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 fi ...

comedy-drama series '' Orange Is the New Black'' and Asher Millstone on the ABC 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 ...

''.

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 in New York, and then graduated from Emerson College in

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'', 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 ...

Acting

On television, McGorry made his debut in 2011 on the ABC daytime soap opera '' One Life to Live''. He later appeared in guest-starring roles on '' Person of Interest'', ''

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

dramedy series '' Orange Is the New Black'' 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''. 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 Netfli ...

''.

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" ...

, 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 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