Damon J. Gillespie

From a young age growing up in Tennessee, Damon J. Gillespie had the goal of becoming a performer, whether it was through dance, acting, or music. He started acting in community theater in his early teens, then soon went to a performing arts high school, following it all up with a scholarship to the musical theater program at Chicago's Roosevelt University. While in school, Gillespie made his Broadway debut in the 2012 revival of "Newsies" playing Buttons. He followed that up with an ensemble role in "Disney's Aladdin" on Broadway.

After that, he started to turn towards the screen, first appearing on a sketch making use of his boy band-esque skills and looks on the Emmy-winning comedy show "Inside Amy Schumer" (Comedy Central 2013- ). His next screen role was the part of football player-turned-theatre star Robbie Thorne in the musical drama "Rise" (NBC 2018- ) from Jason Katims.