Charles Carver Martensen (born July 31, 1988) is an American actor. His better known roles include Porter Scavo on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives (2008–2012), Ethan on the MTV television series Teen Wolf (2013–2014, 2017), Scott Frost on the first season of the HBO television series The Leftovers (2014), and as Cowboy in both The Boys in the Band on Broadway and the subsequent 2020 film of the same name.[1] His identical twin brother Max Carver has frequently portrayed the twin of his characters.

Charlie Carver
Carver at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Charles Carver Martensen

(1988-07-31) July 31, 1988 (age 36)
Other namesCharles Carver
Alma mater
OccupationActor
Years active2008–present
FatherRobert Martensen
RelativesMax Carver (brother)

Early life

edit

Carver was born in San Francisco, California, on July 31, 1988. His identical twin brother, Max, was born seven minutes later on August 1. Before he began acting professionally, he was known as Charlie Martensen. His father was a physician, historian, and author Robert Martensen, and his mother, Anne Carver (b. 1952), is a philanthropist and community activist. In 1992, Anne and her new husband Denis Sutro moved the family to Calistoga in Napa Valley. Carver attended high school at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, but left to attend Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan his second year. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2012. He also studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He came out as gay on Instagram in 2016.[2]

Career

edit

Carver made his acting debut as an eighth-grader when he played fairy trickster Puck in his school's production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

His screen debut was with his brother in the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives; they played Porter and Preston Scavo, sons to Lynette Scavo and Tom Scavo. The brothers also appeared together in season 3 of Teen Wolf on MTV as a pair of twin alpha werewolves – Charlie played Ethan Steiner, and Max played Aiden Steiner; Charlie also appeared in Season 6B of the show.[3] They also appeared in the first season of HBO series The Leftovers.[4][5][6]

Carver has guest starred on several shows including Hawaii Five-0, and The League. His feature film roles have included Underdogs, Bad Asses, and I Am Michael.

Carver appeared in the ABC miniseries When We Rise in 2017.[7] The production traced the history of the LGBTQ rights movement, beginning with the Stonewall riots in 1969. Carver himself came out as gay in 2016.[8] Carver made his Broadway debut as Cowboy in the 2018 revival of Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band and reprised the role in the 2020 film of the same name, alongside fellow actors Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Robin de Jesús, Tuc Watkins and Michael Benjamin Washington.[9]

Carver starred in the Netflix drama series Ratched, which was released in September 2020. In 2022, Carver starred in American Horror Story: NYC. In addition to the lead role, he also co-wrote four episodes of the season.[10]

Filmography

edit

Film

edit
Year Film Role Notes
2013 Underdogs John Handon III As Charles Carver[11][12]
2014 Bad Asses Eric Also known as Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses
2015 I Am Michael Tyler [13]
2017 Fist Fight Nathaniel
A Midsummer Night's Dream Snout
2018 In the Cloud Jude
2020 The Boys in the Band Cowboy
2022 The Batman The Twin

Television

edit
Year Title Role Notes
2008–2012 Desperate Housewives Porter Scavo Main role (seasons 5–8); 62 episodes
2012 Fred 3: Camp Fred Hugh Thompson Television film[14][15][16]
2013 Restless Virgins Dylan Television film
2013–2014, 2017 Teen Wolf Ethan Steiner Recurring role (seasons 3, 6); 22 episodes
2014 The Leftovers Scott Frost Main role (season 1); 5 episodes
Hawaii Five-0 Travis Kealoha Episode: "Ka Hana Malu"
2015 The League Trophy Kevin Episode: "Trophy Kevin"
2017 When We Rise Michael Miniseries
2020 Ratched Huck Finnigan Main role
2022 American Horror Story: NYC Adam Carpenter Main role; also co–wrote: "Thank You for Your Service" and "Black Out"
TBA Blooms Elliot Bloom

Stage

edit
Year Title Role Notes
2018 The Boys in The Band Cowboy Broadway debut[17]

Music videos

edit
Year Title Artist(s) Role
2016 "Where Is the Love?" The Black Eyed Peas featuring The World Himself
2019 "Bad Habit" Ben Platt Boyfriend
"Ease My Mind"

Awards and nominations

edit
Year Association Category Work Result Refs
2008 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Desperate Housewives
(shared with rest of cast)
Nominated [18]
2019 Broadway.com Audience Awards Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Male) The Boys in the Band Nominated [19]
2020 GLSEN Gamechanger Award Himself Won [20]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Interview with Charlie and Max Carver Archived November 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Charlie Carver (January 12, 2016). "Pt 1: "Be who you needed when you were younger"". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021.
  3. ^ Masters, Megan (November 18, 2012). "TVLine Items: Teen Wolf AddsDesperate Twins, Nick Cannon Signs New NBC Deal and More!". TVLine. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  4. ^ Rawden, Jessica (April 12, 2015). "The Leftovers Is Making All Of These Changes For Season 2". Cinemablend. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  5. ^ Lucarelli, Kristina (June 27, 2013). "'Teen Wolf' Twins Max And Charlie Carver Land Spots In HBO Pilot 'The Leftovers'". MTV. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 24, 2013). "Charlie & Max Carver Join HBO's 'Leftovers'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  7. ^ Wong, Curtis M. (November 21, 2016). "Here's A Look At 'When We Rise,' ABC's New LGBTQ Rights Miniseries". HuffPost.
  8. ^ "Teen Wolf' Actor Charlie Carver Comes Out as Gay in Touching Post on Instagram, intouchweekly.com, January 12, 2016". Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  9. ^ Clement, Olivia (December 15, 2017). "The Leftovers Charlie Carver Joins Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, and More for Broadway's The Boys in the Band". Playbill. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  10. ^ Denise Petski (January 14, 2019). "'Ratched': Sharon Stone, Cynthia Nixon Among 10 Cast In Ryan Murphy's Netflix Series". Deadline. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  11. ^ Heldenfels, Rich (June 27, 2012). "'Underdogs' movie to shoot in North Canton - Local". ohio.com. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  12. ^ Heldenfels, Rich (August 13, 2013). "North Canton movie 'Underdogs' getting extended local run". ohio.com. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  13. ^ Denizet-Lewis, Benoit (June 19, 2011). "My Ex-Gay Friend". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  14. ^ ""Fred 3: Camp Fred," Premieres". The Futon Critic. Futon Media. July 12, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  15. ^ Korbelik, Jeff (July 21, 2012). "Columbus teen stars in third 'Fred' movie". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  16. ^ Ellyson, Tyler (July 10, 2012). "'Fred 3' set for July 28 premiere". Columbus Telegram. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  17. ^ Clement, Olivia (December 15, 2017). "The Leftovers' Charlie Carver Joins Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, and More for Broadway's The Boys in the Band". Playbill. Archived from the original on November 2, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  18. ^ Bruno, Mike (December 20, 2007). "The 14th Annual SAG Award Nominations". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  19. ^ Wontorek, Paul (May 7, 2019). "Fan-Picked 2019 Broadway.com Audience Choice Award Nominations Announced; Be More Chill Leads With 12". Broadway.com. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  20. ^ "Charlie Carver Receives GLSEN's Gamechanger Award, Introduced by the Cast of The Boys in the Band". May 18, 2020 – via YouTube.
edit