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

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

comedy-drama series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama 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 Women's Pr ...

'' and Asher Millstone in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

legal thriller series ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal drama thriller television series that premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk and pro ...

''.

Early life and education

McGorry was born and raised in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York, 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 or "LaG", is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln ...

in New York, and then graduated from

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 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 healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

, fitness writer for ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' was an American 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 Wenner of ...

'', and competitive

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...

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 American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

''. 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 created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...

'', and ''

Royal Pains ''Royal Pains'' is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on the USA Network from 2009 to 2016. The series is based in part on contemporary concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies and follows Hank Lawson, ...

'' 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 producer and screenwriter, and founder of the production company Shondaland. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Rhimes became known ...

' 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 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 on Janua ...

''.

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 ...

and

polyamorous Polyamory () is the practice of, or the desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. Some people who identify as polyamorous believe in consensual non-mono ...

, 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 ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and is interested in various social issues. In 2024, McGorry revealed that he was diagnosed with

long COVID Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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