Richard James “Rick” Cosnett (born 6 April 1983) is a Zimbabwean-Australian actor and producer. He is known for playing the roles of Wes Maxfield in ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'', Elias Harper in '' Quantico'' and

Eddie Thawne ''The Flash'' is an American television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns, based on the DC Comics character the Flash. The series premiered on The CW television network in the United States on October 7, 2014, ...

in ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

''.

Early life and education

Cosnett was born on April 6, 1983 and was raised on a farm in

Chegutu Chegutu (formerly Hartley) is a town in Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe. Location The town is located in Chegutu District, Mashonaland West, in central northern Zimbabwe. It lies in the Hartley Hills , southwest of the capital Harare at a ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. His family took part in community musical theater there, which made him interested in acting from an early age. When he was seventeen, his family decided to move to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia, in large part due to land reforms in Zimbabwe. Cosnett attended the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. He originally received a scholarship to study music but graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Acting.

Personal life

Cosnett is a cousin of

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...

. On 13 February 2020, Cosnett publicly

came out 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 ...

as gay on his Instagram account.

Filmography

Film

Television

As producer

References

External links

* * * 1983 births 21st-century Australian male actors Alumni of Peterhouse Boys' School Australian actors of African descent Australian emigrants to the United States Australian male film actors Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Australian people of Zimbabwean descent Australian gay actors LGBT people from Zimbabwe Living people Queensland University of Technology alumni White Zimbabwean people Zimbabwean emigrants to Australia {{Australia-actor-stub