Matt Lauria
Matthew Lauria (born August 15, 1982[1][2][a]) is an American actor and musician. He made his television debut on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock in 2007. He is best known for his roles as Luke Cafferty on the NBC/DirecTV drama Friday Night Lights, Ryan York on the NBC family drama Parenthood, and Ryan Wheeler on the Audience drama Kingdom.[3] In 2021, Lauria appeared as a series regular on the crime thriller television series CSI: Vegas.[4]
Early life and education
Lauria moved to Ireland with his family when he was seven. His father was an animator and an artist.[5] He has two sisters.[5] He spent his formative years growing up in Dublin and moved back to the U.S. to attend high school. He received his formal acting training from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in their drama conservatory, where he earned a BFA in drama.
Career
Within a few weeks of moving to New York City, Lauria successfully made his television debut as Winthrop on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. Soon after, he landed a recurring role on the NBC romantic sitcom Lipstick Jungle as Roy Merritt, where he co-starred with Brooke Shields, Andrew McCarthy and Robert Buckley.
Lauria landed his first starring role as Luke Cafferty, #44 of the East Dillon Lions, in the Emmy award-winning NBC/DirecTV drama Friday Night Lights,[6] for which he moved to Pflugerville, Texas in order to film. Lauria remained on the show until it ended in 2011. After finishing Friday Night Lights, Lauria moved to Chicago, Illinois after being cast as Caleb Evers in the Fox crime drama The Chicago Code. The show was cancelled after one season.[7]
He co-starred as Charlie Carnegie on the ABC drama pilot Gilded Lilys created and produced by Shonda Rhimes.[8] From 2012 to 2015, Lauria had a recurring role as Ryan York, a veteran of the Afghanistan war, on the fourth, fifth and sixth seasons of the NBC family drama Parenthood, reuniting with former Friday Night Lights showrunner Jason Katims.[9] He also starred as Ryan Wheeler on the DirecTV drama series Kingdom which premiered on the Audience Network in the fall of 2014.[10] In 2019, he appeared in two action thrillers, opposite Gina Rodriguez and Ismael Cruz Córdova in Miss Bala, directed by Catherine Hardwicke,[11] and Shaft, directed by Tim Story.[12]
In 2019 and 2020, he played the role of Jackson Pruitt on the TV series Tell Me A Story. In 2020, he also played the role of Bill on the TV series Little Birds.
Starting in 2021, he played the role of Josh Folsom on the hit show CSI: Vegas.
Personal life
Lauria is an avid electric guitarist.[13] On August 26, 2006,[citation needed] he married musician Michelle Armstrong.[1]
Filmography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Nick_Jonas%2C_Joanna_Going%2C_Matt_Lauria%2C_Frank_Grillo%2C_Jonathan_Tucker_-_Kingdom_Premiere_Oct_2014_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Nick_Jonas%2C_Joanna_Going%2C_Matt_Lauria%2C_Frank_Grillo%2C_Jonathan_Tucker_-_Kingdom_Premiere_Oct_2014_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Raccoon | Sam Roxbury | Short film |
2009 | 8 Easy Steps | VeggieLite | Short film |
2015 | Ma | Cowboy | |
2019 | Miss Bala | Brian Reich | |
Shaft | Major Gary Cutworth | ||
2022 | To Leslie | Handsome Outlaw | |
2023 | 80 for Brady | James |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | 30 Rock | Winthrop | Episode: "Jack Gets in the Game" |
2008 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Jake Lally | Episode: "Neighborhood Watch" |
2008–2009 | Lipstick Jungle | Roy Merritt | Recurring |
2009 | The Forgotten | Eric / John Doe | Episode: "Living Doe" |
2009–2011 | Friday Night Lights | Luke Cafferty | Main role (seasons 4–5); 26 episodes |
2011 | The Chicago Code | Caleb Evers | Main role |
Burn Notice | Ethan | Episode: "Square One" | |
2011–2012 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | FBI agent Matthew Pratt | 3 episodes |
2012 | Person of Interest | Adam Saunders | Episode: "Risk" |
2012–2015 | Parenthood | Ryan York | Recurring role (seasons 4–6); 25 episodes |
2013 | Gilded Lilys | Charlie Carnegie | Television film |
2014 | It Could Be Worse | Nelson | Episode: "Uncharted Territory" |
2014–2017 | Kingdom | Ryan Wheeler | Main role |
2017 | Dimension 404 | Evan | Episode: "Impulse" |
2019 | Traitors | Peter McCormick | Main role |
Into the Dark | Guy / John Deakins | Episode: "Down" | |
Dickinson | Ben Newton | Recurring role | |
2019–2020 | Tell Me A Story | Jackson Pruitt | Main role |
2020 | Little Birds | Bill | Main role |
2021–2024 | CSI: Vegas | Josh Folsom | Main role |
2022–present | Outer Range | Trevor Tillerson | Recurring role |
Notes
- ^ a b TV Guide reports his birth year as 1984, but Lauria's own tweet from his verified account says he was born in 1982
References
- ^ a b "Matt Lauria". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
- ^ Lauria, Matt [@mattlauria] (22 June 2015). "Matt Lauria Ⓥ on Twitter: "two other @Wikipedia errors worth noting: I'm NOT 5'7" - I'm a about 5'11". And I wasn't born in 1984. 1982, rather."" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2015 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Instagram". Instagram.com/mattlauria/. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (19 May 2021). "CBS Fall 2021-22 Schedule: 'NCIS', 'Bull' & 'S.W.A.T.' On the Move, 'FBI' Tuesday, Reality Expansion". Deadline.
- ^ a b Blank, Matthew (29 January 2013). "PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: "Friday Night Lights" and Really Really Star Matt Lauria". Playbill. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (17 August 2009). "Exclusive: 'Friday Night Lights' recruits 'Lipstick Jungle' hottie". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (10 May 2011). "Fox Cancels Human Target, Lie To Me, Chicago Code, Two Others". TVLine. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ^ Ben Lee (2 March 2012). "'Friday Night Lights' star Matt Lauria cast in ABC's 'Gilded Lilys'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (31 July 2012). "Exclusive: Parenthood Recruits from Friday Night Lights Again, Casts Matt Lauria as [Spoiler]". TVLine. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ^ Mitovich, Matt (7 October 2014). "Matt Lauria, Jonathan Tucker Preview DirecTV's MMA Drama Kingdom, Duke It Out Over Parenthood's Amber". TVLine. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (19 July 2017). "Matt Lauria and Cristina Rodlo Join Gina Rodriguez in 'Miss Bala' Remake (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
- ^ N'Duka, Amanda (8 January 2018). "Matt Lauria Joins New Line's 'Shaft' Sequel". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
- ^ "Friday Night Lights - Cast Bios: Matt Lauria". NBC. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Matt Lauria at IMDb