Matthew Morrison

In 1999, while still at NYU, Morrison appeared on Late Show with David Letterman and Total Request Live as one of five members of the fictional parody boy band "Fresh Step", an act that was conceived by several Late Show writers.

The choreographer hired for "Fresh Step" was also the choreographer for the Broadway musical Footloose, and helped Morrison to get cast in Footloose later that year.

Morrison dropped out of NYU to begin appearing in the show.

In 2001, Morrison was recruited to join the boy band LMNT, turning it from a trio into a quartet.

He stayed in the band for one year, then left and was replaced by Jonas Persch; he left before the recording of the group's sole album, All Sides.

He has starred in multiple Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including appearing as Link Larkin in the original Broadway cast of Hairspray (2002), Fabrizio Nacarelli in the original Broadway cast of the musical The Light in the Piazza (2005, for which he received a Tony Award nomination), and the starring role of J.M. Barrie in the original Broadway cast of Finding Neverland (2015-2016).

Morrison briefly appeared in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show in 2002.

He then starred in the original cast of the musical Hairspray as Link Larkin from its opening in 2002 through January 2004.

Morrison also had small roles in films including Marci X (2003).

In 2005, Morrison starred as Fabrizio Nacarelli in the Broadway premiere of Adam Guettel's musical The Light in the Piazza; he was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance.

He left the show on August 28, 2005.

Morrison started working in television, guest-starring on shows such as Ghost Whisperer, Numbers, CSI: Miami, and Hack.

He also appeared as Sir Harry in the 2005 ABC-TV production of Once Upon a Mattress, starring Tracey Ullman, Zooey Deschanel and Carol Burnett.

He earned a Drama Desk Nomination for his role in the Off Broadway show 10 Million Miles which ran at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2007.

That same year he appeared in two films: Dan in Real Life, followed by Music and Lyrics as Cora Corman's manager.

In 2008, he played Lieutenant Cable in a Lincoln Center production of the musical South Pacific.

He left the production at the end of 2008 and in early 2009 returned to California to shoot the first season of Glee.

Matthew James Morrison is an American actor, dancer, and singer, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show Glee (2009–2015).

Morrison played Will Schuester in the Fox Broadcasting television series Glee, which had its television preview on May 19, 2009.

Schuester is a high school Spanish (later History) teacher who takes on the task of restoring the school's glee club to its former glory.

He made his directorial debut with the third season's ninth episode.

In a 2010 interview, Morrison stated about the experience, "It was the worst year of my life. You know when you're a performer and you're out there on stage and you're embarrassed that you're doing something wrong. It was pretty bad."

In January 2010, Morrison signed a solo record deal with Mercury Records.

On June 16, 2010, Morrison joined Leona Lewis—appearing at London's O2 Arena as part of her world tour—for a one-off performance to sing "Over the Rainbow".

His first studio album, Matthew Morrison, was released on May 10, 2011.

Two singles were released from the album, "Summer Rain" and "Still Got Tonight".

The album also includes duets with Elton John (a medley of "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" and "Rocket Man"), Gwyneth Paltrow ("Over the Rainbow") and Sting ("Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot").

Morrison signed with Adam Levine's 222 Records in 2012, and has released three solo albums: Matthew Morrison (2011), Where It All Began (2013), and Disney Dreamin' with Matthew Morrison (2020).

Morrison was born in Fort Ord, California, the son of Mary Louise (Fraser) and Thomas Morrison.

Morrison was raised in Chico, and has Scottish and English ancestry.

He was a member of Buena Park Youth theater, located in Buena Park.

He was part of the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21) and the Orange County School of the Arts, while at the Los Alamitos High School campus.

While in high school, Morrison did a musical with actress Jodie Sweetin.

He attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for two years before dropping out and joining the Broadway adaptation of Footloose.

In March 2012, Morrison was featured in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, 8—a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage—as Paul Katami.

The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

A Morrison concert at Connecticut's Bushnell Center was recorded and aired on PBS in June 2013.

In April 2013, Morrison appeared at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards at the Royal Opera House in London.

He starred as the Grinch in NBC's 2020 production Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live!.

He has also been a judge on two reality dance competition shows on TV: The Greatest Dancer on BBC One, and So You Think You Can Dance on Fox.