Matthew Gray Gubler (/ˈɡuːblər/; born March 9, 1980) is an American actor, filmmaker, fashion model, painter, and author. He is best known for his role as criminal profiler Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show Criminal Minds, of which he has also directed eleven episodes. Gubler has appeared in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, (500) Days of Summer, Life After Beth, Suburban Gothic, Newness, and as the voice of Simon in Alvin and the Chipmunks and its three sequels.
Gubler was born on March 9, 1980, in Las Vegas, Nevada, the son of Marilyn (née Kelch), a rancher and political consultant, and John Gubler, an attorney. Gubler is a high school graduate of the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Visual and Performing Arts, where he studied acting because the school did not offer his first choice, filmmaking. He is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he majored in film directing.