Tom Everett Scott

Tom Everett Scott is an American actor born on September 7, 1970, in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to Cynthia "Cindy" Scott, an insurance sales representative, and William Joseph Scott, a civil engineer who died in 2007. He attended Syracuse University, where he began as a communications major before switching to drama, graduating in 1992. He later married Jenni Gallagher, whom he met at Syracuse, on December 13, 1997; the couple has two children.

Scott's early professional work included an episode of Law & Order and a Crest toothpaste commercial in 1993, followed by a recurring role as Matthew on the television sitcom Grace Under Fire, in which he played the title character's son who had been placed for adoption. His film breakthrough came in 1996 when he was cast as drummer Guy Patterson in That Thing You Do!, directed by Tom Hanks. Scott had nearly been passed over due to his physical resemblance to Hanks, but Hanks's wife, Rita Wilson, advocated for his casting. He went on to lead An American Werewolf in Paris and Dead Man on Campus, co-starred with Kate Capshaw and Tom Selleck in The Love Letter, and appeared in the cult film Boiler Room. He also played Bert Cates opposite George C. Scott and Jack Lemmon in the 1999 film Inherit the Wind.

On television, Scott co-starred in the series Philly alongside Kim Delaney, playing a lawyer in a show that earned critical praise but was cancelled after one season due to low ratings. He held recurring roles on ER in 2002 and 2003, and later appeared in four episodes of Law & Order in 2009 as the fictional Governor of New York, Don Shalvoy. He played Detective Russell Clarke in the first season of Southland, which moved from NBC to TNT, and continued in a recurring capacity through subsequent seasons. Additional television credits include Sam Landon in Beauty and the Beast, Kevin Duval in Scream, Charles Garnett in Z Nation, William in Reign, Eric Wyczenski in ER, Mr. Down in 13 Reasons Why, and Adam Fisher in The Summer I Turned Pretty. He also starred as Jack Cutting in the ABC series Cashmere Mafia and appeared for two seasons on the truTV sitcom I'm Sorry alongside Andrea Savage.

Scott's film work continued with supporting roles in Race to Witch Mountain, Tanner Hall, Mars Needs Moms, Parental Guidance, Enemies Closer, Sister Cities, and Danger One, in which he portrayed a paramedic. He appeared in La La Land in 2016, co-starred in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul in 2017, and had a role in the film Clouds. He also made an uncredited cameo in Van Wilder and appeared in the comedy Because I Said So alongside Mandy Moore.

In 2006, Scott made his Broadway debut in The Little Dog Laughed, written by Douglas Carter Beane, in which he played Mitchell Green, a closeted film star.