Taylor Kinney

Taylor Kinney was born in Lancaster, PA. His mother, a dental hygienist, raised the future star and his three brothers in the suburban community of Neffsville. Kinney graduated in 2000 from Lancaster Mennonite High School before enrolling at West Virginia University to study business management. He left college during his junior year and moved to Hawaii, where he worked as a carpenter. He made the leap into acting and landed his first major role on the short-lived American telenovela "Fashion House" (MyNetworkTV, 2006) opposite Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild, before he was cast as an ambitious young artist who also happens to be Derek's son. The following year, Kinney made his film acting debut in "White Air" (2007), an action-sports drama set in the world of competitive snowboarding that starred Dominique Swain and Tom Sizemore. In 2009, Kinney was cast as one of the leads on the medical drama "Trauma" (NBC, 2009-2010) as a rookie EMT. Despite an ensemble of talented up-and-comers, the show was cancelled after one season.Kinney bounced back in a big way with a recurring role on the hit supernatural drama "The Vampire Diaries," joining the cast during season two as Mason Lockwood, a former resident of Mystic Falls who returns home after being gone for seven years to deal with his brother's death. It was later revealed that Mason was a werewolf with superhuman strength. The character was eventually killed by resident bad boy vamp, Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), but briefly returned for the third season as a ghost out for redemption. His appearance on "The Vampire Diaries" led to a number of opportunities for the handsome and charming actor, including a guest role on the dysfunctional family series "Shameless" (Showtime, 2011-) as a love interest for Emmy Rossum's misunderstood Fiona. In real life, Kinney was linked to pop star Lady Gaga, whom he began dating in 2011 after meeting on the set of the "You and I" music video. (The couple announced their engagement on Valentine's Day 2015.) After several years as a supporting player, Kinney landed a starring role in 2012 on "Chicago Fire," a drama series that followed the lives of Windy City firefighters and paramedics. Kinney played Lieutenant Kelly Severide, a strong and flirtatious firefighter opposite Jesse Spencer's more reserved and commanding Lieutenant Matthew Casey. That same year, Kinney also appeared on the big screen in Kathryn Bigelow's acclaimed war drama "Zero Dark Thirty" as one of the Navy SEALS who took down Osama bin Laden.By Candy Cuenco