# Matt Letscher
**Matt Letscher** (Matthew Letscher, born 1970) is an American actor and playwright known for the villainous Captain Harrison Love in *The Mask of Zorro* (1998), for playing the [DC Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/dc-comics) villain [Eobard Thawne](https://www.edgepedia.org/eobard-thawne), the [Reverse-Flash](https://www.edgepedia.org/reverse-flash), on *The Flash* and *DC's Legends of Tomorrow*, and for DEA agent James Kuykendall on *Narcos: Mexico*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) Alongside acting, he has built a career as a playwright whose work is produced largely at the Purple Rose Theatre in Michigan and the Pacific Resident Theatre in Los Angeles.[3](https://newplayexchange.org/users/95945/matt-letscher)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) |
| Education | BA in Theatre, University of Michigan, 1992[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/letscher-matt-1970-matthew-letscher) |
| Breakthrough role | Capt. Harrison Love in *The Mask of Zorro* (1998); Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination for favorite villain, 1999[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/letscher-matt-1970-matthew-letscher) |
| Signature TV roles | Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash on *The Flash* (9 episodes) and *DC's Legends of Tomorrow* (14 episodes); James Kuykendall on *Narcos: Mexico* (20 episodes)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) |
| Other notable roles | Tom Bradshaw in *The Carrie Diaries*; Billy Chambers in *Scandal*; Ambassador Chris Stevens in *13 Hours* (2016)[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) |
| Plays | *Sea of Fools* (2007), *Gaps in the Fossil Record* (2009; 2015 Edgerton Foundation New Play award), *Demolition* (2025 StageRaw Best Playwriting)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [3](https://newplayexchange.org/users/95945/matt-letscher) |
| Family | Married Jennifer Kathleen Price on September 5, 1998; two children; brother of actor Brian Letscher[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) |
## Early life and stage beginnings
Letscher grew up in [Grosse Pointe, Michigan](https://www.edgepedia.org/grosse-pointe-michigan), and graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School in 1988.[5](https://digitize.gp.lib.mi.us/history/newspapers/grossePointeNews/year_ranges/2000s/2007/pdf/2007-08-16.pdf) He studied theater at the University of Michigan, receiving a BA in theater in 1992, and has said that a workshop with the acting teacher [Uta Hagen](https://www.edgepedia.org/uta-hagen) reshaped his sense of the craft and made him decide to pursue a theater degree.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [6](https://actorswithissues.com/2025/05/from-villains-to-dads-matthew-letscher-on-roles-from-the-flash-to-suits-la/)
Immediately after graduation he joined [Jeff Daniels](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-daniels)' Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea, Michigan, in the Daniels-penned farce *The Tropical Pickle*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [7](https://pridesource.com/article/25683) Through Daniels he met film director Ronald F. Maxwell, who cast him in a small part in the Civil War epic *Gettysburg* (1993), his first screen credit.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) He moved to Los Angeles in 1993.[7](https://pridesource.com/article/25683)
## Screen career
**Film.** After *Gettysburg*, his early film work included *Lovelife* (1997) and the villainous Captain Harrison Love opposite [Antonio Banderas](https://www.edgepedia.org/antonio-banderas) in [Martin Campbell](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-campbell)'s *The Mask of Zorro* (1998), which earned him a Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination for favorite villain the following year.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/letscher-matt-1970-matthew-letscher) He had never ridden a horse before being cast in that film.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) Around 2000 he briefly specialized in playing historical figures in television movies: pop singer [Mike Love](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-love) in *The Beach Boys: An American Family* (2000), Senator Ted Kennedy in *Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot* (2001), and broadcaster Larry King in *When Billie Beat Bobby* (2001).[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) He later appeared in *Identity* (2003), *Towelhead* (2007), Spike Jonze's *Her* (2013) as Charles, Atom Egoyan's *Devil's Knot* (2013), and *13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi* (2016) as Ambassador Chris Stevens.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/)
**Television.** One-off guest roles in the mid-1990s, including *Saved by the Bell: The College Years*, *Ellen*, and *Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman*, grew into recurring parts on shows such as *The West Wing*, *Entourage*, *Joey*, *Boston Legal*, *Criminal Minds*, and *Brothers & Sisters*.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/letscher-matt-1970-matthew-letscher) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) He had series regular roles on the sitcoms *Almost Perfect* (CBS, 1995-97), *Living in Captivity* (Fox, 1998), and *Good Morning, Miami* (NBC, 2002-04) as newscaster Gavin Stone, and co-starred as Nathan Stone in the legal drama *Eli Stone* (ABC, 2008-09).[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) • [8](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Matt_Letscher)
Two recurring roles stand out. As Billy Chambers on *Scandal* he played a devious political operative, a part the DuJour profile set against his nicer turn as Tom, the widowed father of young [Carrie Bradshaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/carrie-bradshaw) in the *Sex and the City* prequel *The Carrie Diaries* ([The CW](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-cw), 2013-14).[9](https://dujour.com/culture/matt-letscher-carrie-diaries-scandal/?cachevar=081926124020) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) From 2018 to 2021 he played James "Jaime" Kuykendall, the real-life DEA agent who headed the agency's [Guadalajara](https://www.edgepedia.org/guadalajara) office in the 1980s, in 20 episodes of *Narcos: Mexico*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [10](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/matt-letscher-talks-apos-pressure-144124099.html) He has also appeared in *Boardwalk Empire* as Joseph P. Kennedy, *The Alienist* as William Randolph Hearst, *Will & Grace*, *The Rookie*, and *How I Met Your Father*.[8](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Matt_Letscher) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) Recent credits include guest roles as Fred Fagenbacher on *Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage* (2024 onward) and Edward "Teddy" Brooks on *Suits LA* (2025).[11](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Matt-Letscher/)
## Reverse-Flash
The role that made Letscher best known to a mass audience is Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash, on The CW's *The Flash*.[12](https://dccomicsnews.com/2016/12/03/exclusive-we-speak-with-reverse-flash-actor-matt-letscher/) He first appeared as the character in 2015 and returned across the show's run through 2023, totaling 9 episodes on *The Flash* and 14 on *DC's Legends of Tomorrow*, where he was a founding member of the [Legion of Doom](https://www.edgepedia.org/legion-of-doom) in season 2.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) Because the *Flash* production kept the series regular [Tom Cavanagh](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-cavanagh) in the Thawne part for much of the run, Letscher's appearances were largely as a special guest star, with his final appearance in the series' penultimate episode in May 2023.[13](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12290/matt-letscher) • [14](https://multiverseofcolor.com/2023/05/exclusive-interview-matt-letscher-the-flash-reverse-flash/) In a 2025 interview he noted that he now often plays fathers as well as villains, opposite actors such as [Stephen Amell](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-amell) in *Suits LA*, and described decades of villain roles as a matter of casting rather than intent.[6](https://actorswithissues.com/2025/05/from-villains-to-dads-matthew-letscher-on-roles-from-the-flash-to-suits-la/)
## Playwriting and directing
Letscher began writing for the Purple Rose in 2006, and his Red Scare farce *Sea of Fools* premiered there in 2007, with Letscher directing his own script.[3](https://newplayexchange.org/users/95945/matt-letscher) • [7](https://pridesource.com/article/25683) *Gaps in the Fossil Record* premiered in 2009 and received the 2015 Edgerton Foundation New Play award for its Purple Rose production.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) • [3](https://newplayexchange.org/users/95945/matt-letscher) For television, his pilot *Gentrification*, co-written with Nipper Knapp and Andrew Newberg, won Best Writing at the 2010 New York Television Festival.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/)
**Recent stage work.** His play *Demolition*, about a blue-collar construction worker in southeast Michigan, ran at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Los Angeles, where Letscher has been a company member for 25 years, and won the 2025 StageRaw award for Best Playwriting.[3](https://newplayexchange.org/users/95945/matt-letscher) • [15](https://smmirror.com/theatre-review-matt-letschers-demolition-on-stage-at-pacific-residence-theatre/) His farce *Bert and Trixie Visit the Vet* opened at the Purple Rose in June 2025 to a sold-out run.[3](https://newplayexchange.org/users/95945/matt-letscher) He and his brother Brian Letscher co-created the web series *One & Done*, a Kickstarter-funded comedy about middle-aged friends reuniting their high school basketball team, which he wrote, created, and directed from 2014 to 2016.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) • [16](https://regardmag.com/behind-the-scenes-matt-letscher-brian-letscher/)
## Personal life
Letscher married Jennifer Kathleen Price on September 5, 1998, and the couple have two children.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/) His younger brother, Brian Letscher, is also an actor and a former University of Michigan football player; the two appeared on opposite sides of the law in *Scandal* and later teamed up on *One & Done*.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/) • [16](https://regardmag.com/behind-the-scenes-matt-letscher-brian-letscher/) He is a long-time member of the Pacific Resident Theatre ensemble in Venice, Los Angeles, and describes himself as a "child of the theater."[3](https://newplayexchange.org/users/95945/matt-letscher) • [10](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/matt-letscher-talks-apos-pressure-144124099.html)
## References
1. [Matt Letscher, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504762/)
2. [Matt Letscher, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/matt-letscher/)
3. [Matt Letscher, New Play Exchange](https://newplayexchange.org/users/95945/matt-letscher)
4. [Letscher, Matt 1970- (Matthew Letscher), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/letscher-matt-1970-matthew-letscher)
5. [Grosse Pointe News, August 16, 2007](https://digitize.gp.lib.mi.us/history/newspapers/grossePointeNews/year_ranges/2000s/2007/pdf/2007-08-16.pdf)
6. [From Villains to Dads: Matthew Letscher on Roles from "The Flash" to "Suits: LA", Actors With Issues (2025)](https://actorswithissues.com/2025/05/from-villains-to-dads-matthew-letscher-on-roles-from-the-flash-to-suits-la/)
7. [A commie lurks at the Purple Rose, Pride Source (2007)](https://pridesource.com/article/25683)
8. [Matt Letscher, Boardwalk Empire Wiki](https://boardwalkempire.fandom.com/wiki/Matt_Letscher)
9. [Mister Multiple Personalities, DuJour (2013)](https://dujour.com/culture/matt-letscher-carrie-diaries-scandal/?cachevar=081926124020)
10. [Matt Letscher Talks the 'Pressure' of Playing Real-Life DEA Agent James Kuykendall on Narcos: Mexico, Yahoo Entertainment (2018)](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/matt-letscher-talks-apos-pressure-144124099.html)
11. [Matt Letscher, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Matt-Letscher/)
12. [Exclusive: We speak with 'Reverse Flash' Actor Matt Letscher, DC Comics News (2016)](https://dccomicsnews.com/2016/12/03/exclusive-we-speak-with-reverse-flash-actor-matt-letscher/)
13. [Matt Letscher, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/12290/matt-letscher)
14. [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Matt Letscher On Finishing The Flash's Reverse-Flash Arc, Multiverse of Color (2023)](https://multiverseofcolor.com/2023/05/exclusive-interview-matt-letscher-the-flash-reverse-flash/)
15. [Theatre Review: Matt Letscher's Demolition on Stage at Pacific Resident Theatre, Santa Monica Mirror (2024)](https://smmirror.com/theatre-review-matt-letschers-demolition-on-stage-at-pacific-residence-theatre/)
16. [Behind the Scenes - Matt Letscher & Brian Letscher, Regard Magazine (2015)](https://regardmag.com/behind-the-scenes-matt-letscher-brian-letscher/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Le to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license