We first sat down with Griffin to talk four years ago after adopting his two sons. At the time he was getting ready to film season 2 of Flight Attendant. Since then Matthews has been in Marvel’s She Hulk, Your Place or Mine with Reese Witherspoon (!), the incredibly creepy TV show You with Penn Badgley…and the list goes on. And let’s not forget, there was also a nearly 6-month long strike in Hollywood in the midst of it all. 

Now, as if life wasn’t complicated enough, Griffin has moved from LA to NY and now to Madrid with his two children Galileo (age 7) and Apollo (age 5) and co-parent Matt Gould. We have so many questions!

Nell: Let’s start with the actor’s strike. It ended nearly a year ago, but I imagine actors and writers are still feeling some of the effects. How did the strike impact your career? What do you see as the most important outcomes? How has it changed Hollywood/actors’ rights?

Griffin: I thought the actor's strike was really, really surprisingly tough. I think when we went into the strike, people were fired up and very excited to try and get back what we thought we were owed, what we know we were owed. But as it went on and on and on, and we realized it was going to go on way longer than we had expected, it got very dark. It was very tough mentally, emotionally, physically, for everybody who was on the picket lines day in and day out. I don't wish a strike on any union because we suffered. And I think everybody, the entire industry took a massive hit. I do not think we've recovered. My career stopped dead in its tracks. And I realized that even now I'm one of the lucky ones. But I certainly felt a major sting because the strike didn't start the day that the strike started. The industry started bracing months before the strike started.

So everything started slowing down, production started halting because they were worried that if they started, they would get stopped in the middle of production. So we actually didn't feel it for six months, but then we felt it for an entire year. And my first job back was a year later. I stepped on the set of You in New York City, and I was so deeply grateful for that job because it was the first job for so many of us--for the majority of our cast it was the first job back from the strike. So we were all really grateful to be there and in great spirits, the writers were in great spirits, the directors were in great spirits. So it was a really meaningful experience, despite the fact that it was a serial killer show.

N: Beyond worrying about paying bills, how did you use that time off work?

G: I did a LOT of self-work. I did a LOT of therapy and really trying to reflect on why I was an actor and why I had made the choices that I made in my life, not just as an actor, but as a parent and as an artist. I was trying to figure out, how did I get here? And is there another place for me to go? I spent a lot of time thinking about reinvention.

I read this incredible article about a woman who lived three lives. The first part of her life, she was a millionaire socialite. The second part of her life, in her 30s, she became a mother, and she worked in her husband's company as a secretary. And then when she turned 70, she took a vow of silence and became a nun and said goodbye to all of her family, all of her grandchildren, and went into that convent. The article was about the capacity to change and that we are telling ourselves the wrong thing that you have to pick one career and one husband and one whatever. And really, you get multiple chances at this life. And so I spent the time that I had working on myself to unpack what my other chances were in this life.

N: You played Bayard Rustin in Genius: MLK/ X, calling it “the role of a lifetime” and the joy of your career. What was so special about this role?

G: Bayard Rustin in Genius was so significant for me because it was the first time I played a real person. So I got to watch videos and read articles and watch documentaries of him and try to capture his spirit, his essence. I knew I could never be him, but I could tap into his essence because somewhere–being a Black gay man, activist, artist–he lived inside of me. So the process for doing that show was incredible. I did two and a half hours of hair and makeup every single day, which was so intense, but also it allowed me to transform into the Civil Rights legend that he is. And that job was, I think, a turning point in my career internally for me, because I didn't know if I could do it. Then when I saw myself on screen, I didn't always recognize myself. I felt like he was indeed living in me.

N: Rewinding in time for a minute, back in 2020 (during Covid, yet another halted acting season), you were outspoken about racism on Broadway. Have you seen a change in the last four years since you and others brought this issue to light? What needs to happen next?

G: What needs to happen next? Yeah, I have seen a change in Broadway and the American theater as a whole. You see a lot more directors of color, women of color, cast and crews being far more diverse. You see the shows on Broadway and also all over the country with a far more diverse lineup. So that I feel really proud about.

What needs to change is that we can't think that the work is over. The #MeToo movement was the start of us understanding about women and their needs and their need for respect. And Black Lives Matter was the start of a conversation about Black people in this country, and so I think the conversation about the racism in our industry as actors and artists and writers, that conversation has to keep going. Now that we're all back into our lives, that conversation still has to keep going. There are still not enough. And I think the work is always to never be too comfortable.

N: After living in NYC this past year, rather than returning to LA full time, you and your boys moved to Madrid, Spain! What sparked this decision?

G: In full disclosure, part of moving to Madrid was that I started feeling deeply uncomfortable about sending my children to school. It is a different responsibility when you have kids, you start to see things that you weren't looking at when you didn't have them. I remember sending my oldest to kindergarten and hearing that they were going to do a shooter drill, and I just couldn't take it. I was like, he's five. That is a baby. He still sleeps in the fetal position. I was like, I'm not sending my kid to school to dodge bullets. And I say that with so much respect because I realize that I am a privileged person, that I can exit America, that I can give myself and my children a different opportunity. But I am that, and so I took it.

I wanted to go to Madrid because I visited and really fell in love with the city and fell in love with the safety, not just for my kids, but for myself. I felt totally safe and totally free. And I found myself not just living to work, but working to live. And that was a very big change for me. I feel like all I do all the time is chase and chase and chase. And I know every parent feels that way. You are just chasing money and security. And somehow in Spain and in Europe, because I think their social structure is set up for everyone to have health insurance and for there not to be guns everywhere, there is a level of safety and security that people just feel like they get to go live. They get to go be kids. They get to go enjoy their lives in their families. I thought it was a good idea, during this political storm that America is going through, to take the opportunity and run.

N: This move comes after you relocated to NYC for your co-parent Matt Gould’s Broadway show premiere Lempicka. How did you and Gould plan to co-parent in yet another new city?

G: I think the idea of family is so varied in 2024. Everyone has different family structures. In our family structure, there's two dads. We're a gay family, and we're co-parenting. And we made a lot of decisions as parents when we adopted the boys to continue to chase our dreams and also give them a chance to dream their own dreams. And so we decided, as a unit, to move to Madrid together. Matt had a show in New York City. We all moved to New York City, and we co-parented beautifully there. And so I think the idea was just we will forever be a family. We always are a family. And we wanted to give our children a chance to be bilingual and see the world, all the things that we didn’t get to do when we were kids. Our parents did an amazing job, but we just didn’t have the opportunity. Matt and I had the opportunity to give our children another option in life, and so we took it.

Madrid is very different–the pace is very different, it’s so much slower. And I think it’s because their society isn’t built around capitalism, so things just take longer. It took me 30 days to get internet in my house. 

N: Yikes. No WIFI for 30 days. No Bluey, no Miss Rachel, no Blippi, and none of your own favorite distractions. How did you do it??

G: I think we learned so much during the pandemic about how to chase our children, how to raise our children, we didn’t have the world to do it…to help us do it. So I went into a little bit of pandemic mode. I know how to entertain my children without television. It’s a lot of park time, a lot of walks, a lot of cooking, a lot of talking, walking, playdates, taking time to meet other families who are living in Madrid and to make friends. I tried to focus on all of the positive things when I didn’t have internet and the kids were going to tear the walls down. It was, put your clothes on, we’re going to the park. 

On many levels that was my childhood. I didn’t spend a ton of time in front of the tv. My mother said, get out. Open the front door and we ran. That is also why I wanted to go to Madrid; it’s a city for children, for families. So you can open your front door and send your kid out and not be worried about them returning. So that’s what I did, get out and play before you tear this apartment down. I’m actually grateful for the time without tv. There is so much screentime even for adults. The opportunity to just be together was wonderful.

N: Any goals for your time in Spain?

G: I’m going to study Spanish full time. I will go to school 5 days a week, four hours a day to learn how to speak Spanish. I only know what I’ve learned on Duolingo. So if we return to the United States or if we don’t, my goal is in the next year to be conversational in Spanish, with the right verb conjugation (which is a nightmare). Right now I can understand way more than I can speak. 

An American friend of mine who has been living in Spain for many years reminded me that the first step for babies to learn how to speak is to understand. So if you start to understand Spanish, you’re on the first step. You’re about to click over. So I find myself walking around and fully understanding what’s going on and getting the context, I just can’t yet fully speak. Bit by bit, I’m going to be very gentle on myself as I learn. 

N: Clearly the world is on fire right now, how does it feel to be away from the US during this critical election and all the other devastation around the world?

G: So I have been following the elections while in Spain. At 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning I sit and watch every debate. I’ve tried to follow along because I think it’s really important for me to understand what it means to be in my position. To be able to take a break from America, but it’s also my responsibility to stay informed.

By the way, Spanish people can tell you more about American government and politics than most Amsericans can because the world is absolutely watching the US. And at the same time, I find myself disconnected from the day in and day out news–because I didn’t have internet and also because I needed a mental break. I don’t think Americans realize what kind of pressure cooker we’re in until you leave. Then you realize, I need a break from all of that. Because as much as politics is important, it’s not our daily lives. Most people just need to get up, get their kids to school, go to work, stay healthy, pay the bills–all the basic things–cook, clean. Our news cycle is vicious in the United States. So I have made a concerted effort to disconnect at times and instead focus on my basic needs and the needs of my kids. 

Rapid Fire:

1. Favorite new word in Spanish: Joder (it means fuck)
2. Favorite Spanish food: Paella
3. Favorite Spanish style: Flamenco, I love the way they dress. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted to be
4. Go-to way to spend time off from the kids: Dancing. I go to clubs and I dance. Sometimes until 6am. I highly recommend it, especially for parents. 
5. Go-to song to sing in the shower: I am obsessed with this new artist called Griff. Not because she has my name. She has this amazing song called “Pillow in my Arms.”
6. Book you’re reading: The book that I’ve read over and over and over again is called “Love will find you”. It is a white lady holding a crockpot on the cover. It looks ridiculous, but it's full of incredible information about finding love. I read it cover to cover probably four or five times. Also I love to follow inspirational quotes on Instagram.
7. Show you’re watching: Monster on Netflix, the Ryan Murphy show. It’s nuts, and I can’t stop watching. 
8. Thing you miss most about the US (other than family and friends): Farmers markets. I know that sounds crazy but my first day back in the states, I went straight to the farmers market and I just got all my old things. My old flowers, my pastries. I know it sounds crazy because I live in Spain and the flowers and pastries are amazing, but I think it was something about being home and I just wanted to go to the farmers market in Glendale.