Grant Gustin revealed that his love for dancing and acting at a young age led him to where he is today.
"I started tap dancing when I was 8 years old, because of "Singin' in the Rain," the 24-year-old actor told Inquirer, referring to the 1952 musical comedy film.
"I reenacted movies with my siblings," he added. "I would put "Grease" on, and I would make my sister (Gracie) be Sandy and make my brother (Tyler) be Kenickie. Eventually, I started doing community theater."
He then shared that it was during his second year in high school when he first realized that acting was the career he wanted to pursue. "In my sophomore year in high school, I started going to New York and watching shows. I started to realize it was a career, and I could do it for the rest of my life," he said.
After graduating from Granby High School in 2008, Gustin attended the BFA Music Theatre Program at Elon University in North Carolina for two years, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
"At Elon University in North Carolina, I auditioned for a touring production of 'West Side Story,'" he said. "I got the role [of Baby John], and my mom let me leave school for it. I did that for a year, then I met my manager. I got 'Glee' and came out to Los Angeles."
Gustin debuted on the Fox musical dramedy as Sebastian Smythe, an openly gay member of the Dalton Academy Warblers, on Nov. 8, 2011. And though he only appeared in seven episodes, the actor said that his "Glee" stint helped him prepare for portraying Barry Allen aka the fastest man alive on "The Flash."
"I think my experience on' Glee' was crucial," he told Toronto Sun. "Not knowing what to expect there, and how I came into that show, where I was trying to split up one of the favorite couples (Kurt and Blaine, played by Chris Colfer and Darren Criss, respectively)."
"I think it was the best first job I could have had, for so many reasons," he said. "I'm actually really glad I had that experience before 'The Flash.'
"I think 'Glee' also helped to humble me a little bit," he added. "[Because] to be such a small part of something that was such a grand-scale show, it kind of humbled me going forward with everything."
As to how his character's ultra fast speed was achieved on the "Arrow" spinoff, Gustin told Inquirer: "It's a combination of things. They'll put me on a treadmill in front of a green screen, hooked up to a harness. I'll run, and they'll blow wind on me and make it look like I'm going real fast."
"They took around 16,000 pictures of my face and body so they could create a digital double of my body," he added. "So, it will be me running, then it transitions to the digi-double, and they morph all that together to make it look like I'm the fastest man alive!"
