Matthew David McGorry (born April 12, 1986) is an American actor, writer and activist. He is best known for playing John Bennett on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

comedy-drama series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'' and Asher Millstone on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

legal drama series ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios. Th ...

''.

Early life and education

McGorry was born and raised in the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

borough of New York City, and began performing at age nine. He attended

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia, is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Ce ...

in New York, and then graduated from

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts in 2008.

Career

Fitness

McGorry began his career as a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

, fitness writer for ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' is an American monthly men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenne ...

'', and competitive

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

Acting

On television, McGorry made his debut in 2011 on the

daytime soap opera ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

''. He later appeared in guest-starring roles on ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...

'', ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

'', and ''

Royal Pains ''Royal Pains'' (stylized ℞oyalPains) is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on the USA Network from 2009 to 2016. The series was based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies. The ca ...

'' before breaking out in a recurring role from 2013 to 2015 on the

dramedy series ''

'' as corrections officer John Bennett in 2013. In 2014, McGorry was cast as series regular Asher Millstone on

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'', ...

' drama series ''

'', a role he played for 90 episodes up until 2020. In the same year, he was cast in the indie drama ''

How He Fell in Love ''How He Fell in Love'' is a 2015 American film, American romantic drama film written and directed by Marc Meyers and starring Matt McGorry, Amy Hargreaves, Britne Oldford, and Mark Blum. It premiered at the LA Film Fest on June 11, 2015 and was re ...

''. In 2022, McGorry starred as Mark Higgins for 8 episodes in ''

Archive 81 ''Archive 81'' is an American supernatural horror streaming television series developed by Rebecca Sonnenshine, who was also an executive producer for the show, along with Paul Harris Boardman and James Wan. The series was released on Netflix ...

''.

Personal life

McGorry is

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...

, but stated in a 2018 ''Man Talk'' roundtable that he had experimented with men when he was younger, adding, "like a lot of straight boys I experimented with other boys. But that is so common and no one talks about it ..I don't think it was sexual, and I am straight never found myself attracted to boys ..I had so much shame about that, for years after, thinking 'I'm going to be famous one day, maybe, and someone's going to find and it's going to become this thing and it's going to destroy me." McGorry is a police and prison abolitionist and a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and is interested in various social issues.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGorry, Matt 1986 births Living people 21st-century American male actors American bodybuilders 20th-century American Jews American male film actors American male television actors Emerson College alumni Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Jewish feminists Male actors from New York City Male feminists People from Manhattan 21st-century American Jews