Early life

Wittrock was born in Lenox, Massachusetts, the son of Kate Claire Crowley, a professor of occupational therapy at the University of Southern California, and Peter L. Wittrock, Sr., an actor. He has a brother named Dylan.

As a child, he grew up at the Shakespeare & Company theatre, where his father worked, and would often act as a pageboy or messenger. As a teenager, he attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts where he would act, make films, and be a part of movement classes for actors. After graduating from high school, he got accepted into The Juilliard School but turned them down, hoping to get work in Los Angeles. He acted in some episodes for television but would often face rejection. Wittrock auditioned for Juilliard the next year and was accepted again. He attended the school, where he was a member of the Drama Division's Group 37 (2004-2008). He was an active participant in the drama department and starred in several theatrical productions. He also won the Juilliard Journal Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Juilliard’s newspaper, The Juilliard Journal, and was the recipient of the Drama Division's Stephanie Palmer McClelland Scholarship. He graduated from Juilliard with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2008.

Career

2003-10: Career beginnings

At the end of high school, he appeared in guest stints on the police procedural series Cold Case and medical drama ER. He also made an appearance on CSI: Miami and in the Disney Channel Original Movie Halloweentown High (2004) during his time at drama school. After graduating from Juilliard, he portrayed Romeo in Washington, D.C.'s regional theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Romeo and Juliet as well as playing the role of Eugene Marchbanks in the 2008 production of Candida at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. He later portrayed the role of Damon Miller in the long-running series All My Children (2009-11), portrayed Troilus in the 2009 Off-Broadway play The Age of Iron and appeared in the teen drama film Twelve (2010).

2011-13: Stage roles

In 2011, Wittrock starred in the Off-Broadway play The Illusion by famous playwright Tony Kushner. Director Mike Nichols came to see the play and later told Wittrock to audition for producer Scott Rudin for their upcoming revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. He got the part of Harold "Happy" Loman and made his Broadway debut in 2012 opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Nichols-directed play won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play and Wittrock won a Theatre World Award and the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Male Performer. Later that year, he starred in a production of The Deep Blue at the Williamstown Theatre Festival directed by Bob Balaban. He also appeared on series such as Harry's Law, Criminal Minds and played the role of gigolo Chance Wayne in the David Cromer-directed production of Tennessee Williams' play Sweet Bird of Youth at The Goodman Theatre

In 2013, he starred in the play adaptation of the film The Guardsman at The Kennedy Center, directed by Gregory Mosher. He also guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and on several episodes of the series Masters of Sex.

2014-present: American Horror Story and breakthrough

In 2014, Wittrock first collaborated with director Ryan Murphy in the HBO television film The Normal Heart, based on the play of the same name. He also appeared in the films Winter's Tale and director Darren Aronofsky's Noah, playing a young Tubal-cain. He next collaborated with Murphy playing the integral part of Dandy Mott on American Horror Story: Freak Show, the fourth season of the FX anthology series American Horror Story. For his performance, Wittrock received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. Wittrock rounded out 2014 by starring as World War II Air Force bombardier Francis "Mac" McNamara in Angelina Jolie's biographical war drama film Unbroken, which revolves around the life of USA Olympian and athlete Louis "Louie" Zamperini.

In 2015, Wittrock marked his third collaboration with Murphy as model Tristan Duffy and actor Rudolph Valentino in the fifth installment of American Horror Story, subtitled Hotel. Also in 2015, he co-starred in Adam McKay's drama film The Big Short. He will appear in the upcoming musical La La Land, directed by Damien Chazelle.

Personal life

On October 18, 2014, Wittrock married his longtime girlfriend and fellow Juilliard graduate Sarah Roberts in a private ceremony.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Halloweentown High	Cody
2010	Twelve	Warren
2014	The Normal Heart	Albert	Television film
2014	Winter's Tale	Gabriel
2014	Noah	Young Tubal-cain
2014	Unbroken	Francis "Mac" McNamara
2015	My All American	Freddie Steinmark
2015	The Submarine Kid	Spencer Koll
2015	The Big Short	Jamie Shipley
2016	La La Land	Greg	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Cold Case	Young Eric Whitley	Episode: "Look Again"
2003	ER	Thomas Yoder	Episode: "Missing"
2004	CSI: Miami	Chad Van Horn	Episode: "Murder in a Flash"
2009-2011	All My Children	Damon Miller	112 episodes
2011	Torchwood: Miracle Day	Danny	Episode: "Rendition"
2012	Harry's Law	Jimmy Cormack	Episode: "New Kidney on the Block"
2012	Criminal Minds	Harvey Morell	Episode: "True Genius"
2013	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Cameron Tyler	Episode: "Wonderland Story"
2013	Masters of Sex	Dale	4 episodes
2014-2015	American Horror Story: Freak Show	Dandy Mott	12 episodes
2015	Deadbeat	Max	Episode: "The Polaroid Flasher"
2015-2016	American Horror Story: Hotel	Tristan Duffy	6 episodes
		Rudolph Valentino	3 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Candida	Eugene Marchbanks	Berkshire Theatre Festival
2008	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo	Shakespeare Theatre Company
2009	The Age of Iron	Troilus	Classic Stage Company
2011	The Illusion	Calisto Clindor Theogenes	Signature Theatre Company
2012	Death of a Salesman	Harold "Happy" Loman	Ethel Barrymore Theatre
2012	The Deep Blue	Jamie	Williamstown Theatre Festival
2012	Sweet Bird of Youth	Chance Wayne	The Goodman Theatre
2013	The Guardsman	The Actor	The Kennedy Center

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
2012	Theatre World Awards	Theatre World Award	Death of a Salesman	Won
	Clarence Derwent Awards	Most Promising Male Performer		Won
2015	Dorian Awards	We're Wilde About You Rising Star Award	Himself	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries	American Horror Story: Freak Show	Nominated
	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Favorite Supporting Actor on Television		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie		Nominated
2016	Critics' Choice Movie Awards	Best Acting Ensemble	The Big Short	Nominated
	National Board of Review Awards	Best Ensemble		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture		Nominated
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble		Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]