# Garrett Clayton

Gary Michael "Garrett" Clayton (born March 19, 1991) is an American actor and singer. He is known for portraying Tanner in the 2013 Disney Channel movie Teen Beach Movie and its 2015 sequel Teen Beach 2, and other film, television, and stage roles.

## Life and career

Gary Michael Clayton was born March 19, 1991, in Dearborn, Michigan. He has Lebanese heritage. He began acting at Crestwood High School in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, performing in many of the drama club's productions. He later attended Oakland University, where he studied musical theater.
After being told by casting directors that his name "sounded too old", he adopted the stage name of Garrett Clayton.
In 2010, he made appearances on Days of Our Lives and Shake It Up. In December 2012, he appeared in the Lifetime movie Holiday Spin, co-starring Ralph Macchio, as Blake, a rebellious teen forced to live with his father after his mother is killed in a car accident.
He was cast in 2013 in the role of Tanner in Disney's musical Teen Beach Movie, playing a cool but vacuous surfer who is "a mix between Frankie Avalon and Link from Hairspray". The film was directed by Jeffrey Hornaday and was filmed in Puerto Rico and was first broadcast in July 2013. It co-stars Ross Lynch, Maia Mitchell, and Grace Phipps.
He had a recurring role in the latter half of the first season of The Fosters. In 2016, he portrayed gay porn star Brent Corrigan in the film King Cobra, with James Franco and Christian Slater, and played the role of Link Larkin in the NBC television broadcast of Hairspray Live! He starred as Brady Mannion in the horror-thriller film Don't Hang Up, which was released in theaters in February 2017. Also in 2017, Clayton appeared on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse as Luke alongside Al Pacino and Judith Light in a six-week run of Dotson Rader's play God Looked Away, about the later life of Tennessee Williams.

## Personal life

In 2018, Clayton revealed that he was gay and that he had been in a long-term relationship with boyfriend Blake Knight since 2011.
In January 2019, Clayton announced that he and Knight had become engaged a year prior. In September 2021, the couple married at an outdoor, garden party themed wedding in Los Angeles, which was officiated by Clayton's King Cobra co-star Alicia Silverstone.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | The Tower | Zombie | |
| 2009 | Magic Mentah | Sander | |
| 2010 | Virginia | Mormon boy #2 | |
| 2011 | Love, Gloria | Tad | |
| 2012 | The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure | Diner dancer | |
| 2016 | Welcome to Willits | Zack | |
| 2016 | Don't Hang Up | Brady Mannion | |
| 2016 | King Cobra | Brent Corrigan | |
| 2016 | Alien Hunter | Zack | |
| 2018 | Between Worlds | Mike | |
| 2018 | The Last Breakfast Club | Brian | |
| 2018 | Reach | Steven | |
| 2019 | Peel | Chad | |
| 2021 | The Adventures of Bunny Bravo | Papaya | |
| 2023 | The Mattachine Family | Jake | |
| TBA | Our Man | Matthew | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Days of Our Lives | Eli | Episode: "29 April 2010" |
| 2010 | Shake It Up | Dylan | Episode: "Party It Up" |
| 2012 | Holiday Spin | Blake | Television film |
| 2013 | The Client List | Billy | Episode: "What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am" |
| 2013 | Jessie | Earl | Episode: "The Blind Date, the Cheapskate, and the Primate" |
| 2013 | Teen Beach Movie | Tanner | Television film |
| 2014; 2016 | The Fosters | Chase | Recurring role (season 1); guest role (season 3; episode: "The Show") |
| 2015 | 100 Things to Do Before High School | Stephen Powers | Episode: "Survive the Virus Attack Trapped in the Last Home Base Station on Earth Thing" |
| 2015 | Teen Beach 2 | Tanner | Television film |
| 2016 | The Real O'Neals | Ricky | Episode: "The Real Lent" |
| 2016 | Hairspray Live! | Link Larkin | Television special |
| 2020 | World's Funniest Animals | Guest | 1 episode |
| 2022 | The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder | Dustan Lumberlake | 3 episodes |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2014–2015; 2017 | Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight | Prince Phillip |
| 2015 | Cruel Intentions: The Musical | Greg |
| 2017 | God Looked Away | Luke |
| 2019, 2022 | It: A Musical Parody | Pennywise |
| 2023 | The Rocky Horror Show | Dr. Frank N. Furter |

## Footnotes

* ↑ "When I read the script for REACH, I immediately knew it was a film I had to be a part of. I have personally dealt with suicide within my own family, intense bullying in high school, and – on top of it all – myself and the man I've been in a relationship with for a long time (@hrhblakeknight) have both experienced shootings within our hometown school systems, and have witnessed the heartache that takes place in affected communities after such tragic events." — Garrett Clayton