About
Hayes has been a preacher, a touring actor, an international cruise ship singer, a dinner theatre emcee, and a Dollywood dancer. And that was pre-Hollywood.
Over the past decade he's refused to pick a lane. He's a SAG/AFTRA actor you might recognize from 9-1-1 and Jane the Virgin, the playwright behind With Dignity, and a producer keeping the lights on for himself and others. This is, of course, when he's not casting for Disney, Lifetime, or BET, or winning a Broadway World Award and an LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award along the way.
His short films Cognitive and Shafted have won awards all over the world and are currently streaming on various platforms.
These days he splits his time between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, writing his next projects, producing someone else's, and showing up to set knowing exactly which version of himself the role requires.
Press & Praise
"Hayes, a commanding presence, serves up just the right blend of charm and ick.
His folksy warmth is exactly what the play needs to work."
— The Hollywood Times
"Hayes is superb with his ingratiating charm and presence"
— CV Independent
"The play finds some much-needed oxygen when Mat Hayes enters. It's one of the few moments where the play breathes."
— Stage And Cinema
"The two performances that most clearly held the production together were Mat Hayes and Casey Williams.
They were not indicating the characters; they were owning them."
— Palm Springs Tribune