Grant Gustin, born Thomas Grant Gustin on January 14, 1990,[1][2] is a 24-year-old American theater and television actor. Grant has had a recurring role as Sebastian Smythe on Glee since 2011.
Personal life
Gustin was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia.[2][3] He attended the Governor's School for the Arts program for Musical Theatre.[3] Grant graduated from Granby High School and went on to attend the BFA Music Theatre Program at Elon University in North Carolina for two years.[3]
Career
Gustin left school to take the role of Baby John in the Broadway Revival Tour of West Side Story, and performed with the tour from its opening on September 30, 2010 through September 23, 2011.
On November 8, 2011, he debuted on the television series Glee as Sebastian Smythe, an openly gay member of the Dalton Academy Warblers. Gustin won the recurring role of Sebastian, a promiscuous and scheming character, after "an exhaustive, weeks-long casting search." He originally auditioned for a role as a tap dancer, but did not get the part. However, Ryan Murphy kept him in mind. He began filming the role early on Monday, September 26, 2011, after having finished his final West Side Story performance the Friday night before.
Gustin began filming A Mother's Nightmare, a telefilm for the Lifetime network, in late May 2012. The project also stars actresses Annabeth Gish and Jessica Lowndes, and was shot in Canada. It premiered on September 26.
On July 11, 2012, it was announced that Gustin landed the lead role in the indie film, Affluenza, which is described as a modern day take on "The Great Gastby." It will be released in the summer of 2014.
He had a recurring role as Campbell Price on 90210 in 2013.
Grant landed the role of Flash alter ego Barry Allen, who will appear on Arrow before possibly heading up his own spin-off, was revealed on September 13, 2013. He will appear in episodes 8 and 9 of the second season of Arrow.[4] Initially, the idea was for The Flash to have a backdoor pilot in episode 20 of the second season of Arrow, but after the CW brass saw cuts of episodes 8 and 9 they decided to have a stand-alone pilot, with episode 20 being a normal Arrow episode.
On May 8, 2014, it was announced that The CW ordered a full season of The Flash starring Gustin in the titular role as Barry Allen aka The Flash, which will air in the fall.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | Kid Fitness Jungle Adventure Exercise Video | Club Fit Kid | video |
2006 | A Haunting | Thomas - Stacy's Boyfriend | ("Hungry Ghosts") |
2011 | Glee | Sebastian Smythe | 4 episodes |
2012 | A Mother's Nightmare | Chris Stewart | TV Film |
CSI: Miami | Scott Ferris / Trent Burton | ("Terminal Velocity") | |
Glee | Sebastian Smythe | 2 episodes | |
The Glee Project | Himself | ("Theatricality 2") | |
2013 | 90210 | Campbell Price | 8 episodes |
Glee | Sebastian Smythe | 1 episode | |
Arrow | Barry Allen | 2 episodes | |
2014 | Affluenza | Todd Goodman | Completed |
The Flash | Barry Allen/The Flash | Main cast |
Quotes
“ |
That just broke my weird red carpet cherry. |
” |
—Grant Gustin |
“ |
I had slushie practice with a dummy for that one scene. At first, they gave me water to practice the momentum, and then I practiced throwing water in a dummy's face probably a hundred times before I was allowed to throw a slushie. Darren would have to go through hair and make-up again if I messed up. They were riding me, so I felt a lot of pressure. Thank God I got it in one take. |
” |
—Grant Gustin |
“ |
Darren! I think we need a Sebastian/Blaine duet! That would be great. |
” |
—Grant Gustin, after being asked who he would like to sing with |
“ |
He couldn’t sing, he came out of the womb dancing, but when he was growing up, he worked his pants off on his voice with vocal coaches. |
” |
—Gustin's mother, on his success |
Trivia
- He has an older brother named Tyler and a younger sister named Gracie.
- He is very good friends with Kevin McHale.
- He has a tattoo on his right forearm, which says, "Love Above All Else," which he had done on March 13, 2012.
- He was in West Side Story with Joey Haro who also portrays a Warbler.
- He has a different tattoo, the state of Virginia with a star on the location of Norfolk as well as the area code "seven-five-seven," on his rib cage and his brother Tyler has a tattoo on the back of his shoulder.
- He was a mentor on The Glee Project Season 2.
- Auditioned for Sebastian with I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen.
- He is 6'2" tall.
- He is a self-confessed "mama's boy" according to his Twitter.
- He's been performing since he was ten years old.
- Superman is his favorite superhero and has a tattoo on his left forearm that reads: "Superman... I love him" written in his mom's handwriting.
- He had highlights in his hair when he was younger.
- His lucky number is 9.
- On June 17, 2013, he was in the hospital because he when he was riding his bike to the gym, he took a tumble, which and dislocated his elbow and fractured his arm.
- He won the coveted role of Barry Allen on Arrow and appeared in two episodes during its second season, as well as playing him in the spin off show The Flash.
Gallery
Videos
External links
- Grant Gustin on Facebook
- Grant Gustin at the Internet Movie Database
- Grant Gustin on Twitter
References
- ↑ "that is true. but i've gone by Grant my whole life. It's not a "stage" name or "screen" name." Twitter. November 11, 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Grant Gustin Bio
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Norfolk actor lands a role on TV's 'Glee'
- ↑ Arrow Scoop: Glee's Grant Gustin Tapped to Play the Flash!