Fans have gotten to know and love Barry Allen for six seasons on The Flash.
While the character’s life has been explored in intimate detail, less is known about Grant Gustin, the actor who has played Barry since 2013 on Arrow before speeding over to his own show the following year.
Read on to find out more about the man behind Central City’s favourite speedster.
For starters, Grant Gustin isn’t even the actor’s real name. At least, not his full one. As reported by WhatCulture, The Flash star was born Thomas Grant Gustin.
Speaking of his birth, there are two important coincidences. The location; Norfolk, Virginia and the year, 1990.
Gustin’s future Flash co-star John Wesley Shipp (Henry Allen/Jay Garrick) was also born in Norfolk, VA and began playing Barry Allen in an earlier iteration of The Flash in 1990. The series only lasted for a season.
Gustin attended Eion University in North Carolina for two years. During this time, he met fellow future Arrowverse actor Chris Wood, who played Mon-El on Supergirl.
While still a High School student, Gustin appeared in multiple science-based videos for NASA KSNN.
Prior to landing the role of Barry Allen, Gustin’s best-known role was Sebastian Smythe, a conniving Dalton Academy Warbler on Glee. Fellow cast members from this show, including Melissa Benoist, Victor Garber, Darren Criss and Max Adler have also appeared on Flash.
Between September 2010 and September 2011, Gustin starred in a Broadway Revival Tour of West Side Story, where he played Baby John. He would leave this tour to join Glee.
In December 2018, Gustin married his girlfriend, physical therapist Andrea ‘LA’ Thoma, who is from a Malaysian background. Thoma has attempted to teach Malay to Gustin.
Now in the sixth season of The Flash, Gustin has appeared in other projects during the run including the 2017 film Krsytal which also featured Nick Robinson (Love, Simon) and was directed by William H. Macy (Shameless).
In 2018, Gustin appeared in the short film Tom and Grant with his Flash co-star Tom Cavanagh (Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne).
NEXT: The Flash: How Violett Beane Can Return After ‘God Friended Me’ Cancellation
