From portraying the charismatic Mayor of Wellsbury to surprising audiences as a standout performer on “The Masked Singer,” Scott Porter reflects on the evolution of his career and enduring passion for the arts.
Best known for bringing depth and warmth to his roles, Scott Porter has steadily built a diverse portfolio—balancing dramatic performances with voice work that resonates with fans. In this exclusive interview, the actor opened up about his experience on the third season of Netflix’s hit series “Ginny & Georgia,” revealing interesting details about his character, Major Paul Randolph, as well as sharing the story behind his stunning performance behind the mask in one of TV’s most beloved singing competitions.
Get to know more about Scott Porter—a dedicated artist with a surprising range of talents—as he chats with DA MAN about acting, music, and everything in between.
DAMAN: Let’s talk about the Netflix drama/comedy, “Ginny & Georgia.” As the third season is on the horizon, what can the audience expect from the upcoming season?
Scott Porter: This is a season of reckoning in many different ways. Decisions made by multiple characters result in the possible upheaval of much of what we know and love about Wellsbury and its characters from the first two seasons. For Paul specifically, the fallout of his wife (who many in his life warned him against marrying) being arrested and ending up in prison, and how it affects both in his relationship and career.
DA: Can you tell us about your character, Mayor Paul Randolph, in the series?
SP: Paul is an interesting guy. He’s thoughtful but focused. He’s steady until truly pushed. Two ideas from season one really tells you a lot about Paul, in a date with Georgia he states that he dreams of bringing real change to the world, but you learn in his office that he wants to do it in a different way than his father and a lot of the old establishment of Wellsbury. Raised in a very well-off household, son of a politician, very close with his brother, went to Brown, graduated with honors. Then, he left it all behind to backpack the world.
In the first season Paul shares that he is driven to climb the political ranks wanting to be the youngest Governor of Massachusetts ever, but for someone that ambitious, why leave the country for a couple of years? What changed? What forced that trip? And after coming back and being elected Mayor, why risk all of his forward momentum to be with someone that presents serious risk in Georgia? What really keeps him ticking? Exploring those answers has been a lot of fun for me in building Paul.
DA: What drew you to this role in the first place?
SP: I knew from the first read of the pilot script of “Ginny & Georgia” that this show was going to be a bit different than most teen driven, split generation shows. The script had a fast pace and a very unique voice within its pages. Sarah Lampert (creator, “Ginny & Georgia) was that voice. It was fresh. That was the first thing that drew me to the project.
When I auditioned, it was with 3 scenes from later episodes from season 1, from scripts not available to me. One of them was Paul’s first proclamation that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks about his relationship with Georgia. I liked that flash of defiance a lot. He seemed like he had some surprises up his sleeve and I’m glad that has proven true.
DA: Did you have a certain preparation to play the character, given its portrayal as a politician?
SP: The preparation is simply trying to find the grounding aspects in the script. The character of Georgia Miller is a maelstrom in the best way and Paul, quite often, is in the eye of that storm. But calm exists there. Finding that calm, figuring out how Paul consistently responds to the force of nature he’s coupled with is where I start.
DA: How do you see your character as having developed over three seasons?
SP: I think Paul is starting to see that you can’t always act altruistically to achieve your goals. You sometimes have to color way outside the lines and I think he’s learning just how far he is willing to go. How much he is willing to overlook in the name of love and power.
DA: Besides acting, you also participated in the eleventh season of “The Masked Singer” and came in as the runner up! How was the overall experience?
SP: It was truly incredible. Wearing that costume was so unexpectedly freeing. It protects you in a way. I mean, you still have a crazy amount of nerves, but it’s an interesting thing when no one knows who you are and you can just sing your heart out. I used to perform with Wayne Brady, beatboxing behind him as he would improv songs, in Orlando. My first call was to him once I joined the show. He told me a couple of key pieces of advice that really put me at ease. “Lead with talent and everything will fall into place” and “the mask is a part of your story, not THE story.”
DA: You went with “Gumball” as your character. Any reason behind this fun choice?
SP: First of all, how incredible are the costume designers and mask builders for “The Masked Singer”? They are so fantastically talented. They deserve so much credit and I want to make sure they get it. I actually didn’t get to pick this mask, though. Back when “The Masked Singer” was only one season a year, I believe the contestants had a hand in shaping their masks.
For me, I jumped on a zoom and they were crazy excited to have me guess the mask I would be jumping into. They said, “You’re coin operated”, as a gamer my initial thought was an arcade machine. Their next clue was, “You have a ton of moving parts,” so my next guess was a jukebox. When they showed me this Gundam robot style Gumball Machine, I was blown away. Never could’ve guessed that. From then on out, my biggest job was figuring out how Gumball moved and how my story fit with the character. It hit me that a gumball machine is kind of how Hollywood treats performers sometimes, they put their coin down and ask you to give them what they want, but in this case, I was the one choosing. I was the one showing my different flavors, my versatility. As soon as that became clear to me, I fell in love with Gumball. I chose to have him move with a slightly animatronic way, like he was trying to fit in at first, but as he gained confidence his moves became more confident as well. It was a blast creating that character.
DA: You were in all 13 episodes of your season and sang multiple songs in a few of those episodes. What went into the song choices? Did you have a particular performance you would say was your favorite?
SP: I actually hold the record for most performances ever by a mask! 14 songs performed throughout my season. I’m pretty proud of that. I really squeezed everything I could out of this opportunity. Haha. Choosing songs doesn’t always fall to the performer. A lot goes into the decision of what each mask will be singing. The episode flow, licensing, has it been sung before, the theme of the evening, all of that plays a part. That being said I loved all the songs I got to perform, even the ones that were chosen for me. A lot of them had very strong personal connections, my wife, my parents, my past, all of them so personal and special.
However, I’d have to say that performing “I Lived” by One Republic was maybe my favorite. They are my kid’s favorite band, we listen to their music all the time, and I sing that song to them at bedtime pretty often. Getting to dedicate this to them was a huge goal of mine as soon as the season started, but there was no guarantee I’d get to. With the themes of the first 3 evenings, I performed on there was no room for it. Having the chance to sing this song meant I had to win my group, I had to get through the quarter finals (smackdown and all), and get to the semi-finals.
Sitting on the couch with my kids at home, watching that performance, it was everything to me. It filled my heart. So, I’d have to go with that episode as my favorite. I actually hold the record for most performances ever by a mask! 14 songs performed throughout my season. I’m pretty proud of that. I really squeezed everything I could out of this opportunity. Haha.
DA: Has singing always been your passion? How did you discover your love for music?
SP: My mom singing to me are some of the first memories I have. When I was a kid, it was just me and my mom until I was 6. My biological father was never in the picture. Then my mom auditioned for a band called “Rukus”, got the gig, and met a drummer named Butch. They ended up married a year later, my mother had a partner in love and in music, and I had a man who stepped up to be my father.
Back then I’d sometimes go to gigs with my parents on weekends. I’d set up my dad’s drums, play foosball with the bouncer while they played on stage, and fall asleep on the bar manager’s couch. It was incredible. I was around music all the time. I guess some of it stuck. I never thought it would become my career, but it did for quite some time in my late teens and early twenties. I still love it to this day.
DA: Can you name some of your greatest musical influences, bands or singers, for instance?
SP: My journey with music has been wild. I’m only where I am because of all the musical influences I had over the years. With my parents I grew up listening to a lot of rock, but “The Police” and “Journey” really stuck out to me as a kid. In my teens it was more “Boyz II Men”, “Pearl Jam”, and “Soundgarden”.
I also was really interested in beatboxing when I was a kid. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince had a song called “Human Video Game” that featured a beatboxer named Ready Rock C. He created the whole beat from Donkey Kong in that song and it had me practicing beatbox for the rest of my life. As I got into high school I started singing in a Doo-Wop quintet and a barbershop quartet, I just was hungry for all kinds of music. That led me to discovering a ton of a cappella groups that were also very foundational to my career, “Rockapella” and “The House Jacks” led to me and my friends starting our own a cappella group.
The skills I learned in “VoicePlay” (the group’s name) led to me performing in NYC, off-broadway in a show called “Toxic Audio”, which led to me booking a musical called “Altar Boyz”, which led to “Friday Night Lights”. But it all started with music.
DA: How has your musical background influenced your acting journey?
SP: Performing on street corners, theme park stages, on tour, in NYC, Tokyo, Vegas, Mexico City…all of them contributed to who I am as an actor today. No performance is too small to learn from.
DA: With a stellar filmography comprising various genres, do you find yourself leaning towards certain genres? And if you do, what are they and why?
SP: I don’t. I find myself leaning towards good stories. That’s it for me. Not every film, show, or game I work on ends up being incredible. Not every story gets its full due, but they all deserve to be told. And I’m just fortunate to have a part to play in that.
DA: When transitioning between genres, how do you adapt your energy?
SP: It’s not about energy and adaptation to me. It’s more about finding the common ground of a character and myself no matter what the genre. Once you do that, the rest starts to fall into place. Once you do that, you get to explore and play and try the crazy stuff.
DA: We learned that, outside of acting, you have made a big presence in the gaming community. Tell us about the games you are into.
SP: Oh man, gaming is how I stay connected to a lot of my friends and family from afar. And now it also connects me and my littles. I love big multiplayer stuff like “Destiny”, “Marvel Rivals”, or sports like “NCAA Football” with my friends online. I love solo experiences as well, but I don’t always have the time to get through them. Big JRPG’s or cinematic adventures like “God of War”. When I’m on the go, the Nintendo titles like “Pikmin” take my focus. However, lately I’ve been more into figuring out what co-op or indy games I can play with the kids. “Split Fiction” is our latest favorite game to play.
DA: You have also lent your voice for characters in various video games, from “Marvel Rivals” to “God of War” to “The Walking Dead”. What are some of the challenges you have encountered in the world of voice acting, and how did you approach them?
SP: It took me a while to adjust to voiceover and how it works. For a lot of the projects, you are in a booth, by yourself, with no one to bounce off of. You really have to understand the context of each and every scene, how they relate to the overall story, and what kind of gameplay is happening in the midst of it all. Being a gamer really helped me acclimate to it and I’ve come to really love it.
DA: What’s next for you?
SP: The third season of “Ginny & Georgia” drops on Netflix on June 5th, 2025, and we head back to Toronto to film season 4 later this year! Super excited to get back to it.
DA: Last but not least, can you tell us your greatest aspiration for yourself and your journey in the entertainment industry?
SP: Just to keep working. That’s it. My mom and dad instilled a strong work ethic in me. She was a school bus driver and he laid cable for a phone company while I was in high school to pay the bills. They busted their humps each and every day. So that’s what I’ll do out of honor and respect for them. I know how fortunate I am to be working in the field I do, and I am going to work as hard as I can to keep working for as long as it will have me.
Photography & Styling Kimberly Yvette Goodnight
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