Matthew Wadsworth Davis (born May 8, 1978) is an American actor. He is mostly known for his roles as Warner Huntington III in ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, based on Amanda Brown's novel. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victo ...

'', Adam Hillman on 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 ...

comedy-drama ''

What About Brian ''What About Brian?'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Dana Stevens and co-produced by J. J. Abrams' company Bad Robot. The series premiered on April 16, 2006, on ABC, as a mid-season replacement and concluded on March ...

'' (2006–2007) and Alaric Saltzman on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

fantasy drama ''

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 ...

'' (2009–2017) as well as the spin-off series ''

Legacies Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy' ...

'' (2018–2022). Davis starred on the short-lived CW mystery and horror drama ''

Cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

'' as Jeff Sefton, and had a recurring role on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

police drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' as Sean Yeager.

Early life

Davis was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, Utah. He attended Woods Cross High School and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Career

In 2000, Davis was cast in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

film, ''

Tigerland ''Tigerland'' is a 2000 American war drama film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Colin Farrell. It takes place in a training camp for soldiers to be sent to the Vietnam War. ''Tigerland'' was the name of a U.S. Army training camp during ...

'' as Private Jim Paxton opposite

Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A Leading actor, leading man in blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various List of awards and nominations received by Col ...

and in a dual role as Travis / Trevor Stark in the second installment of '' Urban Legend film series''. The following year, Davis co-starred with

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

and

Selma Blair Selma Blair (born Selma Blair Beitner; June 23, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' Cruel Intentions'', '' Legally Blonde'', '' The Sweetest Thing'', and the ''Hellboy'' franchise. Blair, born in Southfield, Michigan ...

in the comedy ''

'' (2001), as Witherspoon's love interest Warner Huntington III. The film was a commercial success and garnered generally positive reviews from critics, grossing over $96.5 million in North America and $141.7 million worldwide. He also appeared in

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget high-concept action films with fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of special eff ...

's war drama, ''

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

'' as Second Lieutenant Joe McKinnon in 2001. Davis then played the role of Matt Tollman in the 2002 surfing movie ''

Blue Crush ''Blue Crush'' is a 2002 American sports film directed by John Stockwell, written by Stockwell and Lizzy Weiss, and based on Susan Orlean's 1998 '' Outside'' magazine article "Life's Swell". It stars Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, San ...

''. He continued with appearances in films such as '' Seeing Other People'' (2004), '' Heights'' (2004), '' Into the Sun'' (2005), ''

BloodRayne ''BloodRayne'' is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series originally developed by Terminal Reality and published by Majesco Entertainment which began with the game of the same name in 2002. The franchise ...

'' (2005) and '' Bottoms Up'' (2006). That same year he began starring in the

comedy drama television series ''

What about Brian ''What About Brian?'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Dana Stevens and co-produced by J. J. Abrams' company Bad Robot. The series premiered on April 16, 2006, on ABC, as a mid-season replacement and concluded on March ...

'' as Adam Hillman, a lawyer and the best friend of the titular character. He was in the show for two seasons until it ended in 2007. Davis starred in The CW fantasy drama ''The Vampire Diaries'', as Alaric Saltzman since 2009. He also played the role of Jeff Drake, an award-winning director of adult films in the comedy film ''

Finding Bliss ''Finding Bliss'' is a 2009 romantic comedy film written and directed by filmmaker Julie Davis (''Amy's Orgasm''). ''Finding Bliss'' explores the pornographic film industry through the eyes of an idealistic 24-year-old film school grad, Jody Balaba ...

'' in June 2010. In April 2012, Davis was cast as Jeff Sefton, a journalist blogger on the short-lived CW psychological thriller series ''

''. He also had a recurring role in the CBS police drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' from 2013 to 2014 in the 14th season, as swing shift CSI Sean Yeager. He appeared in the sixth episode titled "Passed Pawns", the eighth episode titled "Helpless", and the 13th episode titled "Boston Brakes". He later returned to the hit The CW show ''The Vampire Diaries'' for its sixth season as Alaric Saltzman once again as a series regular. Davis starred in The CW series ''

'', a spin-off of '' The Originals'', from 2018 to 2022 where he reprised his role as Alaric Saltzman. He also starred as Nick Sinclair in the 2019

Hallmark A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...

Christmas film, ''Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses'' alongside

Jill Wagner Jill Suzanne Wagner (born January 13, 1979) is an American actress and television personality. She was the on-field host for the ABC game show '' Wipeout'' from 2008 to 2011 and again from 2013 to 2014, briefly leaving during the fifth season i ...

. In April 2024, it was announced that Davis would star in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

drama series ''

Grosse Pointe Garden Society {{Infobox television , genre = Drama , creator = Jenna Bans&Bill Krebs , starring = {{Plainlist, * Melissa Fumero * Aja Naomi King * Ben Rappaport * AnnaSophia Robb * Matthew Davis * Alexander Hodge * ...

''.

Personal life

Davis was married to actress Kiley Casciano on December 23, 2018, and their two daughters were born in 2020 and 2022, respectively. The couple's marriage ended in February 2024. Davis and Casciano share joint custody of their daughters. In regards to his political views, Davis has publicly described himself as a social libertarian and a

fiscal conservative In American political theory, fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, an ...

. In April 2020, the headline #matthewdavisisoverparty trended on Twitter following a series of controversial posts by Davis that many fans had deemed racist and xenophobic. In response, he tweeted: "What I am NOT: is a racist, bigot, xenophobic, transphobic, homophobic,

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

, pedophile. All vile names I’ve been called by those on the Tolerant Left. Anyone who knows me knows these slanderous and despicable accusations are flagrantly untrue."

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Matthew 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Living people University of Utah alumni Male actors from Salt Lake City Fellows of the American Physical Society 1978 births