Grant Gustin Biography

American actor and singer

"Gustin" redirects here. For other uses, see Gustin (disambiguation).

Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Barry Allen / The Flash on The CW series The Flash (2014–2023) as part of the Arrowverse, and as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series Glee. Trained in musical theater, his first major credit was as part of the 2010 national tour of West Side Story; he returned to theater in the original Broadway production of Water for Elephants, originating the starring role of Jacob Jankowski.

Early life

Thomas Grant Gustin was born on January 14, 1990, in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the son of Tina Haney, a pediatric nurse, and Thomas Gustin, a college professor. During his high school years, he attended the Governor's School for the Arts program in Norfolk for musical theater. He also went to Hurrah Players Incorporated which is a theater organization in Virginia. In 2008, he graduated from Granby High School and went on to attend the BFA Music Theater Program at Elon University in North Carolina for two years. He has been a friend of actor Chris Wood since college.

Career

Gustin's first known screen role came while he was still in high school in the film Rain (2004). In this student film, by director/producer Neil Grochmal, during his studies at Regent University. Gustin plays a young mute who dreams of a man's tragic loss of his wife in a robbery, then later crosses paths with the man, stirring visions that help the man solve the mystery of who murdered his wife. Grochmal said Gustin showed raw talent and figured the youngster would be a future achiever in acting.

In 2010, 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.

Gustin in 2014

Joining the cast of Glee

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 background 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 previous Friday night. In January 2012, Naya Rivera (as her character Santana Lopez) and Gustin (as Smythe) performed "Smooth Criminal" as a duet in the season three episode "Michael", backed by musical duo 2Cellos. The song was filmed in a similar environment as the 2Cellos music video, in a room surrounded by empty chairs as the two musicians play. This cover debuted and peaked at number 26 at Billboard Hot 100, number 10 at Billboard Digital Songs, and number 28 at Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart at the week of February 18, 2012.

In 2012, Gustin began filming A Mother's Nightmare, an original film for the Lifetime network, in late May. The project also stars actresses Annabeth Gish and Jessica Lowndes, and was shot in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. On July 11, 2012, it was announced that Gustin had landed a major role in the independent film Affluenza.

Becoming The Flash

On September 13, 2013, it was announced that Gustin would play Barry Allen in the second season of Arrow. He was initially supposed to appear in three episodes, the last one serving as the backdoor pilot for a potential spin-off Flash series. However, the backdoor pilot plan was dropped in favor of a standalone pilot, *led The Flash. The pilot was picked up with an initial order of thirteen episodes, and the series premiered on October 7, 2014, with 4.8 million viewers, the most for a premiere on The CW in five years. With 184 episodes aired across nine seasons in total, The Flash concluded on May 24, 2023. As part of the greater Arrowverse, Gustin reprised his role as Allen on Arrow, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, as well as the web series Vixen.

Additional roles

On March 30, 2016, it was announced that Gustin would star in William H. Macy's film Krystal. The film premiered in 2017 at the Virginia Film Festival, and was released on April 13, 2018, by Great Point Media and Paladin In March 2020, Gustin was cast in Operation Blue Eyes as Barry Keenan.

Personal life

In January 2016, Gustin began dating Andrea "LA" Thoma after they met at a dinner party. They announced their engagement on April 29, 2017, and they married on December 15, 2018. Their first child, a daughter, was born in 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

    Web

    Theater

    Discography

    For Glee discography and songs, see Glee discography and List of songs in Glee.

    Awards and nominations

    References

    1. "Uptown Girl": "Canadian Hot 100: Week of November 26, 2011 (Biggest Jump)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
    2. "Glad You Came": "Canadian Hot 100: Week of March 10, 2012 (Biggest Jump)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
    3. "Uptown Girl": "UK Singles Chart: CLUK Update (19 November 2011 – week 45)". Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
    4. "Uptown Girl": Grein, Paul (November 16, 2011). "Week Ending Nov. 13, 2011. Songs: Taylor & Kenny". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
    5. "Glad You Came": Grein, Paul (February 29, 2012). "Week Ending Feb. 26, 2012. Songs: Clarkson Sets "Idol" Record". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2012.

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grant Gustin.
    • Grant Gustin at IMDb
    • Grant Gustin at the Internet Broadway Database
    Grant Gustin