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You may be familiar with Zack Weinstein. A longtime actor with a spinal cord injury, he’s been on dozens of TV shows from Glee and NCIS to Criminal Minds and Sing It!. But he is more than just an actor. Also a husband, dad and lawyer, he wants to change the world. Read on for his story.
Why He’s Fearless
After one year at Skidmore College studying his lifelong love, Theater Arts, Zack broke his neck while canoeing in Maine with friends. He injured his neck at the C4-6 level. Taking a year break from college to heal and for rehabilitation, Zack returned to college afterwards, but he refused to change his major, despite some hints from his professors that a different career might be better. He had dreamt of acting since he was a boy.
After graduating from college, Zack decided to move to LA to begin his career. He moved into an apartment directly across the street from Universal Studios, along with his wife, whom he met in college. After a Buy.com commercial, Zack was able to find an agent, and that agent was able to find him some great auditions. His agent helped him land a speaking role on Glee in 2009. Zack played a student who was paralyzed.
And he went on to land roles on other popular TV shows like Will & Grace and he had a small role on NCIS in 2010. Perhaps one of his most well known roles however was when he was on the TV show Sing it! in 2016, where he played Luke Cranston in all 10 episodes of the series. And in 2018, he had a small role on Will & Grace. After his first son Theo was born that same year, Zack decided to shift his career, wanting to provide a more stable job for his family.
What’s Next?
After 9 years in LA, Zack and his wife moved back to the east coast to Massachusetts, where he was accepted to study at Harvard Law School. Donald Trump’s presidency is another reason Zack decided to study law, seeing the world change in a way he did not like. Zack graduated in 2021, and became litigator for Goodwin Procter in Boston. And in 2021, he and his wife welcomed their second son, Silas.
If you’re a fan of Zack on the silver screen, don’t worry, as he doesn’t plan to retire from the entertainment business. His goal is to balance the two worlds. Playing both a lawyer on-screen and in real life? Now that is winning.
ideas@spinalpedia.com
