Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is an American actor, dancer, and singer, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show Glee (2009–2015).
Morrison has starred in multiple Broadway and off-Broadway productions. He appeared as Link Larkin in the original Broadway cast of Hairspray (2002), as 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 in the starring role of J.M. Barrie in the original Broadway cast of Finding Neverland (2015-2016). In April 2026, he returned to Broadway as Bobby Darin in Just in Time replacing Jonathan Groff.
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.
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).
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Early life
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.
Career
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. 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."
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. 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. Morrison also had small roles in films including Marci X (2003). 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.
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.
Personal life
Matthew Morrison was stuck on the subway during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.
Morrison and the rest of the subway carriage spent hours underground as "the world above me collapsed."
After he got off the subway, he walked into his girlfriend's apartment and saw her in bed with another man. Morrison told her, "you might want to turn on the TV" and promptly walked out.
Morrison became engaged to actress Chrishell Stause on December 9, 2006. Their relationship later ended.
In 2011, Morrison began dating Renee Puente. On June 27, 2013, Elton John helped Morrison announce that he and Puente were engaged. Morrison and Puente were married on October 18, 2014, at a private home on the island of Maui.
On May 16, 2017, it was revealed on his personal Instagram account that he and Puente were expecting their first child. Their son was born on October 22, 2017. On March 16, 2021, Morrison used his Instagram again to announce that he and Puente were expecting their second child together following a series of miscarriages. Their daughter was born on June 28, 2021.