Matthew Gray Gubler

Matthew Gray Gubler (, ; born March 9, 1980) is an American actor, best known for his role as criminal profiler Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show Criminal Minds, for which he also directed several episodes. Gubler has appeared in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, 500 Days of Summer, Life After Beth, Suburban Gothic, and Newness. He was also the voice of Simon in Alvin and the Chipmunks and its three sequels.

Early life and education Gubler was born on March 9, 1980, in Las Vegas, the son of Marilyn ( Kelch), a rancher and political consultant, and John Gubler, an attorney. Gubler is a high school graduate of the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, where he studied acting because the school did not offer his first choice, filmmaking. He is a graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he majored in film directing.

Career

Modeling While studying film at NYU, Gubler was discovered by a model scout and then worked as a model with DNA Model Management for Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, and American Eagle, among others. He has been ranked 46th on models.com's list of top 50 male models.

Acting

After he began modeling, Gubler had an internship with Wes Anderson, who encouraged him to audition for a part in his movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Gubler did, and landed the role of Nico (a.k.a. Intern #1). This led, in 2005, to Gubler being cast in Criminal Minds. and Gubler performed in all 15 seasons. Gubler played a starring role of Dr. Spencer Reid, Gubler is best known for playing this role Criminal Minds won the 2017 People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Drama. Gubler did not appear in the 2022 reboot of the series.

Gubler has done voice work for the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. He played Jimmy Olsen in All-Star Superman and voices the Riddler in the animated film, Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014). Gubler has also appeared in the films Band of Robbers (2015), 68 Kill (2017), Endings, Beginnings (2019), and Horse Girl (2020). He appeared in the 2019 Hulu series Dollface.

Filmmaking and directing While making The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Gubler made a documentary titled Matthew Gray Gubler's Life Aquatic Intern Journal, a behind-the-scenes view of the making of the film, which was later included in The Criterion Collection DVD release. He directed and starred in a series of self-deprecating mockumentaries titled Matthew Gray Gubler: the Unauthorized Documentary in which he parodies Hollywood behavior, which were filmed on the set of Criminal Minds. A follow-up, Matthew Gray Gubler: The Authorized Documentary, was also made.

Gubler directed, edited, and co-produced the music videos for "Don't Shoot Me Santa" and "Dirt Sledding" by Las Vegas rock band the Killers.

Gubler directed 12 episodes of Criminal Minds. On September 6, 2008, his art was featured in a group show entitled "Paper Cuts" at The Little Bird art gallery in Atwater Village, California. Gubler contributed a painting of "Sandy The Mammoth" to the Western Heritage Museum & Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame. In July 2010, his paintings were featured in Juxtapoz magazine.

In October 2011, an original watercolor by Gubler entitled "Mushface" was sold on eBay for $10,100.

Gubler's paintings were highlighted in a 2013 interview with BuzzFeed.

Writing Gubler wrote and illustrated his first book, Rumple Buttercup: A Story of Bananas, Belonging and Being Yourself, which was released on April 2, 2019. It is published as a children's book, but Gubler says it is for all ages, "for anyone who's ever felt like they didn't quite fit in, just to make them know that they're not alone... My hope in writing the book was to find a way to give the world a 136-page hug." He hand-wrote or hand-drew everything in the book – "every single word, every single illustration, including the bar code and the lengthy copyright page." In 2023 The Little Kid with the Big Green Hand was published.

Personal life As of 2009, Gubler divided his time between Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York City.

In 2009, while filming (500) Days of Summer in Los Angeles, Gubler dislocated his knee while out dancing. The injury required three surgical procedures and the use of a cane for nearly a year, which was written into the script of Criminal Minds.

On October 27, 2014, Gubler became a certified minister and officiated at the wedding of Steve Damstra and Gubler's Criminal Minds co-star Paget Brewster on November 29, 2014.

Filmography

Film

Television

Miscellaneous