TV Tango: What did you know about the history of the real Hatfields & McCoys before you auditioned for the role?

Matt Barr: Nothing. I honestly thought it was part of American folklore -- just kind of mythology. I remember my uncles and my dad using it as some sort of metaphor.

It wasn't until I got this audition and started doing my own research that I realized this thing actually happened. Man, the internet has everything, doesn't it?

TV Tango: Did you get the chance to visit any of the historical landmarks in West Virginia and Kentucky?

Matt Barr: I did. I was working on a movie in Kentucky, kind of like a month before we went over to Romania, and I actually ran into a descendant of the Hatfields. She had a little insight and we continued to email.

Even though she was just some distant relative, I kind of felt some energy, like I had made a connection. When you touch the earth, when you kind of stand on it, it just becomes real. Like it just happened.

I didn't get to go to West Virginia, but I did step foot in Kentucky -- I was in Cincinnati for a lot of that time.

TV Tango: You mentioned Romania, is that where you filmed HATFIELDS & MCCOYS or was that a different project?

Matt Barr: That was HATFIELDS. 

It was great. We filmed a lot in the mountains of Romania, where it's still very primitive up there. The locals use horse-drawn carriages and haul their lumber and all that.

Being out in the middle of nowhere, it's very easy to step into the boots and kind of walk right into that world. We built these fantastic sets. There's no power lines or buildings to your left or right; so it just felt very real. Parts of it seemed like they were stuck in the 1880s.

TV Tango: Was this the first western or period piece that you've done?

Matt Barr: Yes, in terms of that period it is, and it was definitely my first western? As a kid growing up in Texas, it's always been my dream. In fact, that eight-year-old was always present on set, I would say.

I've done Arthur Miller's The Crucible, which isn't a western, but that might be as close as I ever got.

TV Tango: What was it like to live out that childhood dream?

Matt Barr: It was a dream, and [Kevin] Costner was definitely my idol. It was a balance between having a focus to be present in the moment for the job, and then part of me was just this kid laughing inside, thinking, "I can't believe I'm gettin' to do this." It's like I'm playing dress-up and pretend on a million-dollar budget with my own superhero. It was just...the best!

TV Tango: Did you have any flashbacks to watching DANCES WITH WOLVES or anything like that?

TV Tango: Did you get any stunt training to ride horses?

Matt Barr: We did. I spent about a month riding on-and-off in L.A. before we all went over there, and then we would ride in our free time. I grew up riding a bit; so I had somewhat of a foundation.

TV Tango: You also said you were holding a gun. After your role on HARPER'S ISLAND, some viewers are going to expect your characters to always suck as a marksman. Do you get to prove yourself to be an expert shooter?

Matt Barr: [Laughs] You know what, I don't! Johnse is a lover, not a fighter.

To be honest with you, the boy in me always wanted to fire that sucker, but the character...he didn't really want to pull that trigger.

TV Tango: Speaking of Johnse being a lover, does this miniseries stay pretty true to the love story, especially with the trials and tribulations of his romance with Roseanna [played by Lindsay Pulsipher]?

Matt Barr: It does. Again, I always thought was something the writers took some creative liberty with to facilitate the whole drama, but it was, I'd say, 98% accurate.

It's why I love this movie. History is so amazing, you know. If we look right in our backyard of history, there's just these fantastic stories that we don't even have to create.

There's this tragic Romeo & Juliet scenario, which at least in the way we depicted it, was very true.

TV Tango: Besides being Romeo & Juliet relationship, how else would you describe it?

TV Tango: To portray this relationship, did you pull emotion from a troubled or forbidden romance in your own past?

Matt Barr: You know what, I did. I was in love with a girl all through high school who I never could have. [Laughing] It's funny, at that stage of your life, it's everything in that bubble. I remember the angst and the sense of having to, in a way, surrender to that ultimately.

In fact, it still upsets me. [Laughing] And I'm actually way beyond it.

TV Tango: Your character, Johnse, was a well-established bootlegger with ignored violations and warrants. What's the worst thing you've done that you're willing to admit to?

Matt Barr: [Laughs] I don't have any skeletons in my closet; I'm proud of the things I've done.

Due to a few too many tequila shots, I was down in Mexico and disappeared for like 36 hours and finally made my way back to the resort. But that was a trip. [Laughing]

I had everyone worried. I think my life was close to being over, but I got a second chance. This was a few years ago, but I have to admit I wouldn't trade it for anything.

TV Tango: Besides this role, what's your favorite TV character that you played so far in your career?

Matt Barr: I really enjoyed playing Sully on HARPER'S ISLAND. I just loved that we received the scripts weekly and didn't know who was going to live or die. It was sort of almost like an interactive acting experience -- sort of living as the character lived or died. It was just so much fun.

TV Tango: I know you want to be like Bear Grylls on MAN VS. WILD, but if you could portray any fictional TV character in history, which one would you choose?

Matt Barr: Definitely MacGyver. Everytime I see three random objects -- like now, I'm looking at a box of matches, a television remote and a candle -- and I know somehow I can make a zipline out my window with those three things to cross the street. There you go!

TV Tango: What's on your DVR these days?

Matt Barr: Besides MAN VS. WILD? This show SHARK TANK, where people pitch these inventions and ideas.

And PAWN STARS. I'm not just shouting out to History Channel, but that is my guilty pleasure. It's fantastic.

And this other show called RATTLESNAKE REPUBLIC, where these guys just catch rattlesnakes and get in tents with them and put rattlesnakes in a sleeping bag. You know, I'm kind of a wild and crazy Texan, but there's a line [laughing] and these guys cross it every day. I want to shake their hand and maybe go an adventure with one of those guys.