Matthew Mackendree Lanter was born on April 1, 1983, in Massillon, Stark County, Ohio, to Jana Kay Wincek and Joseph Hayes Lanter. He has a sister, Kara. When he was eight years old, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where his father's family is from. His recent ancestry includes Polish, English, Austrian, Scottish, and German.
Growing up, Matt spent most of his time playing baseball, football, and golf. His love for baseball led him to scoring a position as a bat boy with the Atlanta Braves. In 2001, he graduated from Collins Hill High School. His parents got divorced when he was a senior at Collins Hill. Matt majored in Sports Business at the University of Georgia, but eventually moved to Los Angeles to follow his dreams of being part of the showbiz industry.
Lanter first gained attention as a contestant on the reality television series, Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model in 2004. Although he did not win the competition, Matt succeeded in making the show's top 10. It did not take too long before critics started noticing Matt.
After landing roles on shows such as Grey's Anatomy, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Life, Big Love, Monk, and the feature film, Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, starring Jim Caviezel, he built a solid foundation and was already in demand for future projects. His big break came when he starred as "Horace Calloway", the John F. Kennedy-like first son on the short-lived ABC political series, Commander in Chief in 2005. However, most people do not know that he was not in the original pilot. Instead, Matt was a re-cast.
Matt has also recurred on two of television's most popular shows: NBC's Heroes as the sinister quarterback "Brody Mitchumm" opposite Hayden Panettiere and CBS' Shark as "Eddie Linden". His talent surpasses the ability to solely act for TV and film and on stage; Matt had the opportunity of starring in his theatrical debut, opposite Laurence Fishburne in Alfred Uhry's "Without Walls" at The Mark Taper Forum.
Consistently booking role after role, he has starred in multiple other feature films merging him into a leading man. Lanter's films include: Warner Bros. animated feature film, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, in which he voices the popular character "Anakin Skywalker", the lead in Liongate's comedy, Disaster Movie, and MGM's feature film, WarGames: The Dead Code. Prior to that, he established himself as a tween heartthrob, playing the lead in MGM/ABC Family's film, The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream.
Outside of acting, Matt has participated in various events for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the Nautica Malibu Triathlon, where he was part of the "Commander in Chief" celebrity relay team. Despite being busy working in the industry, Matt says that he tries to stay as humble as possible. When he's not acting, he enjoys being outdoors, playing golf, and relaxing at the beach.
Matt married his longtime girlfriend, Angela Lanter, on June 14, 2013.
