This is the face and bare chest that launched a thousand romantic fantasies during the 1990s, as gay boys dreamed of holding hands, kissing and cuddling with Mat Botuchis (spelled with one t).
Unfortunately, Mat's only semi-shirtless shots came from the same photo shoot. He didn't want to be a teen idol. He wanted to be a serious actor.
Born in a suburb of Cincinnati in 1983, son of a radio salesman and a teacher, Mat got his start in local commercials, but at age 12 moved to Los Angeles to stay with his older brother -- and audition. After two months and a few small roles, he got his big break, playing the werewolf-boy Eddie in the tv movie Here Come the Munsters, based on the 1960s movie-monster comedy. (Other Eddies include Jason Marsden, Mason Cook, Bug Hall, and the original, Butch Patrick).
Next came episodes of Goosebumps, The Journey of Allen Strange, Days of Our Lives, and Mat's second big break, 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998), the fourth in the franchise about a trio of ninja brothers named Rocky, Colt, and Tum-Tum. (Other actors who played Rocky include Michael Treanor and Sean Fox). It didn't fare well with critics -- Collider rates it as one of the "worst action-adventure sequels of all time." but it got Mat some teen idol attention -- and that bare-chest photo shoot.
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Now 18, Mat moved directly from teen idol cuteness to young adult sleaze with MTV's Undressed (1999-2002) was an anthology series about the romantic and s*xual relationships of high school and college students. It was controversial at the time for mentioning the possibility that high schoolers might do things in the bedroom, and for stating that gay people exist. Mat played the jerk Spike, who got herpes from one of his many one-night stands, in Season 4.
10 Attitudes (2001) was a mostly improv romantic comedy about a 30-ish West Hollywood guy (Jason Stuart) who ends his decade long relationship after his boyfriend cheats on him. He makes a bet that he will find romance with one of the next ten guys he dates, or go back to Cleveland. Unfortunately, he finds something wrong with each of the ten attitudes: #1 is a druggie; #3 (David Faustino, Bud Bundy on Married...with Children) wants a bisexual three-way; %6 goes to bathhouses; #7 yells at the bartender; and so on. So he goes home to Cleveland, and finds true love with his old high school bully (Fritz Greves), now reformed and out. Mat plays the bully in high school.
More after the break
In the 2000s Mat continued to play gay or gay-adjacent characters, such as Dave, the token straight guy at OUT TV, subject of ridicule and demeaning assignments from Jack, on nine episodes of Will & Grace (2004-06).
Todd on Love Bites (2011), an anthology series with gay characters. Todd is not mentioned in the episode synopses, but he's seen here with his buds, played by Brett Harrison and Mo Mandel.
Sassy Pants (2012): A teenage girl raised by a conservative mom runs away to visit her dad and his much younger boyfriend. Martin Spanjers plays her younger brother. Mat plays Brandon, who is not mentioned in the synopsis.
But Mat also did hetero-sleaze work, such as I-See-you.com (2006): the family's teenage son (Mat) installs cameras all over the house and posts the footage online, becoming an internet sensation. He also posts films of some of the girls he picks up.
He worked as the art director for Great American Road Trip (2009) and the psycho-slasher Desecrated (2015),
He did the puppetry for Angel City Horror, a film noir homage (2021).
And he was a set dresser for Boo, Bitch (2022). about a high school ghost-living bffs.
Mat has no social media presence, so finding anything about his private life is tricky. All I know is that his father has passed away; his mother lives in Florida; he has four step-brothers; he is not married and has no children (here he's holding his baby nephew). And on his personal website Mat talks about playing Todd in the MTV pilot Hot Mess (2015): "he doesn't worry about anyone judging him; he's totally free."
This plus the gay and gay-adjacent roles leads me to conclude that Mat is gay in real life. But he could be an unmarried straight ally.
Let's get back to the chest that launched a thousand fantasies.
Let's get back to the chest that launched a thousand fantasies.
See also: David Faustino: Bud on "Married with Children" is star-ving, humiliated, butt-nekkid, and a gay ally
