Urie, while still a student at Juilliard, performed in the world premiere of
Love and Happiness (2001) at the Consolati Performing Arts Center, starring as a sixteen-year-old trying to get rid of his mother's boyfriend. He received the 2002
John Houseman Prize for Excellence in Classical Theatre from the Juilliard School. His classical credits include Shakespeare,
Jacobean drama, and ''
commedia dell'arte''. Urie played the central character in the stage play
WTC View as well as in the film adaptation. He is on the board of Plum Productions and serves as its casting director. With the same company he has produced and appeared in
Prachtoberfest and
lowbrow (and a little bit tacky). As a freelance producer, he has worked on
Like The Mountains and
The Fantasticks (Four Players Theatre). He also directed the latter production. In 2006, Urie began appearing in the
ABC dramedy
Ugly Betty as
Marc St. James, the assistant of
Wilhelmina Slater, played by
Vanessa Williams. The show began with the concept that Wilhelmina would have a different assistant in each episode; thus Urie was originally billed as a guest star in the credits. However, Williams loved their chemistry, and Urie was signed on as a full-time regular midway through the first season. He and the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2007 and 2008. The role earned Urie a
Ewwy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2009. He remained with
Ugly Betty until the show's cancellation in 2010. During the
2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, Urie hosted
TLC's
reality-based series Miss America: Reality Check. The program followed the contestants participating in the 2008
Miss America Pageant. Urie has returned often to his theater roots, including directing a one-night celebrity-performed staging of
Howard Ashman's unproduced musical
Dreamstuff. The musical was reimagined by Howard's partners Marsha Malamet and
Dennis Green and performed at Los Angeles's
Hayworth Theatre as part of the
Bruno Kirby celebrity reading series. He has also been on
Live with Regis and Kelly and has also starred in the 2008 Disney blockbuster production
Beverly Hills Chihuahua as the voice of Sebastian. Urie originated the role of
Rudi Gernreich in the 2009
off-Broadway play
The Temperamentals, about the foundation of the early
LGBT rights organization the
Mattachine Society. Urie received a
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. In January 2012, Urie made his Broadway debut, joining the cast of the second revival of
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in the role of Bud Frump. Urie has also started his own website for videoblogging and live chats. In 2012, Urie also starred as the mysterious limo driver James in the film adaptation of
Wendy Mass's children's book
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, written and directed by
Tamar Halpern. Urie was one of the leads in CBS's short-lived series
Partners. The multi-camera comedy, from
Will & Grace creators
Max Mutchnick and
David Kohan, centered on lifelong friends and business partners – one straight and one gay. The series premiered on September 24, 2012, but was cancelled after only six episodes had aired. His performance in 2013's one-man show
Buyer & Cellar won him a
Clarence Derwent Award as well as a
Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Solo Performance. In April 2015, Urie became the host of
Cocktails & Classics on
Logo TV, in which he and panels of celebrity friends watch and comment on classic movies while imbibing cocktails named or made for the films. Films profiled on the series have included
All About Eve,
Steel Magnolias,
Valley of the Dolls, ''
Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Mommie Dearest''. In November 2018, Urie starred as Arnold Beckoff in
Harvey Fierstein's
Torch Song revival on Broadway. He had a recurring role as Redmond, the gossipy book agent, in the popular TVLand drama-comedy series
Younger, produced by Darren Star. In 2018, Urie played Prince Hamlet in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of
Hamlet in Washington, DC. He reprised the role in mid-2019 for the company's "Free for All" production run. On September 13, 2019, it was announced that Urie would once again team up with his
Ugly Betty co-star
Becki Newton on a sitcom project for
CBS and
Warner Bros. Television called
Fun, in which he would both co-star and serve as a co-executive producer with creator
Michael Patrick King and fellow
Ugly Betty showrunners
Tracy Poust and
Jon Kinnally. CBS passed on the pilot of the series on May 4, 2020. In 2021, Urie starred in the
Netflix Christmas romantic comedy
Single All the Way. In 2023, Urie began starring in the
Apple TV+ series
Shrinking. Urie has narrated several
audiobooks, including novel
Remarkably Bright Creatures by
Shelby Van Pelt. Urie narrated the voice of Marcellus, a
giant Pacific octopus held captive in a local aquarium. The audiobook was a 2023 finalist for the
Audie Awards, which recognizes achievement in audiobook narration. ==Personal life==