The flash
he isn’t a bird. he isn’t a plane. he’s barry allen, better known to superhero fans as the flash. the flash (2014) is a spin-off of arrow (2012-current) and sees barry get superhero speed… which isn’t that far from reality, as actor grant gustin, who plays barry, was a top runner while at granby high school in norfolk, virginia. the 24-year-old plays flash, but his favourite superhero is superman. “i’ve always been a fan of christopher reeve in the superman movies (19781987),” he says. grant’s also got a collection of superman pjs, figures and mugs. grant also has a superman tattoo on his left forearm. it’s written in his mom tina’s handwriting (he’s a selfconfessed mommy’s boy) and it reads “superman… i love him”. his first love was never acting but rather dancing. “i started tap dancing when i was eight and toured with an all-boys elvis tap group that performed elvis presley songs,” he says. grant left his music theatre studies at elon university in north carolina to play baby john in the broadway revival tour of west side story in 2010. he auditioned for a role on glee (2009-current) and on his last night as baby john, he got the call to say that he bagged the role of sebastian smythe. the actor met his girlfriend hannah douglass on the set of glee. she had a small role as a cheerleader at mckinley high school and in real life, she was also a back-up dancer for the beyoncé and jay z on the run tour earlier this year. although grant loves animals, he’s allergic to cats. he has two adopted maltese poodles named nora and jett rink. “jett is the character james dean played in the 1965 movie giant. i’m such a fan of james,” he explains.