At the end of high school, Wittrock appeared in guest stints on the
police procedural series
Cold Case and
medical drama ER. He also made an appearance on
CSI: Miami and in the
Disney Channel Original Movie Halloweentown High (2004) during his time at
drama school. After graduating from
Juilliard, he portrayed
Romeo in
Washington, D.C.'s regional theatre, the
Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of
Romeo and Juliet, as well as playing the role of Eugene Marchbanks in the 2008 production of
Candida at the
Berkshire Theatre Festival. He later portrayed
Damon Miller in the long-running series
All My Children from 2009 to 2011, portrayed
Troilus in the 2009
Off-Broadway play
The Age of Iron, and appeared in the teen drama film
Twelve (2010). In 2011, Wittrock starred in the
Off-Broadway play
The Illusion by famous
playwright Tony Kushner. Director
Mike Nichols came to see the play and later told Wittrock to audition for producer
Scott Rudin for their upcoming revival of
Arthur Miller's
Death of a Salesman. and Wittrock won a
Theatre World Award and the
Clarence Derwent Award for
Most Promising Male Performer. Later that year, he starred in a production of
The Blue Deep at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival directed by
Bob Balaban. He also appeared on series such as ''
Harry's Law, Criminal Minds'' and played the role of
gigolo Chance Wayne in the
David Cromer-directed production of
Tennessee Williams' play
Sweet Bird of Youth at
The Goodman Theatre In 2013, he starred in the play adaptation of the film
The Guardsman at
The Kennedy Center, directed by
Gregory Mosher. He also guest-starred on
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and on several episodes of the series
Masters of Sex. In 2014, Wittrock first collaborated with director
Ryan Murphy in the
HBO television film
The Normal Heart, based on the
play of the same name. He also appeared in the films ''
Winter's Tale'' and director
Darren Aronofsky's
Noah, playing a young
Tubal-cain. He next collaborated with Murphy playing the integral part of the wealthy
Dandy Mott on
American Horror Story: Freak Show, the fourth season of the
FX anthology series
American Horror Story for which he was a series regular. For his performance, Wittrock received a nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. Wittrock rounded out 2014 by starring as
World War II Air Force bombardier Francis "Mac" McNamara in
Angelina Jolie's biographical war drama film
Unbroken, which revolves around the life of
USA Olympian and athlete
Louis "Louie" Zamperini. Also in 2015, he co-starred in
Adam McKay's drama film
The Big Short. In 2016, Wittrock had a small role in the musical
La La Land, directed by
Damien Chazelle, and released in December. He co-stars as
Cassio alongside
Daniel Craig and
David Oyelowo in the
Sam Gold-directed production of
William Shakespeare's
Othello, which started its run on December 12 at the
New York Theatre Workshop. In 2017, Wittrock returned to Broadway, in the
Sam Gold-directed production of
Tennessee Williams' play
The Glass Menagerie, opposite
Sally Field and
Joe Mantello. The play opened on March 23, 2017 and closed on July 2, 2017. That year, Wittrock also appeared in
Gillian Robespierre's comedy film
Landline. In 2018, he briefly played actor
Tim Matheson in
David Wain's comedy
A Futile and Stupid Gesture. In August 2018, he starred with
Kristen Stewart in the music video for Indie band
Interpol's music video for "If You Really Love Nothing". Wittrock co-starred as
Judy Garland's fifth and final husband
Mickey Deans in the biopic
Judy (2019), directed by
Rupert Goold. In January 2019, it was announced that Wittrock will star in the upcoming
Netflix drama series
Ratched, as well as appearing in one episode of
American Horror Story: 1984. In April 2021, Wittrock had officially been cast as
Guy Gardner for the
HBO Max live action television series based on
Green Lantern. In July 2022, the series was confirmed to have been undergoing rewrites, and the start of production had been delayed. In an interview, Wittrock claimed that the series was still in production. In January 2023 the
DC Studios co-president
James Gunn, announced a new slate of projects that would serve as a reboot of the
DC Extended Universe. Among these projects was a Green Lantern series titled
Lanterns. This series was going to be focused on the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern. It was unknown at the time whether or not Wittrock was still involved. It was speculated that the majority of actors involved in the DCEU would be recast, and that all prior plans for DC in film or TV had been cancelled, leading to some backlash from fans. In July 2023 Gunn announced that he had chosen to cast frequent collaborator
Nathan Fillion as the Guy Gardner character, effectively replacing Wittrock. In 2024, Wittrock appeared in the autobiographical documentary
Steve! (martin): a documentary in two pieces on Apple TV. In it, he plays
Steve Martin's father, Glenn, in a skit based on Martin's play
WASP. ==Personal life==