Hypable had the chance to speak with Matt Daddario who plays Alec Lightwood on Freeform’s Shadowhunters. We discussed Malec and Daddario’s favorite scenes.
Shadowhunters has been getting stronger all season thanks in part to the performance from Matt Daddario. His character Alec Lightwood has become a fan favorite and each week we get to see little more of what makes Alec tick.
Daddario is appreciative that the fans like his version of Alec. “Honestly it is kind of incredible,” he told Hypable. “It is really great to get to play someone people feel attached to and I am very appreciative of that. At times it is constantly a surprise people are so nice.”
When it comes to the pressure of playing a fan favorite character Daddario found confidence in knowing the character. “I understand Alec and I like Alec. I felt that I was doing the right thing so there is that confidence but that could have been ill advised and things could have gone very poorly. They may still go very poorly who knows but for now things are going pretty well.” Things are definitely going well so far!
The evolution of Alec is something people are invested in. For Daddario it made the character easier to play. “It was definitely nice to have that place to go and to prepare for it is simply you see people who like Alec in the beginning were very closed and by episode 13 the idea is to have a person who is more open but who knows if we actually meet that goal, I certainly don’t.”
As fans, I think we all have favorite Alec moments, so what was Matt Daddario’s favorite non-Malec moment? He couldn’t pick just one. “I had fun with Emeraude (Izzy) when we were climbing around Hotel DuMort and also the alternate universe scenes. Then the fight scene with Jace was really fun. There are a lot of moments because all the actors really like each other a lot so it is enjoyable to spend time with each other and work with each other. We are very lucky in that respect.” It would be hard for me to pick just one if I worked with my friends all day too!
Of course the most important question: What is your favorite Malec scene? I’m sure as fans we all have the moments we love but this one may surprise you given it was from very early in the season, “Hmmm…one of the early ones but we kind of cut it I think. We played it comical and not so comical where he gives me the drink and asks me to stay and then it cuts out. That was a fun one to play because it was one of the early ones where Harry is doing his Magnus bit and he got to be a little playful and that was very amusing.”
I asked about the addition of Lydia who is a unique character to the show. Daddario explained that without her to move the plot forward, his character would have been relegated to the background which none of us want, so Lydia can stay, for now. “This comes down to an issue of a story being told in different mediums, how a story is told for TV and how a story is told for a book. Alec is obviously a main character in the book but he is not the focus of the first few novels so we had to do something about that in order to progress each characters storyline. The introduction of Lydia was a good tool and we got lucky having such a good actress to play her because she added quite a bit to the story as well. It knocked out quite a few issues that would have sort of relegated Alec’s roles to a background character.”
We finally got to the part of the interview where I ask about the upcoming episode, entitled “Malec.” His ship is the name of the episode and I did try to get information, but he was very tight-lipped when it came to discussing what would happen. “Things are gonna happen, things people don’t expect. I haven’t seen anyone accurately predict what is going to happen. I think some people are gonna be surprised, most people are gonna be surprised and I think that anything anyone’s thinking they should just sort of reevaluate and clear their minds because who knows what’s gonna happen anything could happen, the best laid plans right?” I’m not sure if we should be concerned or excited. I think I am going to go with excited and hope for the best.
When I asked about season 2 Daddario was incredibly excited, “Oh yeah, oh my god I could talk all day about this. How much time do we have? This is a discussion we’ve all been sort of having like we play with all kinds of ridiculous scenarios but I think ‘OH I can’t really say anything because it will sort of tell you what happens in the season finally.’ But I want Alec to really get down and dirty with the mess that is the shadow world. I want to see everyone on the front lines doing their thing. I think that will be fun.” Foiled again! I guess I am happy not to be spoiled but I really wanted to know what he wanted to happen because he was so animated talking about it. I think we have a lot to look forward to in season 2 and hearing how and he and the cast have been discussing it makes me think it is going to be really good.
Of course I had to throw in some fun random questions because being serious all the time is boring. So I asked Daddario which Downworlder he would choose to be, and I have to say he put a lot of thought into it!
“Oh man, I think that a lot of the Downworlders get a bad rap. I think the vampires are pretty screwed. It’s not all fun and games being a vampire you have all these restrictions. It’s not fun. I think being a werewolf would be pretty sweet. I don’t really know what the negative of being a werewolf would be. I get to eat Chinese food all day and hang out with my dog friends, that sounds okay. With a warlock you have a problem with living forever and all this weight on your shoulders. That might be fun if you are into partying and not caring about other people. Watch how Magnus struggles that is kind of an unpleasant situation. Being a Shadowhunter is too much work. I think either being a mundane of werewolf is the way to go, I mean look at Isaiah he’s loving it.”
Lastly, I asked about a theme song because sometimes certain songs remind you of a character from a novel or TV show. This was not an answer I was expecting but it made it all the more funny: “I don’t know but it would be written by Izzy and Jace. Jace would be on a guitar, is alternate universe hippie self and she would be singing with some kind of Latin vibe and it would be all about a young boy who becomes a man.” Yup, you know you all want this scene now. Imagine it — open mic night, maybe Simon and his band are performing as well. The possibilities are endless.