Peter "Finn" Wittrock, Jr. is an American actor and screenwriter, who began his career in the industry with guest appearances on television shows, debuted in films with the 2010 movie Twelve. He is well-known among television audiences for his role of Damon Miller in the soap opera All My Children. The actor has actively performed in many theatrical productions, of which his most popular one is playwright Tony Kushner's Off-Broadway play The Illusion. His other notable work includes his Broadway debut in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman in 2012 as Happy Loman. This award-winning actor rose to prominence with films like The Normal Heart, Noah, and Unbroken, and his role as Dandy Mott in the FX series American Horror Story: Freak Show.

Early life
Wittrock was born in Lenox, Massachusetts, to Kate Claire Crowley, a professor of occupational therapy at the University of Southern California, and Peter L. Wittrock, Sr., an actor. He has a younger brother Dylan. When he was a child, he grew up at the Shakespeare & Company Theatre, where his father worked. He attended the Los Angeles County High School for Arts when he was a teenager, where he acted, made films, and was a part of movement classes for actors. After he completed his schooling, he was accepted into The Juilliard School where he studied theatre, and then was cast in the soap opera All My Children. At the Juilliard, he was a member of the Drama Division's Group 37 (2004–2008), and starred in many theatrical productions. He also won the Juilliard Journal Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Juilliard’s newspaper, The Juilliard Journal, and was a recipient of the Drama Division's Stephanie Palmer McClelland Scholarship. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2008.

Personal life
On October 18, 2014, Wittrock married his longtime girlfriend and fellow Juilliard graduate Sarah Roberts in a private ceremony.

Television career
Wittrock stepped into the entertainment industry in 2003 with an appearance in one episode of the television series Cold Case. He then featured in ER in the same year and CSI: Miami in 2004, both for single episodes. His television breakthrough came with the TV series All My Children, which he was associated with from 2009 to 2011, portraying the role of Damon Miller for more than a hundred episodes. His further television projects include Torchwood: Miracle Day as Danny, Harry's Law as Jimmy Cormack, and Criminal Minds as Harvey Morell. In 2013, the actor was seen in two television series such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Cameron Tyler, and Masters of Sex in the role of Dale, a male prostitute. He followed this up by portraying the role of Albert in the television movie The Normal Heart. Between 2014 and 2015, he played the character of Dandy Mott in the FX television series American Horror Story: Freak Show, which got him nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. After appearing in one episode of Deadbeat in 2015, he was seen in American Horror Story: Hotel in the year. His 2016 project includes American Horror Story: Roanoke as a special guest star, in the role of Jether Polk.

Stage career
Wittrock has a stable stage career, which he manages parallelly along with an established film and television career. He started off with the 2008 play Candida as Eugene Marchbanks at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. He portrayed the role of Romeo in the play titled Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. This followed with The Age of Iron at Classic Stage Company in 2009, and then featured in the Off-Broadway play The Illusion by famous playwright Tony Kushner at the Signature Theatre Company. His next theatre appearance was in the 2012 play Death of a Salesman as Harold "Happy" Loman at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, which won him the Theatre World Award and Most Promising Male Performer at Clarence Derwent Awards. His other plays include The Blue Deep at Williamstown Theatre Festival and Sweet Bird of Youth at The Goodman Theatre. The actor's next appearance was in The Guardsman at the The Kennedy Center. His 2016 play includes the Othello as Michael Cassio at the New York Theatre Workshop.

Movie career
Just one year after beginning his television career, Wittrock made an entry into the film industry in 2004 with Halloweentown High, under the direction of Mark A.Z. Dippé, in the role of Cody Trainer. This was the third installment in the Halloweentown series, which starred Kimberly J. Brown, Debbie Reynolds, and Joey Zimmerman in the lead. After a gap of six years, the actor was seen in the 2010 American-French action drama teen film Twelve directed by Joel Schumacher as Warren. He then made a leap by bagging three movies in 2014 - Winter's Tale as Gabriel, Noah as Young Tubal-cain, and Unbroken as Francis "Mac" McNamara. He again featured in three films in 2015 including The Submarine Kid, The Big Short, and My All American. My All American, directed by Angelo Pizzo, was a biographical drama sport film based on the life of college football player Freddie Steinmark, played by Wittrock. It starred him along with Sarah Bolger, Robin Tunney and Aaron Eckhart. The Submarine Kid was a drama film directed by Eric Bilitch in which he played the role of Spencer Koll, a Marine, co-starring Emilie de Ravin, with supporting roles from Jack Coleman, Nancy Travis, and Alphonso McAuley. The film was not good enough to convince critics calling it insubstantial. Adam McKay’s comedy-drama The Big Short in the same year was based on the 2010 book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis, about the financial crisis of 2007–2008 triggered by the United States housing bubble. The film starred Wittrock in the role of a young investor Jamie Shipley, along with an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Melissa Leo, Hamish Linklater, John Magaro, Rafe Spall, and Jeremy Strong. The movie turned out to be one of the most successful films in the career of the actor, gaining huge financial as well as critical success, and received positive reviews. Not only this, the actor’s brilliant performance in The Big Short won him National Board of Review Awards for Best Ensemble and Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Ensemble, along with nominations including Critics' Choice Movie Awards for Best Acting Ensemble and Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Wittrock’s 2016 project includes Damien Chazelle’s romantic musical La La Land, starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend and Rosemarie DeWitt in the lead, in which Wittrock was seen in the role of Greg. The film revolves around a musician and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love in Los Angeles. It is also the third film to feature Gosling and Stone as lovers, after Crazy, Stupid, Love and Gangster Squad.

The actor’s 2017 releases include the comedy film Landline directed by Gillian Robespierre co-starring Jenny Slate, Edie Falco, Abby Quinn and John Turturro, based on the lives and relationships of three female members of the Jacobs family. His other release includes the biographical film A Futile and Stupid Gesture, based on Josh Karp's book of the same name, directed by David Wain. Wittrock has a supporting role in this film that stars Will Forte in the lead.