Zach Roerig

Biography:

Roerig was born in Montpelier, Ohio, to Andrea and Daniel Roerig, and has a younger sister born in 1989. He studied at the Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in Cleveland and later took part in the International Modeling and Talent Association, where he signed with a talent manager. He graduated from Montpelier High School, where he was active in both football and wrestling. While growing up, he worked alongside his father and grandfather at Fackler Monuments, a business that produces gravestones. After finishing high school, Roerig relocated to New York City to pursue acting professionally.

From January 18, 2005, to May 2, 2007, Roerig portrayed Casey Hughes on As the World Turns. His character was the son of long-running characters Tom and Margo Hughes and became part of a well-liked on-screen pairing during his time on the show. After leaving the series, he briefly appeared on One Life to Live as Hunter Atwood before departing later that year. He also made several appearances on Friday Night Lights, playing the character Cash, a cowboy.

In March 2009, Roerig was cast as Matt Donovan in The CW’s supernatural drama The Vampire Diaries, based on the novels by L. J. Smith. He remained on the series for its entire eight-season run, which concluded in 2017, and later made guest appearances on its spin-offs The Originals and Legacies.

In 2017, Roerig appeared as Pulse (Augustus) in the first season of Fox’s superhero series The Gifted, a spin-off connected to the X-Men film franchise. That same year, he co-starred in the third installment of The Ring horror series and in the comedy-drama The Year of Spectacular Men. He later played Ray Mott, the younger version of a character portrayed by Ed Harris, in the Vietnam War drama The Last Full Measure, released in January 2020. He also starred in the USA Network drama pilot Dare Me, which was picked up as a full series in 2019 and is based on Megan Abbott’s novel.

Roerig has also joined the cast of the upcoming Netflix drama Boots, which follows a gay teenager who enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps and is scheduled to premiere on October 9, 2025.

He is the father of a daughter born in January 2011. In June 2013, Roerig filed court documents in Georgia seeking full custody of his daughter after her mother, his former partner Alana Turner, was sentenced to federal prison.

On May 24, 2020, Roerig was arrested in Montpelier, Ohio, on charges of driving under the influence and was arraigned the following month. In April 2025, he publicly confirmed that he was in a relationship with his former The Vampire Diaries co-star Arielle Kebbel.