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

Nailing an impression of a Hollywood celebrity in front of the A-lister themselves may take a lot of nerve - but for Matt Friend, there's nothing more thrilling.

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

From red carpets of major Hollywood award shows to podcasts with Bill Maher - he even accepted a guest spot at the White House Correspondent's Dinner impersonating Donald Trump - in front of Joe Biden .

But it was his conversation with Paul Giamatti that stood out to many, with the Billions star clearly taken by Friend's abilities.

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

Now as Friend finds his place among the glamour of glitzy events, he reveals it's no accident how he came to be there.

Friend started out perfecting his craft among the Chicago comedy circuit - and his passion for entertaining began at a very young age.

'It starts with making your parents laugh,' Friend says.

He was just four years old when he watched Austin Powers - a movie he says was the starting point of his obsession with comedy.

Mike Myers' many characters like Gold Member and Dr. Evil acted as a starting place for Friend to have a go at imitations.

'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 was trying to make my parents laugh, and my classmates laugh.'

While studying at NYU, he took any chance he could get to immerse himself in the world of comedy,

'I was very obsessed and focused, it became my extra-curricular activity,' he says.

It wasn't before long he found his efforts were paying off.

'I would go to class and then I'd go to an open mic, and I was getting a name for myself.

'I was getting paid spots in the comedy clubs while I was still in school - and, I was feeling the momentum build and then when the pandemic hit, I'm sitting at home with my parents, and my sister and I was like "what do I do?"'

One idea he had was to create a mini late night talk show he called 'Quarantime'.

Producing more than 50 episodes of the sketch show, he wrote a topical monologue and conducted interviews which proved to be a great creative exercise.

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

During the pandemic, Jimmy Kimmel started talking about his impressions on the air, which triggered a wave of media interest, including getting a spot on Hoda and Jenna.

'I did a bit with them and then all these media appearances started to happen and my following was starting to build,' he says.

From there, all this 'crazy stuff' started to happen after he graduated college.

The snowball intensified when Friend found himself on the Golden Globes' red carpet earlier this year where he came face-to-face with the likes of Nicholas Cage, Austin Butler, Mark Ruffalo and the infamous moment with Giamatti, daringly mimicking their iconic voices with uncanny accuracy to the amazement of his subjects.

Friend was gutted to have missed Giamatti on the carpet - but when he saw an opening, he took it.

'I got him two minutes after he won his Golden Globe for his role in The Holdovers, it had just happened, so he was very happy,' Friend says.

While the impressions do take work, Friend says it's not something he sits down and rehearse as someone might practice a violin.

'It just kind of happens, I watch a lot of the movies, I read a lot of the books, I watch a lot of shows,' he explains.

'I'm very up to date with what's happening in pop culture and politics and as a result of that, I just kind of hear the voices of the character and then I just start doing it. I couldn't tell you it's a process, I don't sit down and practice, it just sort of happens.'

When Howard Stern got wind of Friend taking on his familiar tones, he liked what he saw so much he invited Friend on his show.

His opportunities have since included doing voices on hit animation shows he grew up idolizing like The Simpsons and Family Guy - the latter of which meant getting to meet the series' creator Seth MacFarlane.

Outside of confidently sparring with A-listers to create entertaining clips, throughout the year Friend's success has continued - most recently sharing his Donald Trump impersonation with the Emmy Awards.

Amid the industry perks, he continues to build up his hour of stand-up, which he says includes more than the impressions.

'There's a lot of stories, I've had a lot of encounters with celebrities but actually getting known for meeting the people that I actually do an impression of, so I have a lot of really funny,' he says. 'I'm just hustling constantly.'

While the praise has been consistent, Friend says it's a matter of hard work paying off and having the faith in himself.

'I think it's not human to say that you're so confident, that you've got this, no one really knows anything, all I can control is the work that I put into what I do.

'I work hard and the things I'm doing is completely insane but I think luck is created by work and I'm very humbled and grateful for all the opportunities that are coming my way and things that I'm doing but at the same time, they're not happening if you're not putting yourself out there.

'Every day I just try to do as much as I can. You have to have self belief to get on a stage in front of strangers, you don't know if it's going to work - it's almost a delusional this self-belief, like "is this joke going to work?" but you have to believe in yourself.'