Tortorella is a native of
Wilmette, Illinois, and a graduate of
New Trier High School. He is of Italian descent. In May 2009,
The CW ordered a 13-episode first season of the drama series
The Beautiful Life: TBL. The series centered on a group of models sharing a residence in New York City and Tortorella portrayed the role of up-and-coming underwear model Cole Shepard. The series premiered on September 16, 2009, to mixed reviews from critics. The CW cancelled the series after its second episode due to low ratings. In June 2009, Tortorella was announced to star in the
ABC Family teen drama television series
Make It or Break It, where he took on the role of
Razor, an aspiring singer. Tortorella temporarily left the series to pursue work on
The Beautiful Life and, after that series' cancellation, returned to
Make It or Break It in a recurring role. In August 2010, Tortorella made a special guest appearance in the episode "If Only..." which marked his final appearance on the series. That year, Tortorella also had a small role in the
Joel Schumacher film
Twelve. In June 2010, Tortorella was announced to star in the horror film
Scream 4, the fourth installment of the
Scream film series. He portrayed Trevor Sheldon, a Woodsboro teenager whose life is in danger when school peers are killed off one by one. Tortorella next appeared on the
Fox serial killer drama
The Following. The show was created by
Kevin Williamson, who also wrote
Scream 4. In 2014, Tortorella was cast as Josh,
Sutton Foster's character Liza's younger lover in the
TV Land comedy-drama
Younger, created by
Darren Star. His first leading film role was in the 2015 independent film
Hunter&Game, in which he played hard-partying electronic musician Carson Lowe, which he described as a "role I was meant to play." The film premiered at the LA Indie Film Fest in October 2014, where it won Best Feature and Best Director of a Feature Awards. The film had its East Coast premiere at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival in May 2015, where it won the Best Feature award. Tortorella launched
The Love Bomb podcast on the
At Will Radio network in September 2016. Tortorella and
Matteo Lane were featured on the
Nancy podcast on May 1, 2018. Tortorella competed on ''
RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race'' in April 2020. ==Personal life==