Casey Morton Cott (born August 8, 1992) is an American actor, known for his role as Kevin Keller on
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
Cott was born in 1992, the middle of three children of Rick Cott, an investment manager and former fighter pilot in the Air Force, and Lori Cott (née Morton). Cott grew up in
Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Chagrin Falls is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States and is a suburb of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio's Cleveland-Akron-Canton metropolitan area, the 19th-largest Combined Statistical Area nationwide. The village was established and h ...
, with his younger sister and older brother, actor
Corey Cott
Corey Michael Cott (born March 30, 1990) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for playing Jack Kelly in the Broadway musical '' Newsies,'' replacing Jeremy Jordan, and for originating the role of Donny Novitski in the Broadway musi ...
, and graduated from
Chagrin Falls High School
Chagrin Falls High School is a public high school located in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, United States, an eastern suburb in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area. The high school's mascot is Mortimer the Tiger.
History
Chagrin Falls High School issued ...
. He attended
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
for two years before deciding to study acting, transferring to the
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama
The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama is the first degree-granting drama institution in the United States. Founded in 1914, it is one of five schools within the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts.
The school's undergraduate BFA programs in act ...
, where he graduated in 2016.
Career
Cott began his acting career performing in local Ohio theater, appearing in productions of ''
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
''Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson'' is a rock musical with music and lyrics written by Michael Friedman and a book written by its director Alex Timbers.
The show is a comedic historical rock musical about the founding of the Democratic Party. It r ...
'' and ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'', among others. Upon moving to Pittsburgh for school, he got involved in the area's regional theater scene while performing in university theater productions concurrently. He appeared in a 2014 production of the play ''Parade'' at the New Hazlett Theater in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, where he starred alongside several of his Carnegie Mellon classmates, as well as a production of ''
Small Engine Repair
A small engine is the general term for a wide range of small-displacement, low-powered internal combustion engines used to power lawn mowers, generators, concrete mixers and many other machines that require independent power sources. These eng ...
'' at Barebone Productions. In August 2016, he played Moses in the premiere concert reading of
Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...
's musical project, a
stage production
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
of ''
The Prince of Egypt
''The Prince of Egypt'' is a 1998 American animated musical drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The first feature film from DreamWorks to be traditionally animated, it is an adaptation of the Book ...
'', at the Bay Street Theater in
Sag Harbor, New York
Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the ...
, opposite
Shuler Hensley
Shuler Paul Hensley (born March 6, 1967) is an American singer and actor.
Early life
Hensley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The youngest of three children, Hensley grew up in Marietta, Georgia. His father, Sam P. Hensley Jr., is a former Georgia T ...
and
John Cariani
John Edward Cariani (born July 23, 1969) is an American actor and playwright. Cariani is best known as the unwavering forensic expert Julian Beck in ''Law & Order''. On stage, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his role as Motel the Tailor in t ...
.
On March 12, 2016, during his final year at CMU, Cott was cast as Kevin Keller on the CW drama series '' Riverdale'', a TV adaptation of the
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.openly gay
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
character in the history of Archie Comics. Cott stated in a
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
video released to fans in March 2017 that he originally auditioned for the roles of
Archie Andrews
Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,
and
Jughead Jones
Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III is one of the fictional characters created by Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in Archie Comics who first appeared in the first Archie story, from ''Pep Comics'' #22 (December 1941). He is the drummer of th ...
, prior to landing the role of Kevin. He was promoted to a series regular for the second season.
On March 12, 2018, at the
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
Festival, Cott announced his upcoming role in the film ''The Mascot'', written and directed by Matthew Perkins. Cott will be playing the lead role of Nick Shepherd, an ex-quarterback turned mascot. However, as of early 2019, production has stalled on the project. In the second half of 2018, Cott took part in the filming of the movie ''All the Little Things We Kill'', in which he plays the supporting role of Trever Olsson.
In March 2019, it was announced that Cott will star as the titular character in a
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
production of ''
The Who's Tommy
''The Who's Tommy'' is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Pete Townshend and a book by Townshend and Des McAnuff. It is based on the 1969 rock opera ''Tommy'' by The Who.
Productions
The musical opened at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, ...
Christian Borle
Christian Dominique Borle (born October 1, 1973) is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in ''Peter and the Starcatcher'' and as William Shakespeare in ''Something Rotten!''. Borle also ...
. It was announced on Monday 26 June 2023, Cott made his Broadway debut as Christian in ''
Moulin Rouge!
''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...
'' at the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish an ...
, on August 1.
Personal life
Cott resides in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. On December 19, 2020, Cott announced his engagement to his girlfriend, Nichola Basara. They were married on December 18, 2021. Cott and his wife had their first child, Cashius on September 18th 2023.