Matthew Morrison

Matthew James Morrison, born October 30, 1978, is an American actor, dancer, and singer. He is best known for his role as high school teacher Will Schuester on the Fox television series Glee, in which he starred from 2009 to 2015. Over his career, Morrison has starred in major Broadway and off-Broadway musical productions, recorded solo albums, and appeared across various television series, films, and reality dance competitions.

Morrison was born in Fort Ord, California, to Mary Louise (Fraser) and Thomas Morrison, and was raised in Chico. He is of Scottish and English descent. As a youth, he belonged to the Buena Park Youth Theater. While attending Los Alamitos High School, he participated in the Orange County School of the Arts and the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), and performed in a high school musical alongside actress Jodie Sweetin. Morrison later attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for two years before dropping out to join the Broadway production of Footloose.

While still at NYU in 1999, Morrison appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and Total Request Live as part of Fresh Step, a fictional parody boy band. The group's choreographer helped him secure his role in Footloose. In 2001, Morrison joined the boy band LMNT, remaining with the group for a year before departing prior to the recording of their debut album. He briefly appeared in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show in 2002 before originating the role of Link Larkin in the Broadway musical Hairspray from 2002 to 2004. In 2005, he starred as Fabrizio Nacarelli in the original Broadway cast of The Light in the Piazza, earning a Tony Award nomination.

Morrison began appearing on television with guest roles in shows such as Ghost Whisperer, Numbers, CSI: Miami, and Hack, and appeared in films including Marci X, Dan in Real Life, and Music and Lyrics. He earned a Drama Desk nomination for his role in the 2007 off-Broadway show 10 Million Miles and played Lieutenant Cable in a 2008 Lincoln Center production of South Pacific. He returned to California to shoot Glee in early 2009, starring as Will Schuester and making his directorial debut during the show's third season.

Alongside his acting work, Morrison released his debut self-titled studio album in 2011 after signing with Mercury Records. He later signed with Adam Levine's 222 Records, releasing his second album, Where It All Began, in 2013, followed by Disney Dreamin' with Matthew Morrison in 2020. Morrison returned to Broadway in 2015 to originate the role of J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland, and played Bobby Darin in the Broadway production of Just in Time in April 2026.

Morrison's later television work includes playing Trevor in American Horror Story in 2019, serving as a dance captain on BBC One's The Greatest Dancer, and appearing as the title character in NBC's Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live! in 2020. In 2022, he served as a judge on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance. His subsequent acting credits include the television film A Paris Christmas Waltz, the thriller From Embers, and playing Billy Flynn in a 2024 production of Chicago in Japan.

Morrison was previously engaged to actress Chrishell Stause. In 2011, he began dating Renee Puente, and the couple married in Maui on October 18, 2014. They have two children, a son born in October 2017 and a daughter born in June 2021.