owen giddish had always enjoyed being the center of attention, a trait most likely inherited from his dad, who fronted a mostly local band that played mostly covers of hits from the 70s and 80s and mostly no one outside of rehoboth had ever heard of. but within the confines of their little beach town the band was a hit, and as soon as he was old enough to lift a speaker and be trusted with a les paul, owen got the honor of helping the guys set up at their weekly restaurant gigs - and in the summers as a teenager, even tagged along as a roadie on their annual tour of the state fair circuit, mingling with washed-up artists from the 90s and fledgling country singers yet to break out of their hometown. though an appreciation for music was in his blood, in his own pursuits, owen was more drawn to acting. he participated in his high school musicals and community theatre productions, but as his friends spoke of dreams of heading to los angeles and new york and immediately hitting the streets and auditioning, he was securing his acceptance to new york university, where he received his b.a. in media, culture, and communication. he continued to pursue acting, but more as a hobby than a career, doing the occasional improv show or student production in the evenings and spending his days working. a slightly embellished account of just how much he had helped his dad and his band on the road helped to snag him his first job as a set runner, and from there he bounced from job to job as a PA, working on everything from morning news shows to cw teen dramas to reality television to soap operas. the hours were long, often leaving him little time for much else, and the work was usually thankless, but he was making a living wage in the city and making industry connections, which was more than could be said for a lot of people.
in 2011, owen relocated to the west coast, where he had recently landed a job as a writer's assistant on the new show scandal. a hard worker with a pleasant personality and a knack for knowing the right time to crack a joke and the right time to shut the hell up, he quickly became a staff favorite - and, after a couple years on the job, was approached with word of a new pilot that was being floated. he was interested in acting, wasn't he? hadn't he even taken a week off last year to film a guest spot on american horror story? why not take a look at the sides, come in for a reading, see what happened? or, he could stay on board with the scandal team and bartend to fill the gaps in his downtime. totally his choice.
not much later, he was announced as one of the first people to join the regular cast of how to get away with murder. the stardom that came with the show's success meant a lot of adjustments, especially for someone who'd made a career out of going as unnoticed as possible 90% of the time, but they were adjustments he was more than willing to make. he finally got to be the center of attention, and he definitely didn't hate it. of course, he still has a lot to learn as far as the intricacies of celebrity go, and he's not the most polished actor to hit the red carpet, but those are all things that can be worked on. for now, he's looking to make good tv and enjoy the ride.
