Kevin McHale Biography

Kevin Michael McHale (born June 14, 1988) is an American actor, singer, dancer and radio personality. Formerly of the boy band NLT, McHale is known for his role as Artie Abrams in the Fox comedy-drama series Glee. Since 2014, he has hosted the British panel show Virtually Famous on E4. McHale is currently one of the four hosts of Sick of My Own Voice on Dash Radio.

Early life

McHale was born in Plano, Texas, the youngest of four children. McHale is descended from immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland. He grew up with Disney Channel actress and singer Demi Lovato. He attended Academy of the Canyons High School in the Santa Clarita Valley in California.

Career

Music

Before becoming an actor, McHale joined the American boy band NLT, which stands for "Not Like Them". They were discovered by Chris Stokes in 2006, who subsequently signed them to his label, The Ultimate Group. On March 13, 2007, they released their first single, "That Girl". The following month, they opened (with Chantelle Paige) for The Pussycat Dolls. The band also made a guest appearance in the film Bratz: The Movie as an auditioning band. While in the group, McHale, along with Timbaland and his bandmates, co-wrote the song "She Said, I Said (Time We Let Go)". On April 30, 2009, member Travis Michael Garland announced that NLT had split.

McHale, who has a record deal with Universal Music Group, writes original music in his spare time. In an interview with Mario Lopez, McHale stated that he plans to pursue solo music post-Glee. In 2015, McHale, Chris Moy, and Justin Thorne co-wrote the song "Heartless" which was featured on the latter's debut EP The Heartbreaker. That same year, he starred in the music video for Thorne's song "Summer Nights".

Acting

In 2007, McHale made a guest appearance on NBC's comedy series The Office in the season four episode "Launch Party", portraying a pizza delivery boy who is taken hostage by Michael Scott (Steve Carell). He then guest starred in three episodes of Nickelodeon's teen drama series Zoey 101 as Dooley Fibadoo. In 2008, McHale guest starred in two episodes of HBO's dark fantasy drama series True Blood, appearing as Neil Jones, a coroner's assistant.

In 2009, McHale landed his breakout role as Artie Abrams in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. His character, wheelchair-bound after a car accident, joins the McKinley High glee club in the first episode. He had his first solo performance on the show when he sang "Dancing with Myself" in the episode "Wheels". In the episode "Dream On", he danced in a fantasy sequence to "The Safety Dance", and sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me". In the second season episode "Britney/Brittany", he sang a solo (in a dream sequence) of "Stronger", after being anaesthetized for dental surgery. He also danced in a dream sequence alongside Harry Shum, Jr. to Michael Jackson's song "Scream" in the third season episode "Michael". McHale, along with the main cast of the series, was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series four times, winning in 2010.

In 2010, McHale appeared briefly in One Call's music video "Blacklight" alongside former NLT bandmate Justin Thorne, who was a member of One Call. In June 2011, McHale appeared in Katy Perry's music video for her song "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" as the character Everett McDonald. On July 22, 2012, McHale co-hosted the 2012 Teen Choice Awards with Demi Lovato. In January 2014, it was reported that McHale would host a comedy panel show, Virtually Famous, for the British digital television channel E4. The show also features comedian Seann Walsh and radio presenter Chris Stark as series regulars and team captains.

On February 24, 2014, it was announced that McHale had signed on to play a supporting role in the Kathy Bates and Dustin Hoffman led independent film Boychoir. McHale's character, Wooly, is a young music teacher who helps a troubled young boy at his school. In July 2014, it was announced that he and Aaron Tveit had signed on to star in the comedy film They Might Be Kennedys. McHale will play one of the leads, Teddy Mulligan. In April 2016, McHale joined the cast of Dustin Lance Black's drama miniseries When We Rise as AIDS activist Bobbi Campbell.

Personal life

In September 2012, McHale and his dog Sophie appeared in a PETA ad campaign, promoting the adoption of shelter animals. He resides in the Hollywood Hills in a $1.025 million mid-century home.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Ruthless	Neighbor Neil	Short film
2011	Glee: The 3D Concert Movie	Artie Abrams	Concert film
2015	Boychoir	Wooly

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	All That	Mark	Episode: "On-Air Dares"
2007	The Office	Delivery Kid	Episode: "Launch Party"
2007-08	Zoey 101	Dooley Fibadoo	3 episodes
2008	True Blood	Neil Jones	2 episodes
2009-15	Glee	Artie Abrams	113 episodes
2010	2010 Teen Choice Awards	Himself	Co-host
2011-12	The Glee Project	Himself	2 episodes
2012	2012 Teen Choice Awards	Himself	Host
2013	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Himself	Episode: "Kevin McHale"
	MasterChef	Himself	Episode: "Top 14 Compete"
2014-present	Virtually Famous	Himself	Host
2015	The Numberlys	Task Master (voice)	Television film
2016	We Bare Bears	Barry (voice)	Episode: "Icy Nights"
2017	When We Rise	Bobbi Campbell	Miniseries

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Notes
2007	"That Girl"	NLT	Himself
2009	"She Said, I Said (Time We Let Go)"		Himself
	"Karma"		Himself
2010	"Blacklight"	One Call
2011	"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"	Katy Perry	Everett McDonald
2014	"Somebody Loves You"	Betty Who
2015	"Summer Nights"	Justin Thorne	Himself

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Work	Result
2010	Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Breakout Star Male	Glee
	Teen Choice Award for Choice Music: Group
	Gold Derby Award for Ensemble of the Year
	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2011
2012
2013

Discography