Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is a 37-year-old American actor from Fort Ord, California. He portrayed Will Schuester on the FOX TV show, Glee.
Personal Life
Young Matthew
As a self-professed theatre geek from sunny Fort Ord in California, the young Matthew Morrison spent his school years much like the glee performers from the show, starring in school musicals and plays. The budding star was also voted class president and prom king. Morrison then attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts but grew disenchanted and dropped out, only to land himself a role in the Broadway version of Footloose. Briefly a member of the boy band LMNT, he quit for a role in the stage revival of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Morrison dated Glee co-star and friend, Lea Michele, back in the day for a "Broadway beat."[1] Morrison was engaged to actress, Chrishell Stause, from December 9, 2006 to 2007.[2][3] On June 27, 2013, Morrison announced that he's engaged to his girlfriend Renee Puente.[4] He and Renee planned to get married in 2015 because they want to take their time in making preparations for the perfect wedding. [5] Morrison and Puente got married on 18 October 2014 in Kihei on the island of Maui, Hawaii.[6]
Career
In January 2003, he starred as Link Larkin in the Broadway musical Hairspray. Hairspray was his big break into Broadway. To this day, he is still best friends with his co-star Marissa Jaret Winokur.
In September 2004, he appeared in an ABC made for TV movie, Once Upon a Mattress with Carol Burnett, Denis O'Hare, Tracy Ullman, and Zooey Deschanel.
In April 2005, he starred in the Tony-nominated musical The Light in the Piazza, a musical by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel. He received a Tony nomination for his role as Fabrizio Naccarelli. In October 2005, he performed in the comedy A Naked Girl on the Appian Way. From October to November 2006, he starred on the daytime soap opera As The World Turns as Adam Hughes Munson. He appeared in the movie Music and Lyrics in February 2007 as Ray, the manager of Cora Corman, and as Evan Webber, a professional dancer in the 2012 film What To Expect When You're Expecting.
While performing as Lieutenant Cable in the 2008 Broadway revival of South Pacific, Matthew got the call about a musical television show - Glee. He auditioned with the song Over The Rainbow and got the part that would change his life forever: Will Schuester, the optimistic high school teacher and coach of the newly revived glee club, New Directions
In April 2011, he recorded a song with Sting called Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot.[7] which was featured on his debut solo album released in May 2011. On June 4, 2013, Morrison released his second studio album, Where It All Began. It was released through Maroon 5's lead singer Adam Levine's own record label, 222 Records (his first PBS special, Where It All Began: Live at the Bushnell, aired three days prior to the album's release). Later in 2013, he released A Classic Christmas, a digital EP of Christmas music
It was officially announced on November 10, 2014 that he would be returning to Broadway as J.M. Barrie in the musical version of the 2004 movie Finding Neverland, which opened on April 15, 2015. He received a Drama Desk and Drama League Award nomination, and won two Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards (for Favorite Leading Actor in a Musical and shared Favorite Onstage Pair with Laura Michelle Kelly) as well as a BroadwayWorld.com Audience Award.
Glee
Morrison was discovered by creator of Glee, Ryan Murphy. Murphy had spent three months scouting for performers to join his cast, and Morrison filled the multi-talented bill for teacher, Will Schuester. In 2010, he was rated 79th on the most sexiest TV actors list. People magazine named him as one of the Sexiest Men Alive in 2009 (along with co-stars Cory Monteith and Mark Salling) and 2010, and in 2012 was named one of the World's Most Beautiful (along with frequent guest star Kristin Chenoweth). For his work on Glee, he has been honored with a Satellite Award, two Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination.
Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Bob Rizzo's Simply Funk with Suzanne | Himself | as Matthew J. Morrison |
| 2003 | Marci X | Boyz R Us | as Matthew J. Morrison |
| 2005 | Once Upon A Mattress | Sir Harry | |
| 2006 | Blinders | Scott | |
| 2007 | Music and Lyrics | Ray | |
| 2007 | Dan in Real Life | Policeman | |
| 2007 | I Think I Love My Wife | Salesman #2 | |
| 2011 | The Muppets | Mahna Mahna | Host |
| 2012 | What to Expect When You're Expecting | Evan | |
| 2014 | Space Station 76 | Daniel | |
| 2015 | Underdogs | Jake (voice) |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sex and the City | Young Busboy | 1 episode |
| 2003 | Hack | Sam Wagner | 1 episode |
| 2006 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Chance Slaughter | 1 episode |
| 2006 | As the World Turns | Adam Munson #4 | October 24 – November 27, 2006 |
| 2007 | Ghost Whisperer | Matt Sembrook | 8 episodes |
| 2007 | CSI: Miami | Jesse Stark | 1 episode |
| 2008 | Numb3rs | Officer Blaine Cleary | 1 episode |
| 2009 | Taking Chance | Robert Rouse | television film |
| 2009–present | Glee | Will Schuester | Series regular/Directed (Extraordinary Merry Christmas) |
| 2011 | The Cleveland Show | Will Schuester (voice) | How Do You Solve a Problem Like Roberta? |
| 2012 | Live with Kelly | Himself | Kelly Ripa's co-host on February 21, 2012 |
| 2013 | Hollywood Game Night | Himself | ("Don't Kill My Buzz-er") |
Discography
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Hairspray: Original Broadway Cast Album |
| 2005 | The Light in the Piazza: Original Broadway Cast Album |
| 2007 | This Ordinary Thursday: The Songs of Georgia Stitt (performing "One Day More") |
| 2008 | South Pacific: The New Broadway Cast Album |
| 2011 | Matthew Morrison |
| 2013 | Where It All Began |
| 2013 | A Classic Christmas (EP) |
| 2015 | Finding Neverland: The Album (performing "We Own The Night") |
| 2015 | Finding Neverland: Original Broadway Cast Album |
Trivia
- He uses Lubriderm in his hair.[8]
- His nicknames are "Matty Fresh," "Fresh," "Fresh Step," and "Matty too Fresh."[9]
- He has been engaged twice. The first engagement ended in 2007 and the second engagement started in 2013.
- His favorite curse word is "motherf***er"
- He is the first cast member to perform his own song in a Glee episode.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Brunette Ambition, p. 485 (iBooks version). Lea Michele. 2014.
- ↑ CURTAIN CUTIE: MATTHEW MORRISON June 2007.
- ↑ Matthew Morrison Opens Up About His Engagment to Chrishell Stause. July 2013,
- ↑ Glee's Matthew Morrison Is Engaged to Renee Puente June 2013.
- ↑ Matthew Morrison - Matthew Morrison to get married in 2015 October 2013
- ↑ [http://www.people.com/article/matthew-morrison-marries-renee-puente Matthew Morrison Marries Renee Puente] October 2014
- ↑ Youtube
- ↑ Matthew Morrison, Cory Monteith, Lea Michele Radar Interview 1:20 - 1:24 mintues in.
- ↑ 'Glee' cast share their nicknames 0:42 - 0:49 mintues in.