Childhood plays and her mother’s support sparked Nicole Mattox’s passion. Now she’s lighting up vertical dramas and redefining what it means to act full-time.
Los Angeles-based actress Nicole Mattox has quickly emerged as a rising talent in the world of vertical dramas, captivating audiences with her dynamic performances and authentic storytelling.
In a candid interview with Jen Cooper for Vertical Drama Love, Mattox opened up about her journey from growing up in Texas to pursuing acting in Los Angeles, the first roles that introduced her to the vertical drama scene, and the projects that propelled her career to new heights.
Nicole Mattox: Her Early Life, Education, and Rise in Acting
Mattox grew up in a suburb of San Antonio, Texas, the only child of former news anchor Leslie Mouton and retired Air Force pilot Major Tony Mattox. She discovered her love for storytelling and performing at a very young age.
In her interview with Jen Cooper for Vertical Drama Love, Mattox recalled, “As long as I can remember, I think my mom put me in a play when I was five years old, five or six, something like that. And she always talks about [it] too, the second she saw me on stage, it was like, I lit up everything in me was like this, ‘I need to be telling stories, this is where I belong.’”
Although she once dreamed of Broadway, Mattox soon realized singing wasn’t her path. Instead, school productions like “The Wizard of Oz” nurtured her imagination and deepened her love for storytelling.
After high school, Mattox moved to Austin to pursue a degree in Radio, Television, and Film at the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in 2020. Reflecting on her time at UT, she shared on Instagram, “Better late than never… Im so blessed to have gone to the best University in the world. Hook ‘Em forever 🤘🏻🤘🏻🔥 .”
Following college, she relocated to Los Angeles and enrolled at the prestigious acting school Playhouse West, studying under co-founder Robert Carnegie and renowned acting coach Holly Gagnier.
Since beginning her professional career in 2021, she has taken on a variety of roles in short films, television series, feature films, and social media shows, steadily establishing herself as a versatile performer.
Carving Her Path Into Vertical Dramas
Mattox first encountered vertical dramas with a day-player role in “Alpha of Aberdeen,” which introduced her to the format. Her first lead role came shortly after in “Unwanted Bride of Atticus Fawn,” a project that started generating attention and audition requests.
Her career gained serious momentum with “Breaking the Ice,” which elevated her visibility to a much wider audience. “That was when everything took off to a whole other level,” she recalled.
Since then, Nicole Mattox has built an impressive slate of 2024–2025 projects, including “Found a Homeless Billionaire Husband for Christmas,” mini-series such as “You Drive Me Crazy,” “Dungeons of Ecstasy,” “The CEO’s Twins Want Mommy Back,” “How to Kiss a Vampire,” “Queen Never Cry,” “Obsessions,” and “Remember Me, My Dear Ex.”
These roles highlight her versatility, ranging from romantic leads to dramatic characters, and showcase her rapid rise in the vertical drama space.
Even as her audience grew, Mattox initially treated these projects like any other job. She emphasized the importance of enjoying the work and connecting with co-stars while noting that audience response is never guaranteed.
Marketing, episode pacing, or story flow could all affect how viewers reacted, making the success of “Breaking the Ice” particularly remarkable. For Mattox, seeing a vertical drama reach that level of engagement was a surprising and rewarding milestone in her career.
Nicole Mattox’s Thoughts on Vertical Drama and Proudest Moments
Discussing the demands of vertical dramas, Mattox highlighted their fast pace and unique style. “Truly a lot of times we will get one to two takes to nail a scene, and on top of that we aren’t getting the scripts too far in advance so it’s all about learning to create a full experience in a second with very little prep,” she explained.
Looking ahead, she hopes to explore more diverse storylines and roles as the vertical drama landscape evolves.The teams working on these are so talented it’s always a blast when we all get to play around with a concept we haven’t worked on before,” Mattox shared.
Looking ahead, she’s excited about the future of vertical dramas and hopes to take on more diverse roles as the genre continues to evolve. She praises the highly talented creative teams she works with and finds it energizing when they get to explore fresh concepts together.
Her proudest achievement, she revealed, is simply becoming a full-time actor. She also shared how dramatically her life has changed in just a year. Not long ago, she faced job insecurity and was simply trying to make ends meet in Los Angeles
“It is the most surreal thing, I still can’t believe it. I am constantly having to remind myself that this is real. I’m getting to go to work every day and do what I’ve dreamed of doing my entire life,” she said. This sense of gratitude grounds her as she navigates the demands of a growing career, both on and off the screen.
Nicole Mattox on Balancing Career and Personal Life
Outside of acting, Mattox has shared her approach to dating. In a December 2024 interview on ReelTalk’s “Let’s Get Reel Personal,” she admitted that she’s very picky when it comes to finding the right person.
She explained, “I feel like we don’t have much time to date, so we barely have time to see our friends and family, who are the people who have been there before we started actively working in our career.”
Mattox said that if someone is going to spend their limited free time with another person, they should be intentional about who that person is.