How comedian Matt Friend went from Austin Powers impersonations as a kid to sharing his impressive imitations of Hollywood of stars

It may take some guts to impersonate a Hollywood star in front of the A-listers themselves, but for Matt Friend, there’s nothing more thrilling than that.

Armed with cheeky anecdotes and spot-on imitations, the comedian seems to be everywhere.

From the red carpet of major Hollywood award shows to podcasts with Bill Maher – he even accepted a guest appearance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner where he impersonated Donald Trump – opposite Joe Biden.

But it was his conversation with Paul Giamatti that stood out the most to many, with the Billions star clearly impressed with Friend’s abilities.

“I’ve been obsessed with him for a long time,” he tells DailyMail.com.

Now that Friend has found his place amid the glamour of glitzy events, he says it was no coincidence how he got there.

Friend began honing his skills on the Chicago comedy circuit, and his passion for entertainment began at an early age.

“It starts with making your parents laugh,” Friend says.

He was only four years old when he saw Austin Powers, a film that he credits with starting his obsession with comedy.

Mike Myers’ many characters, such as Gold Member and Dr. Evil, served as a jumping off point for Friend to perform impersonations.

“I don’t know why I was so drawn to it, but I was,” he says.

‘Then I just started talking like my grandfather, and I tried to make my parents and classmates laugh.’

While studying at NYU, he took every opportunity to delve into the world of comedy,

“I was very obsessed and focused on it, it became my extracurricular activity,” he says.

It wasn’t long before he noticed that his efforts were paying off.

‘I went to class and then to an open mic, and that’s how I started to make a name for myself.

‘When I was in school, I was getting paid spots at comedy clubs. I felt like the momentum was building and then the pandemic hit and I was stuck at home with my parents and my sister and I was like, “What am I going to do?”‘

One of his ideas was to create a short talk show which he called ‘Quarantime’.

He produced over 50 episodes of the sketch show, wrote a topical monologue and conducted interviews, which turned out to be a great creative exercise.

But it was the move to social media that really changed his life and opened doors.

During the pandemic, Jimmy Kimmel started talking about his radio impressions, sparking a wave of media attention, including a spot on Hoda and Jenna.

“I worked with them for a while and then all sorts of media appearances started happening and my following started growing,” he says.

From that point on, after he graduated, all these ‘crazy things’ started happening.

The snowball got even bigger when Friend appeared on the Golden Globes red carpet earlier this year, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Nicholas Cage, Austin Butler and Mark Ruffalo. There was also that infamous moment with Giamatti, where he audaciously imitated their iconic voices with uncanny accuracy, much to the amazement of his models.

Friend was disappointed to miss Giamatti on the carpet, but when he saw an opportunity, he took it.

“I caught up with him two minutes after he won his Golden Globe for The Holdovers. It had just happened, so he was very happy,” Friend said.

While making impressions takes work, Friend says it’s not something he just sits down and rehearses like someone would practice a violin.

“It just happens. I watch a lot of movies, I read a lot of books, and I watch a lot of series,” he explains.

“I’m very in tune with what’s happening in pop culture and politics and as a result I just hear the voices of the character and then I just start doing it. I can’t tell you it’s a process, I don’t sit down and practice, it just happens.”

When Howard Stern heard Friend adopt his familiar tone, he was so impressed with what he saw that he invited Friend on his show.

Since then, he has voiced popular animated series he loved as a child, such as The Simpsons and Family Guy. The latter meant he got to meet the show’s creator, Seth MacFarlane.

In addition to his confident battles with A-listers to create entertaining clips, Friend has enjoyed success throughout the year, most recently appearing at the Emmy Awards with his Donald Trump impersonation.

In addition to the benefits the industry offers, he continues to expand his stand-up comedy hours, which he says includes more than just impersonations.

“There are a lot of stories, I’ve had a lot of celebrity encounters, but I only really become famous by meeting people I do impersonations of, so I have a lot of funny things,” he says. “I’m just constantly running.”

Although he receives constant compliments, Friend says it’s a matter of hard work and confidence in himself.

‘I think it’s not human to say that you’re so confident, that you can do it, that no one really knows anything about it, that I can only control the effort that I put into what I do.

‘I work hard and the things I do are absolutely insane, but I think happiness is created through work and I’m very humbled and grateful for all the opportunities that come my way and the things that I do. But at the same time, they don’t happen if you don’t put yourself out there.

‘Every day I just try to do as much as I can. You have to have confidence to stand on stage in front of strangers, you don’t know if it’s going to work – it’s almost a delusion of this confidence, of “is this joke going to work?” but you have to believe in yourself.’