Biography

Matthew Helms

Jump to

Overview

Born
October 31, 1989 · Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Birth name
Joseph Matthew Helms
Height
6′ 1″ (1.85 m)

Mini bio

Matt has successfully translated his love of dance and his martial arts expertise into a new venture. Starting in October of 2006 he began intensive training in ballet and has successfully danced lead roles in local productions of The Nutcracker (2006). In 2007, he danced lead roles in Giselle and three different productions of The Nutcracker. Since August of 2007 he has been training on scholarship with International Ballet School of Littleton, Colorado. He has also been tapped to be a member of the newly-formed Davis Contemporary Dance Company of Denver, Coloado.

Matthew is in his second season with Boulder Ballet Company, Boulder, Colorado and continues his career by guesting with various companies in Colorado, West Virgina and Tennessee. He has upcoming principal roles in Cinderella, Swan Lake and Copellia, all of which will be first time ballets for Matt to add as his repertoire. In December, 2011 Matt had the lead role in a movie version of Nutcracker, filmed in Tennessee. In addition to being a principal dancer for Boulder Ballet, he is on their academy faculty teaching regularly scheduled classes and private lessons to Boulder Ballet School students.
- IMDb mini biography by: cahelmsccp
In the summer of 2008, Matt attended Ballet West's summer intensive program and as a result was awarded a full scholarship to the Ballet West Academy for the 2008-2009 session. With the recommendation of Ballet West Academy's director, Matt danced lead roles of Nutcracker/Prince, Snow King and Cavalier in the California Dance Academy's 2008 production of Nutcracker.

Matt recently completed his second season with Boulder Ballet and continues guest work in other states. His repetoire has grown to include Swan Lake and Copellia. He continues to teach and choreograph as a member of the Boulder Ballet School faculty.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tony Helms

Trademarks

Long blonde hair and dynamic martial arts

Trivia

"Cabin Fever" writer, director Eli Roth's original concept of the "Dennis" character saw him similar to the feral kid in the Road Warrior films. Roth rewrote the Dennis character after being impressed by Matt's martial arts skills demonstrated for Roth in Matt's casting audition.
Matt was invited at the last minute to appear as a guest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" when an Hawaiian sumo champion's appearance was canceled. During the taping of the live show, Matt broke Leno's watch while blocking a series of punches thrown by Leno. After the taping, Leno promised to give Matt a motorcycle from his collection on Matt's 18th birthday.
Trained under 6th dan black belt Andy Watford, 5th dan black belt Rick Lee, 2nd dan black belt Brain Plempel, Keith Vitalli and Jerry Prince.
Matt's interest in martial arts was sparked by the television series, "Power Rangers." Ironic that his first primary role of his acting career, "Dennis" in "Cabin Fever" allowed him to work with Cerena Vincent who appeared in the Power Rangers series as the costumed "Maya, Yellow Ranger."
Speaks German in the introduction of the German Language version of the "Cabin Fever" DVD. The music used in Matt's "Swordfighter" special feature was originally a track from Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill, Vol.1" soundtrack as homage to Tarantino, but had to be changed to avoid licensing issues.