Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor. 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,[1] in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the son of Tina Haney, a pediatric nurse, and Thomas Gustin, a college professor.[2][3][4] 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.[5] He has been a friend of actor Chris Wood since college.[6]
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.[7]
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.[5][8][9]
Gustin in 2014
Glee
On November 8, 2011, he debuted on the television series Glee as Sebastian Smythe, an openly gay member of the Dalton Academy Warblers.[5] 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.[10] He began filming the role early on Monday, September 26, 2011, after having finished his final West Side Story performance the previous Friday night.[11] 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 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 10 on the BillboardDigital Songs, and number 28 on the BillboardCanadian Hot 100 chart during the week of February 18, 2012.[12]
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.[13] On July 11, 2012, it was announced that Gustin had landed a major role in the independent film Affluenza.[14]
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.[15] However, the backdoor pilot plan was dropped in favor of a standalone pilot, titled The Flash.[16] 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.[17][18] With 184 episodes aired across nine seasons in total, The Flash concluded on May 24, 2023.[19] 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.[20] The film premiered in 2017 at the Virginia Film Festival and was released on April 13, 2018, by Great Point Media and Paladin[21] In March 2020, Gustin was cast in Operation Blue Eyes as Barry Keenan.[22]
Personal life
Gustin announced his engagement to Andrea "LA" Thoma on April 29, 2017,[23] and they married on December 15, 2018.[24] They have two children: a daughter born in 2021 and a son born in 2024.[25][26]
^Abrams, Natalie (March 20, 2017). "Grant Gustin on Being Back in his element". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017. ...But the weirdest person is actually Chris Wood, because we went to Elon University together, we were musical theater majors together, and we were very good friends in school.
^Ward, Steven. "Neil Grochmal, Virginia Beach, Virginia, October 11, 2020" (Interview).
^Goldberg, Lesley (September 13, 2013). "'Glee' Star Set as CW's Flash". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 14, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
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