Shining siblings
By Bob Tremblay/DAILY NEWS STAFF
(Sunday, January 07, 2007)


Over the years, MetroWest families have produced their share of Hollywood success stories. Yet it is the rare clan that can claim more than one. Like the Bushells of Framingham, who have doubled their pleasure with the tinseltown accomplishments of siblings Matt and Andi. Matt was recently cast in a movie starring Oscar winners George Clooney and Renee Zellweger while Andi serves as a writer/producer on the hit TV show "Criminal Minds" starring Mandy Patinkin.

Brother and sister now live in Los Angeles where they have formed their own support network. They also share Hollywood war stories - auditions that triumphed or tanked, and script meetings that blossomed or bombed.

The two continue to climb the Hollywood ladder where frustration can be found on every rung and the challenge is to keep stepping up. The day may come sooner or later, for example, when Andi writes a part for Matt that the bigwigs sanction and both their names appear on the credits.

"You just keep working toward one day when we're going to work together," says Andi during a recent conference call with Matt from Los Angeles. "We say it all the time. It's our big goal."

The road to Hollywood for the Bushells did have its detours. A 1985 graduate of Framingham South High School, where she was active in theatrical productions, Andi studied drama at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. After graduating in 1991, she remained in New York and acted in several off-off-Broadway shows. But the acting bug was bugging her more than it was biting her.

"When I was in New York, I don't remember why or how I decided to do it, but I sat down and wrote a Seinfeld' spec script in three days," she recalls. "Spec" means "speculative" which means you're not getting paid. "It was me in my pajamas and my fuzzy slippers in my little apartment writing these characters and I realized I liked the process of that much more than acting.

"When I look at my brother, he loves the craft of acting. He just loves it, and that's how I feel about writing. I just love the twists and the turns of characters. After that weekend, I realized that writing was something I really wanted to do."

So Andi shipped 22 boxes of her belongings out to Los Angeles and moved to LaLa Land in 1996, knowing absolutely no one when she arrived. She eventually landed an assistant job on the "Home Improvement" TV show starring Tim Allen.

"I wrote day and night for close to three years," Andi says. "I finally got an agent and I got my first job, writing a script for Ally McBeal"'

Starring Calista Flockhart, the hit TV show, which ran from 1997 to 2002, was the brainchild of former Bay Stater David E. Kelley.

"I guess he liked my (spec script)," she says. "He called me in for a meeting. I pitched some stories, he took one of the stories and it became an episode."

That episode, "Only the Lonely," aired during the show's second season. It centered on the trials and tribulations of Elaine Vassal, played by Jane Krakowski, who gets an infomercial for her face bra and then gets sued by her own family.

Since that auspicious debut, Andi became a member of the writing staff for "Wasteland," "Young Americans" and "Glory Days" and served as writer-producer for "Keen Eddie," "Crossing Jordan" and "Alias" before joining the crew of "Criminal Minds."

"Thankfully, the public has really taken to the show," she says. "We're in the top 10 so I think I'll be there for a little bit."

As a producer, Andi, 39, gets involved in nearly all aspects of the show and is on the set for its filming.

Unlike his sister, Matt never acted in high school, playing football instead. After graduating from Framingham High School in 1992 (North and South had since merged), he went to West Virginia Wesleyan College for three semesters, played football there and then transferred to Framingham State College where he received a degree in sociology in 1997.

Matt then entered the world of finance, finding employment at the Deloitte & Touche accounting firm in Boston and Putnam Investments. He was working toward an advanced accounting degree at Northeastern University when he decided to visit his sister in Los Angeles.

"I was miserable in business," admits Matt, who had an epiphany in the City of Angels. "I thought I could do this work - acting. It was just something that hit me. It was my gut."

His gut would prove to be right. First, he severed all his finance ties and then moved out to Los Angeles in 2000.

"Andi was nice enough to let me crash on her couch for a couple months to get my feet on the ground," Matt says. "I dove into acting class to see if I could do it, and even if I could do it, would I like it. I found out pretty quickly that I loved it...and I really thought I could so something with it."

With no agent and no manager, Matt went into a cattle call for a burger commercial for the Carl's Jr. restaurant chain. The spot had no lines.

"They hired me based on how I eat a burger," Matt says with a laugh. "It's close-ups of me chomping on a burger being annoyed because waiters at the restaurant are singing Happy Birthday' to me. It was a takeoff on other restaurants."

The commercial got Matt into the Screen Actors Guild. It also got him an agent and a manager. The latter, Sandy Joseph of SLJ management, was secured through his acting coach, veteran actor Alan Feinstein. Interestingly, Feinstein acted in an episode of "Crossing Jordan." His recommendation of Matt to Joseph was glowing.

Matt has since hired agent Don Buchwald of Don Buchwald and Associates, whose clients include Howard Stern.

The acting jobs, including television, film and theater, have come at a steady pace. They include movies such as "Behind Enemy Lines: Axis of Evil" and "Headhunter" and TV shows such as "Heroes," "The Unit," "Navy NCIS," "CSI: New York," "NYPD Blue," "24," "Cold Case" and "Angel."

While none of these roles has been a starring vehicle, Matt's parts are becoming meatier and the films' profiles higher. For example, he just finished "Dark Reel," a horror/mystery starring Edward Furlong of "Terminator" fame and Lance Henriksen of "Aliens" fame.

In this movie within a movie, Matt plays a boom operator called Bandana Man. "He's extremely intense and passionate about sound," says the 32-year-old. "He's out of his mind."

Distribution has been lined up, according to Matt, and the film should get a limited release in the next few months.

The release will be considerably wider for his next movie, "Leatherheads," starring Clooney, Zellweger and Newton native John Krasinski (costar of NBC's "The Office"). As with "Good Night, and Good Luck," Clooney also directs. In addition, he co-wrote the script. The film is billed as a romantic comedy set in the world of 1920s football. The title refers to the helmets worn by the players back then. Matt plays one of the players.

"I went in and read for the role and was put on tape," says Matt. Clooney must have liked what he saw. "I was blown away to be hired by Clooney," he says. "I haven't met him yet. I haven't met anybody yet."

Rehearsal starts this month with the shooting schedule to begin in February and conclude in April. A release date hasn't been set. "It's definitely my biggest job to date," says Matt. "I don't know the position I'll play yet. They're still working on the script. I hope it's inside linebacker, that's what I played in high school. But to be honest, I don't care. They can put me wherever they want."

What Matt loves about acting is the creative expression it affords him. "In business, I could never express myself in a suit and a tie, talking about the interest you earn on a bond. It's not going to happen," he says. "Acting gave me a release point."

Says Andi, "Matty is a very intense guy. We have this in our family - very high highs and very low lows. It's very freeing to be able to express that through your art, your work, to figure out how to tame it so you don't feel out of control all the time.

"When I write, I've been able to hone that so I get an understanding of how to use that stuff within myself, turn that into words and into the characters. With my brother, he can take somebody's words and provide his take on the character and have an exciting thrill ride on stage or in a film."

Adds Matt, "I get to go into a room with the producers and the director and the people who write the episode or the play or the movie and bring their words to life. I have two minutes to do it in the audition process. I have two minutes to get in there and show them why I should be that character over the other hundred guys they're going to see.

"It's unbelievably challenging, but the more I do it, the more I've been able to focus and bring those words to life. That's my job."

An unbiased bystander in all these proceedings is their mother, Myra, who not surprisingly is extremely proud of Matt and Andi. "Who would have thought this? For me, as a momma, it's the alignment of their happiness, of what their goals are, who they are and what they're doing. If they're happy, I'm happy," she says. "This is a hoot.

"We have a big thing in our family about authenticity and integrity, and all my kids have that."

Matt and Andi have a sister, Rebecca, 37, who co-owns the Ron Charles Salon on Rte. 9 in Framingham. Their father, Dr. Ronald Bushell, died in 2005.

Myra flew to Los Angeles recently to watch Matt perform in a play. "He was wonderful," she says.

Says Andi, "We've both been through so much. He called me the other day and I was so happy to hear about this amazing job that he has (with Leatherheads'). I know what he's been through in the past. I know the struggle. It's frustrating. This business is so hard. You need to support each other, to celebrate the highs and really be there for each other during the lows.

"Sometimes when I write a script, I stare at the computer, I have no concept if it works, if it's funny, if it's scary, and Matty always reads my stuff. He's really honest with me. That's very helpful.

"Not only is he my brother, he's my friend."

 

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