Full name: Matthew James Morrison
Nickname(s): Matty Fresh
Date of birth: October 30, 1978
Hometown: Fort Ord, California
Currently residing in: Los Angeles and New York City
Education: Tisch School of the Arts (studied musical theater, vocal performance, and dance)
We may know him best as crush-worthy Mr. Schue, but Matthew Morrison isn't known only for playing hot teachers on TV. After working long and hard at the Gap, he made his Broadway debut in the musical version of Footloose. His big break came when he was cast as Link Larkin in Hairspray — it has to be flattering when Zac Efron is cast to play your part in the movie version, right? He gained further renown for his role in The Light in the Piazza, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination. (Okay, so that's one thing Zac Efron hasn't done.) Matthew also received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for 10 Million Miles, and he recently performed in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City.
On television, he's appeared on Numb3rs, CSI: Miami, As the World Turns, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Sex and the City, and Ghost Whisperer, and his film credits include Dan in Real Life, I Think I Love My Wife, Primary Colors, and Music And Lyrics. And then there's the one aspect of his resume he'd rather forget: he was in LMNT, a boy band. He refers to the experience as "the worst year of my life." He quit before the group's first album came out.
For his Glee performance, he snagged a nomination for a 2010 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, and he won a 2009 Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Series, Comedy, or Musical and a 2010 SAG Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Television Series. Well deserved! The bar has been raised, Efron.
Random factoid: In high school, he acted in school plays and musicals, played soccer, and was voted prom king. BMoC alert!
