Matt Czuchry
Biography
Biography
A capable young actor with a knack for playing decidedly unlikable men, Matt Czuchry nonetheless found the charm and occasional pathos in his heels on "Gilmore Girls" (The WB, 2000-07) and "The Good Wife" (CBS, 2009-16). Blessed with a fair, blond handsomeness, Czuchry's most memorable characters started out as arrogant thorns in the sides of his co-stars, but eventually found their own moral core as the shows progressed. On occasion, Czuchry played more agreeable types, like his wayward taxi driver-in-training on "Hack" (CBS, 2002-04), but he excelled so much at being bad that casting agents made him the go-to for such types. In doing so, he developed a following with television viewers who devoured his every underhanded act with relish.
Born Matthew Charles Czuchry (pronounced "zoo-cree") on May 20, 1977 in Manchester, NH, he was the youngest of four children by Andrew Czuchry, a professor at East Tennessee State University, and his wife, Sandra. Czuchry and his siblings were raised in Kingsport, TN, where he discovered acting after performing as a California Raisin in a fourth-grade talent show. After graduating from high school, he attended the College of Charleston in South Carolina on a tennis scholarship, and became an NCAA ranked player in the Southern Conference. Though he majored in history and political science, Czuchry developed a fascination for acting after a single college theater class, and upon the advice of a professor, decided to move to Los Angeles and pursue it as a career.
He made his screen debut in a 2000 episode of "Freaks and Geeks" (NBC, 1999-2000), and followed it with regular appearances on youth-oriented series like "Young Americans" (The WB, 2000) and "7th Heaven" (The WB/The CW, 1996-2007), as well as minor and supporting roles in undistinguished features like "Slap Her.She's French" (2002). His breakthrough role came two years later with a recurring turn as Logan Huntzberger on "Gilmore Girls." The arrogant son of a newspaper magnate, Logan's initial role was foil to aspiring journalist Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel). Their combative sparks eventually blossomed into a romance that suffered ups and downs throughout the show's final seasons, but also gave Logan insight into his own shallow ways. Eventually, he proposed to Rory, but she turned him down in favor of a career. The popularity of "Gilmore Girls" gave Czuchry's career the boost it needed to earn him more substantive roles.
After shooting the unreleased pilot for a revived "Dark Shadows" (The WB, 2004), Czuchry moved to a recurring turn on the short-lived "Hack" as another child of privilege; this time a troubled young man who found a surrogate father in series star David Morse's Mike Olshansky. He followed this with another brief but notable stint on "Friday Night Lights" (NBC/101 Network, 2006-2011) as a Christian radio host who romanced Minka Kelly's cheerleader-turned-youth leader. In 2009, he earned his first lead in a motion picture in "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell," an adaptation of author Tucker Max's eponymous book. Czuchry played a version of Max himself, who nearly brought his friend Dan's impending wedding to an end through a series of raunchy, alcohol-fueled antics. Despite the book's popularity, the film was widely panned and performed poorly at the box office.
That same year, Czuchry became a series regular on "The Good Wife." His Cary Agos was an overly ambitious junior litigator who found himself pitted against Julianna Marguiles, a former attorney who returned to the law after struggling through her husband's high-profile extramarital affairs, for the sole permanent position at their law firm. Agos lost the position to Marguiles' Alicia Florrick, and left to join the state attorney's office. There, he lost some of his arrogance but none of his drive or legal skills, and his battles with Alicia were among the show's dramatic highlights. In 2010, Czuchry played the son of a Mormon wife accused of murder who worked to clear his mother's name in "The 19th Wife" (Lifetime).
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