Luke Barnett

Luke Barnett (born February 13, 1983) is an American actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his comedic acting and writing on "Funny or Die" films.
Early life.
Barnett was born in 1983 in Clinton, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Having pursued acting since 2000, and with an interest in promoting social change, he moved to Los Angeles by 2005. His father is a pastor.
Career.
In Los Angeles, Barnett landed a role in a play about homeless youth called "The Playground". According to Barnett, the production opened doors for him both as an actor and as an advocate for social justice. By 2007, he began to get credited screen roles, including three episodes of "MANswers". In 2011 he was in three television series and six films, including "Sedona", "Coffin", and "The Amityville Haunting". In 2012 he appeared in "Static". Barnett's films also include a 2013 short called "The Newest Testament" (a Biblical parody which he produced, co-wrote, and stars in as Jesus), "The Scribbler" (2014), and "The Treehouse" (2015).
For his theatre work, in 2011 Barnett was praised by "Backstage" for his "facile array of increasingly outrageous cameo roles" in "Bayside High School Musical", a musical parody of the 1990s teen sitcom "Saved by the Bell". In the musical, Barnett played 10 different characters, and was credited as "Everyone Else" in the playbill.
"Funny or Die".
Barnett's "Funny or Die" films have garnered national and international attention. In his first major project for "Funny or Die", Barnett starred in, co-wrote, and co-produced "Growing Up With Gosling" (2012), in which Barnett plays the childhood best friend of actor Ryan Gosling, who has tried to cast him as his co-star in all of his movies, including "The Notebook", "Ides of March", "Crazy, Stupid, Love", "Lars and the Real Girl", and "Drive". Barnett always gets replaced at the last minute by the studio, which nearly always wants a female co-star. The short screened at several festivals including the LA Comedy Festival, the Los Angeles Film, Television and New Media Festival, the Playhouse West Film Festival, and the Laugh Track Comedy Festival. It won the Best Comedy Short award at the 2012 Los Angeles Film, Television and New Media Festival.
Barnett next starred in, co-wrote, and co-produced "Kickstarter to help Luke & Tanner do COOL STUFF!", which premiered in April 2013. The film spoofs several Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns by already successful, wealthy celebrities to finance new projects such as the "Veronica Mars" film and the "Garden State" sequel. Barnett and Tanner Thomason appeal to celebrities to donate money to regular folks like them, so they can watch the celebrities' films and do other cool stuff – in exchange for rewards like "verbal confirmation, to a stranger, of how rad the "Veronica Mars" movie was". In reviewing the spoof, "Mashable" noted that "... Hollywood stars have recently come under fire for using Kickstarter because, as the argument goes, they may deflect attention from lesser-known filmmakers who rely solely on crowdfunding to support their projects." Barnett was interviewed by "Mashable" regarding the Kickstarter spoof, and he and Thomason were interviewed about it on Southern California Public Radio. The film was also featured on news sites including "News Hour 24" and "France 24" and other political and international sites.
In September 2013 Barnett co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in "A Message to Aaron Sorkin", which spoofs the opening scene of Sorkin's show "The Newsroom". Barnett plays the lead character, Will McAvoy, played in the series by Jeff Daniels. Of the "Newsroom" spoof, "Huffington Post" said it "nails everything that's wrong with Aaron Sorkin's show". "Entertainment Weekly" noted that "Mirroring the opening scene of the series nearly shot-for-shot, ... "Funny or Die" seamlessly parodies the show by asking bizarro Will McAvoy, 'Can you say why "The Newsroom" is the greatest show on television?'" Perez Hilton opined that "As smart as the show tries to be, a new parody video from "Funny or Die" may be even SMARTER!" The spoof was also featured on ESPN's "Grantland", "The New York Observer", and international sites such as "56.com".