky’s own idea of happiness – all of which will be unveiled as the episodes are released. “Everybody wants that second chance. Ricky’s a little scorned from what happened to her, and I think that’s part of why she sees promise in Chad/ Russ. They have this really special, mutually beneficial friendship,” Mattfeld said.
“You can call her the quarterback whisperer, you can call her whatever you want, but I do think she has a key to making it all work”.
A small character, but with so much room for growth
Plair’s coach Byrd who, like Ricky, assumes an important role on the team – but the surface has barely been scratched with his character, which makes Plair optimistic that Byrd will blossom even more in future seasons.
Despite his brief appearances, Plair is very aware of what type of coach Byrd wants to be sharing. “[He] really looks up to Coach Hudson, but in that, [he] sees some of the fallacy of the ways this job takes away from you. These coaches work tirelessly, and their families have to sacrifice [a lot],” Plair said. Indeed, it’s a harsh reality that the show executes authentically.
While a second season is yet to be confirmed, discussions around the show’s future have already happened. Despite the uncertain status of season two, Plair knows exactly where he wants his character to go.
“I want to explore Byrd making decisions of how to balance that and how to spend more time with his wife, not just show up at home late, and also come into his own a little bit,” he said.
Just like Ricky, Byrd has his own vulnerabilities, which Plair believes is a vital part to explore in his character arc – “he’s got a lot of insecurities about whether or not he’s the right person for the job,” Plair said. “He’s constantly looking over his shoulder, and I’d like to see him step into that a bit.”
“Maybe that’s where we’re going, maybe it’s not”. I guess we’ll just have to wait.”
The first two episodes of Chad Powers are now streaming on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (internationally).
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