Heather Morris Biography

Heather Elizabeth Morris (born February 1, 1987) is an American actress, dancer, singer and model. She is known for her role as Brittany S. Pierce in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee.

Early life

Morris was born in Ventura County, California, and was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. She began dancing when she was 9. Morris competed at a young age in a variety of styles including jazz, tap, and contemporary. Morris' father died of cancer when she was 14 years old. "It's something that is hard for me, because I'm sad about it, but I don't dwell on it," she said during an interview workshop with students in December 2009. "I know he's in a better place, instead of suffering." After graduating from Desert Mountain High School, Morris enrolled in a local university, but realized she was in the wrong place, and moved to Los Angeles instead at age 19.

Career

Morris' first significant appearance was in 2006 on So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 where she made it through "Vegas Week" without being cut, but failed to make the final 20 by a vote of 3 to 2.

Not discouraged, Morris actively pursued a career in dancing. Her big break came in 2007 via Beyonc. Morris was one of Beyonc's backup dancers on The Beyonc Experience world tour and, following that, worked again with Beyonc on a mini "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" promotional tour that included 2008 performances on the American Music Awards, Saturday Night Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Today, and MTV's Total Request Live finale. She also danced backup for Beyonc and Tina Turner at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008. She later appeared in a small role in the movie Fired Up, where she met choreographer Zach Woodlee. Following that film, Woodlee brought Morris in to dance on other shows he was choreographing, including episodes of Eli Stone and Swingtown, and the movie Bedtime Stories; eventually, Morris landed a role as Brittany on Glee.

In December 2010, Morris was named the Celebrity Style Ambassador for FLIRT! Cosmetics, an Estee Lauder cosmetics line. In 2010, Morris made the Maxim Hot 100 list, coming in at number 85. On the AfterEllen hot 100 list, she was ranked #2 behind Naya Rivera.

In 2011, Morris starred in a back-to-school commercial for Staples Canada that featured her dancing.

In the October 2011 issue of Fitness magazine, she stated that she had had her breast implants removed. "Implants were something I thought I wanted when I was younger, and now I don't. It was hard being active with them, because my chest was always sore. It hurt a lot, and I didn't like always being in pain, so they had to go!" Her breast implant surgery was done sometime between her time on So You Think You Can Dance at age 18, and age 21 when she was a backup dancer for Beyonc.

Glee

Morris was taking acting classes and actively pursuing an acting career when she was asked by Woodlee to teach the choreography for Beyonc's "Single Ladies" dance to the Glee actors. At the same time, the show was looking for a third cheerleader, and Morris ended up landing the role of Brittany. Initially a background character who hardly ever spoke, the role grew as writers discovered Morris had a gift for delivering one-liners. Jarrett Wieselman of the New York Post opined that Morris had "emerged as one of the funniest second bananas on TV right now" and a LA Times writer mentioned having a "comedy crush on Morris, who plays the galactically dim Glee Club cheerleader Brittany".

When a promotional clip for the episode "Sectionals" indicated that Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez had slept together, Dorothy Snarker, writing for lesbian entertainment website After Ellen, praised the pairing, referring to them by the portmanteau "Brittana". Snarker called the two her "new favorite Glee pairing", commenting that: "While Heather Morris (Brittany) and Naya Rivera (Santana) have had minimal screen time, they've made it count. Heather in particular has brought the laughs as the Cheerio least likely to get a Mensa invitation. Never mind Finn and Rachel "? I'm on Team Brittana now."

Morris' role became more prominent during the final nine episodes of season one and, due to the overwhelmingly positive response to her character, was promoted to official series regular status during season two. She was at the center of the second episode, "Britney/Brittany", (a tribute to Britney Spears) where she made her singing debut covering Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U" solo and dueting with Naya Rivera on "Me Against the Music". She later got many other singing and dancing solos. The second half of season two saw Morris' character engage in a lesbian storyline with Rivera's character. The arc and Rivera's and Morris' performances were met with critical acclaim. As on Glee, Morris is best friends in real life with co-star Rivera.

In Season 3, her and Rivera's characters continue with the lesbian storyline. Morris had a large role in the episode "Prom-asaurus". During the season finale, she reveals that she has an 0.0 GPA and that she will not be graduating.

During the 2011 Glee Tour, Morris performed Britney Spears' song "I'm a Slave 4 U". She also had a dance spotlight with castmate Harry Shum Jr. during Naya Rivera's performance of "Valerie," and was one of the dancers in the "Single Ladies" and "Safety Dance" numbers.

Morris co-wrote and appeared in a January 2011 video for the comedy website Funny or Die, "Nuthin' But A Glee Thang" a parody of "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg. Co-written with actresses Ashley Lendzion and Riki Lindhome, the video features appearances from Modern Family's Sofia Vergara and Morris' Glee castmates Matthew Morrison, Cory Monteith, Harry Shum Jr., and Naya Rivera.

On June 28, 2013, it was reported that Morris would not be returning as regular on Glee fifth season. However, Morris reprised her role for the show's hundredth episode and the final episode of the show's fifth season. Morris also appeared in five episodes in the show's sixth and final season, including the series finale.

Dancing with the Stars

On March 1, 2017, Morris was revealed as one of the contestants who would compete on season 24 of Dancing with the Stars. Her participation in the show has been criticized, with many citing her professional dancing experience as an unfair advantage. The producers defended their decision to cast Morris by saying that she doesn't have ballroom or partnering experience. She was paired with professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy, though she danced with troupe member Alan Bersten starting on the second until the fifth week of the competition due to Chmerkovskiy suffering a calf muscle injury. Morris and Chmerkovskiy reunited to dance in the sixth week of the competition on April 24, 2017, but were eliminated despite receiving the first perfect score of the season and topping the results board.

Personal life

Morris is married to Taylor Hubbell, whom she began dating when he was a college baseball player. They attended the same high school in Arizona, but did not know each other there. They began dating after Morris moved to Los Angeles and Hubbell contacted her on Myspace. In a 2011 interview with Fitness, Morris said of Hubbell, "I want to marry him so bad. That's what I really care about. I want to marry Taylor and have kids with him. I love acting, but if it affects my relationship, then I won't continue doing it." After graduating from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, Hubbell began living with Morris in Los Angeles in early 2012. Morris gave birth to their first child, a son named Elijah "Eli"? Beckwith Hubbell on September 28, 2013, named after Taylor Hubbell's older cousin. On August 28, 2014, it was announced that she and Hubbell were engaged, and they married on May 16, 2015. In August 2015, she announced via social media that they were expecting their second child. In an interview with E! News, she revealed that the second child would be a boy. She gave birth to their second child, Owen Bartlett, in February 2016.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Beyonc Experience Live	Dancer	Concert film Supporting role
2008	Bedtime Stories	Dancer	supporting role
2009	Fired Up!	Fiona	lead role
2011	A Sense of Humor	Laura	Short film Lead role
2011	The Elevator	Girl	Short film; also writer, director and producer
2011	Andy Made a Friend	Kate	Short film lead role
2011	Post	Lily
2011	Glee: The 3D Concert Movie	Brittany S. Pierce	Concert film main role
2012	Courage to Create	Bella	Short film Main role
2012	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Katie	Voice lead role
2013	Spring Breakers	Bess	Supporting role
2015	Horrible Parents	Meg	Short film Lead role
2015	Most Likely to Die	Gaby (Gabriella)	Lead role
2016	Folk Hero & Funny Guy	Nicole	Main role
2016	Romantically Speaking	Ariel	Lead role
2016	The Cleansing Hour	Heather	Short film
2018	All Styles	Elizabeth
2018	The Danger of Positive Thinking	Kelsey
2019	Dance with a Demon	Mother	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Saturday Night Live	Beyonce's Dancer	Episode: "Paul Rudd/Beyonc"
2008	Swingtown	Disco Dancer	Uncredited, episode: "Get Down Tonight"
2008	Eli Stone	Dancer	Uncredited, 2 episodes
2009-15	Glee	Brittany Pierce	Main role (seasons 2-4); Recurring role (seasons 1, 5"?6); 92 episodes
2010	How I Met Your Mother	Suit Dancer	Uncredited, episode: "Girls Versus Suits"
2012	Punk'd	Herself	Guest host
2015	Romantically Speaking	Ariel Cookson	Television film
2015	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Herself	Episode: "Heather Morris"
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Eliza Hansenback	Episode: "Weird Al Yankovic Wears A Different Hawaiian Shirt"
2016	Go-Go Boy Interrupted	Katie	3 episodes
2016	LA LA Living	Lizbet	Main role
2017	Dancing with the Stars	Herself	Contestant on season 24
2017	GLOW	Member of aerobics class	Uncredited; episode: Pilot
2017	Psycho Wedding Crasher	Jenna Kravitz	TV movie lead role
2017	Mondays	Kia	Episode: "That Time When I Got Life Coached"
2018	I.R.L.	Lizbet	Main role
2018	The Troupe	Kennedy Dawson	Main role
2018	Raven's Home	Lady	Cameo, episode "Raven's Home: Remix"

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song
2008	An-Ya	"Nightlife"
	The White Tie Affair	"Candle (Sick and Tired)"
	Hit the Lights	"Drop the Girl"
2011	Leo Moctezuma	"2 Da Left"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2010	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Glee
	TV Land Awards	Future Classics (with: Glee Cast)
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Music: Group (with: Glee Cast)
	Lesbian/Bi People's Choice Awards	Favorite Music Duo or Group (with: Glee Cast)
	Gay People's Choice Awards	Favorite Music Duo or Group (with: Glee Cast)
2011	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
	Grammy Awards	Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
		Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Music: Group (with: Glee Cast)	Glee
2012	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
	Grammy Awards	Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media (with: Glee Cast)
2013	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
	Teen Choice Awards	Scene Stealer Female

Discography