Taylor Kinney Biography

Taylor Jacks Kinney (born July 15, 1981) is an American actor and model. He is best known for his roles as U.S. Navy SEAL Jared in Zero Dark Thirty and Lieutenant Kelly Severide in Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.

Early life and education

Kinney was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Pamela Heisler, who worked as a dental hygienist, and father Daniel Kinney, a banker. Kinney was raised in Neffsville, Pennsylvania by his mother after his parents divorced. Kinney had three brothers: Adam, Ryan, and Trent. Ryan died prior to September 7, 2008.

In 2000, he graduated from Lancaster Mennonite School. Kinney studied Business Management at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. He left college during his junior year and moved to Hawaii, where he worked as a carpenter before landing his first major role on the short-lived American telenovela "Fashion House" (MyNetworkTV, 2006) opposite Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild.

Career

Kinney played Luke Gianni on the TV series Fashion House on MyNetworkTV, and also played Glenn Morrison on Trauma on NBC.

Kinney bounced back in a big way with a recurring role on the hit supernatural drama "The Vampire Diaries," joining the cast during season two as Mason Lockwood, a former resident of Mystic Falls who returns home after being gone for seven years to deal with his brother's death. It was later revealed that Mason was a werewolf with superhuman strength. The character was eventually killed by resident bad boy vamp, Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), but briefly returned for the third season as a ghost out for redemption. His appearance on "The Vampire Diaries" led to a number of opportunities for the handsome and charming actor, including a guest role on the dysfunctional family series "Shameless" (Showtime, 2011- ) as a love interest for Emmy Rossum's misunderstood Fiona. In real life, Kinney was linked to pop star Lady Gaga, whom he reportedly began dating in 2011 after meeting on the set of the "You and I" music video. After several years as a supporting player, Kinney landed a starring role in 2012 on "Chicago Fire," a drama series that followed the lives of Windy City firefighters and paramedics. Kinney played Lieutenant Kelly Severide, a strong and flirtatious firefighter opposite Jesse Spencer's more reserved and commanding Lieutenant Matthew Casey. That same year, Kinney also appeared on the big screen in Kathryn Bigelow's acclaimed war drama "Zero Dark Thirty" as one of the Navy SEALS who took down Osama bin Laden.

In 2011, Kinney was featured in Lady Gaga's music video for the song "You and I". In 2012, he guest starred on Shameless as Craig, the former high school crush of the lead character Fiona (played by Emmy Rossum).

He stars in the TV series Chicago Fire as Lieutenant Kelly Severide on Rescue Squad 3 opposite former House star Jesse Spencer.

Personal life

Since July 2011, Kinney has been dating Lady Gaga. They first met while working on the music video for her song "You and I" and began dating soon afterwards.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	White Air	Frank
2007	Furnace (film)	Bill Jamison
2010	Scorpio Men on Prozac	May's Lover
2011	Prodigal	Brad Searcy	Short film
2012	Least Among Saints	Jesse
2012	Stars in Shorts	Brad Searcy
2012	Zero Dark Thirty	Jared
2014	The Other Woman	Phil
2015	Rock the Kasbah		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Fashion House	Luke Gianni	Main Cast 35 episodes
2007	What About Brian	Jared	1 episode: "What About Secret Lovers..."
2008	Bones	Jimmy Fields	1 episode: "Player Under Pressure"
2009-2010	Trauma	Glenn Morrison	Main Cast 19 episodes
2010-2011	'	Mason Lockwood	Recurring (Seasons 2-3) 9 episodes
2011	A Mann's World	France	Television film
2011	Five	Tommy	Television film
2011	CSI: NY	Jason Locke	1 episode: "Identity Crisis"
2011	Rizzoli & Isles	Jesse Wade	1 episode: "Don't Hate the Player"
2012	Dating Rules from My Future Self	Dave	Main Cast
2012	Shameless	Craig Heisner	2 episodes: "I'll Light a Candle for You Every Day", "A Beautiful Mess"
2012	Castle	Darren Thomas	1 episode: "Once Upon a Crime"
2012	Breakout Kings	Perry	1 episode: "SEALd Fate"
2012-present	Chicago Fire	Lieutenant Kelly Severide	Main Role
2014	Chicago PD	Lieutenant Kelly Severide	Recurring Role

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Yo and I	Love Interest