Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles asBarry Allen / The Flash onThe CW seriesThe Flash (2014–2023) as part of theArrowverse and asSebastian Smythe on theFox seriesGlee. Trained in musical theater, his first major credit was as part of the 2010 national tour ofWest Side Story; he returned to theater in the originalBroadway production ofWater for Elephants, originating the starring role of Jacob Jankowski.
Early life
Thomas Grant Gustin was born on January 14, 1990,[1] inNorfolk, 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 theGovernor's School for the Arts program in Norfolk for musical theater. He also went to Hurrah Players Incorporated which is a theater organization inVirginia. In 2008, he graduated fromGranby High School and went on to attend the BFA Music Theater Program atElon University in North Carolina for two years.[5] He has been a friend of actorChris Wood since college.[6]
Career
Gustin's first known screen role came while he was still in high school in the filmRain (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 ofWest 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 seriesGlee as Sebastian Smythe, an openly gay member of theDalton 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 finalWest Side Story performance the previous Friday night.[11] In January 2012,Naya Rivera (as her characterSantana Lopez) and Gustin (as Smythe) performed "Smooth Criminal" as a duet in the season three episode "Michael", backed by musical duo2Cellos. 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 theBillboard Hot 100, number 10 on theBillboardDigital Songs, and number 28 on theBillboardCanadian Hot 100 chart during the week of February 18, 2012.[12]
In 2012, Gustin began filmingA Mother's Nightmare, an original film for theLifetime network, in late May. The project also stars actressesAnnabeth Gish andJessica Lowndes and was shot inWest Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.[13] On July 11, 2012, it was announced that Gustin had landed a major role in the independent filmAffluenza.[14]
The Flash
In 2013, Gustin was offered the role ofBarry Allen in the second season ofArrow. He was initially supposed to appear in three episodes, the last one serving as thebackdoor pilot for a potential spin-offFlash series.[15] However, the backdoor pilot plan was dropped in favor of a standalone pilot, titledThe 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 onThe 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 greaterArrowverse, Gustin reprised his role as Allen onArrow,Supergirl,Legends of Tomorrow,Batwoman, as well as the web seriesVixen.
Additional roles
Gustin starred inWilliam H. Macy's filmKrystal,[20] which premiered in 2017 at theVirginia Film Festival and was released on April 13, 2018, by Great Point Media and Paladin[21] In March 2020, Gustin was cast inOperation Blue Eyes asBarry Keenan.[22] Gustin made hisBroadway debut in February 2024 in the original production ofWater for Elephants, originating the starring role of Jacob Jankowski.[23] He left the cast in September of the same year.[24]
Personal life
Gustin announced his engagement to Andrea "LA" Thoma on April 29, 2017,[25] and they married on December 15, 2018.[26] They have two children: a daughter born in 2021 and a son born in 2024.[27][28]
^Abrams, Natalie (March 20, 2017)."Grant Gustin on Being Back in his element".Entertainment Weekly.Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. RetrievedApril 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).