Grant Gustin

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, 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.

Glee

On November 8, 2011, he debuted on the television series Glee as Sebastian Smythe, an openly gay member of the Dalton Academy Warblers. 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 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 10 on the Billboard Digital Songs, and number 28 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart during 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.

The Flash In 2013, Gustin was offered the role of 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, titled 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, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, as well as the web series Vixen.

Additional roles Gustin starred in William H. Macy's film Krystal, which 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. Gustin made his Broadway debut in February 2024 in the original production of Water for Elephants, originating the starring role of Jacob Jankowski. He left the cast in September of the same year.

Personal life Gustin announced his engagement to Andrea "LA" Thoma on April 29, 2017, and they married on December 15, 2018. They have two children: a daughter born in 2021 and a son born in 2024.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes 2003 Kid Fitness Jungle Adventure Exercise Video Club Fit Kid Direct-to-video 2004 Rain Logan 2014 Affluenza Todd Goodman 2017 Krystal Campbell Ogburn 2018 Tom and Grant Grant Short film 2022 Rescued by Ruby Daniel O'Neil 2023 Puppy Love Max Stevenson TBA Operation Blue Eyes Barry Keenan

Television

Year Title Role Notes 2006 Thomas Episode: "Hungry Ghosts" 2011–2013 Glee Sebastian Smythe Recurring role; 7 episodes 2012 CSI: Miami Scott Ferris / Trent Burton Episode: "Terminal Velocity" Chris Stewart Television film 2013 90210 Campbell Price Recurring role; 8 episodes 2013–2020 Arrow Barry Allen / The Flash Recurring role; 14 episodes 2014–2023 The Flash Lead role; 184 episodes 2016–2019 Supergirl 5 episodes 2016–2020 Legends of Tomorrow 5 episodes (2 voice, 3 live) 2019 Batwoman Episode: "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two" 2023 Titans Episode: "Dude, Where's My Gar?"

Web

Year Title Role Notes 2015–2016 Vixen Barry Allen / The Flash Voice; 8 episodes

Theater Year Title Role Notes 2010 All Shook Up Dean Hyde Regional 2010–2011 West Side Story Baby John Broadway revival national tour 2024 Gutenberg! The Musical! The Producer Broadway one night cameo Water for Elephants Jacob Jankowski Original Broadway production

Discography

Awards and nominations