Zach Gilford
Early life and education[edit]
Gilford is the son of Anne and Steve Gilford.[3] His mother is Lutheran, and his father is Jewish.[4] He graduated from Evanston Township High School and Northwestern University.[5][6] He worked as a trip leader for Adventures Cross-Country[7] and has led wilderness and adventure trips for teenagers to Alaska, British Columbia, California, Hawaii, and the South Pacific. Gilford also worked as a staff member for YMCA Camp Echo in Fremont, Michigan.
Career[edit]
In 2005, he appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.[8] In 2006, Gilford landed a regular role in Friday Night Lights, in which he played the role of Matt Saracen in the main cast, from Season 1 to Season 3.[9] In 2009, Gilford was switched to the recurring cast in Seasons 4 and 5. That year, he also made his feature film debut, co-starring in The Last Winter (2006).[10] He had a cameo in the film Rise: Blood Hunter and guest starred in an episode of Grey's Anatomy.[11]
In 2009, he co-starred as Adam Davies in the romantic comedy Post Grad opposite Alexis Bledel.[12] He also starred as Johnny Drake in the romantic drama Dare opposite Emmy Rossum.[13] In 2010, he starred as Gus in the indie drama film The River Why alongside Amber Heard.[14] He had a cameo in the movie Super.
In 2010, he joined the cast of ABC's medical drama Off The Map[15] which premiered in January 2011 but was cancelled after 13 episodes. In 2011, he appeared in Taylor Swift's music video for "Ours", in which he played her love interest.[16] He played the role of Evan in the drama film Answers to Nothing.[17] In 2012, he starred as Seth in the indie drama film In Our Nature alongside Jena Malone.[18]
In 2012, he was cast in another medical drama, The Mob Doctor, on Fox, opposite Jordana Spiro; however this was also cancelled after 13 episodes.[19] In January 2013, he appeared with Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Last Stand.[20] He played the role of Matthew Iris in the film Crazy Kind of Love.[21]
He co-starred alongside Allison Miller in the horror film Devil's Due (2014), set in New Orleans and the Dominican Republic, and released on January 17, 2014.[22] He also co-starred in the film sequel The Purge: Anarchy, released on July 18, 2014.[23] He guest starred in shows such as Drunk History, Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories and Kingdom.[24] In 2016, he starred as Danny Warren in the ABC drama series The Family.[25] In 2017, Gilford starred as Conner Hooks in the YouTube Red futuristic web series Lifeline.[26]
Since 2018, Gilford has had a recurring role as Gregg in the NBC series Good Girls.[27] In 2019, Gilford was cast as Ben Walker in the Bad Boys spinoff drama L.A.'s Finest.[28] Zach also held a leading role in Midnight Mass released in 2021. In 2022, Gilford was cast in a recurring role as Elias Voit, the series recurring unsub in Criminal Minds: Evolution.[29] His real life spouse Kiele Sanchez joins the series as his wife Sydney Voit.[30]
Personal life[edit]
In the spring of 2010, Gilford began dating actress Kiele Sanchez, whom he met on the set of the television pilot for the TV movie Matadors.[31] The couple became engaged in November 2011,[32] and married on December 29, 2012.[33][34] The couple also co-starred in The Purge: Anarchy. In August 2015, Sanchez announced that she and Gilford were expecting a son in November.[35] In October 2015, they announced that Sanchez had suffered a late-term miscarriage.[36] The couple have one daughter, born in November 2017 through surrogacy.[37]