Matthew Davis

Biography:

Matthew Wadsworth Davis, born on May 8, 1978, is an American actor best recognized for portraying Warner Huntington III in Legally Blonde, Adam Hillman in the ABC comedy-drama What About Brian (2006–2007), and Alaric Saltzman in The CW’s fantasy series The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017) and its spin-off Legacies (2018–2022).

He also starred as Jeff Sefton in The CW’s short-lived mystery-horror series Cult and appeared in a recurring role as CSI Sean Yeager on CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Davis was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and completed his schooling at Woods Cross High School before attending the University of Utah.

His film career began in 2000 with a role as Private Jim Paxton in the Vietnam War drama Tigerland, acting opposite Colin Farrell. That same year, he played dual characters Travis and Trevor Stark in the second installment of the Urban Legend film series. In 2001, he gained widespread attention starring alongside Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair in the hit comedy Legally Blonde as Warner Huntington III. The film achieved strong box-office success, earning over $96 million in North America and more than $141 million worldwide. Davis also appeared that year in Michael Bay’s war film Pearl Harbor as Second Lieutenant Joe McKinnon. In 2002, he took on the role of Matt Tollman in the surfing drama Blue Crush.

He went on to appear in several films including Seeing Other People (2004), Heights (2004), Into the Sun (2005), BloodRayne (2005), and Bottoms Up (2006). In 2006, he began starring in What About Brian, playing Adam Hillman, a lawyer and close friend of the show’s main character. The series ran for two seasons before concluding in 2007.

In 2009, Davis joined The Vampire Diaries as Alaric Saltzman, a role that became one of his most notable performances. He later appeared in the 2010 comedy Finding Bliss as Jeff Drake, an award-winning adult film director. In 2012, he was cast as journalist blogger Jeff Sefton in The CW psychological thriller Cult. From 2013 to 2014, he held a recurring role in the fourteenth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portraying swing-shift CSI Sean Yeager across multiple episodes. He later returned to The Vampire Diaries in its sixth season as a series regular.

From 2018 to 2022, Davis reprised his role as Alaric Saltzman in Legacies, a spin-off of The Originals. He also starred opposite Jill Wagner in the 2019 Hallmark holiday film Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses, playing the character Nick Sinclair.

In April 2024, it was announced that Davis would join the cast of the NBC drama series Grosse Pointe Garden Society.

Davis married actress Kiley Casciano on December 23, 2018. The couple welcomed two daughters, born in 2020 and 2022. Their marriage ended in February 2024, and they share joint custody of their children.

Regarding his political beliefs, Davis has stated that he identifies as socially libertarian and fiscally conservative.

In April 2020, the hashtag #matthewdavisisoverparty trended on Twitter following several controversial social media posts by Davis that some fans criticized as racist and xenophobic. In response, Davis publicly denied the accusations, stating that he was not racist, bigoted, xenophobic, transphobic, homophobic, or a white supremacist, and described the allegations as false and defamatory.