Tasty Crushie Tuesday: Samuel Larsen

Samuel Peter Acosta Larsen, born August 28, 1991, is an actor and singer. On August 21, 2011, Larsen won the reality competition program The Glee Project on the Oxygen network along with fellow contestant Damian McGinty. Larsen is a member of the band "Bridges I Burn" and has a recurring role on Glee as Joe Hart.

Larsen was born in San Francisco[citation needed] to Henrik and Lupe Acosta Larsen. His father Henrik is from Denmark and his mother Lupe Acosta from Mexico. Larsen has an older brother, Manolo Acosta, and a sister named Morgan. He has made public declarations that he is a Christian.

As a young boy, Larsen played drums, bass, guitar and keyboards. He graduated from Murrieta Valley High School in 2009, and he was in the school's marching band. In sophomore year, he became vocalist and guitarist of the school band 15 North and the band performed in festivals.

Larsen was also a model for Jac Vanek clothing and accessories.

In 2010, Larsen auditioned in season 9 of American Idol but was cut after making it to Hollywood, failing to make it to the semi finals. After doing some runway modeling for fashion designer Ashton Michael, he met his soon-to-be band-mate Skip Arnold during a runway show, moved to Los Angeles busking and applied to The Glee Project. Meanwhile Larsen and Skip Arnold formed the band "Bridges I Burn" and soon a third member, Salvatore Spinelli, joined them. Larsen writes and performs most of his music. He auditioned for the role of Sam Evans on Glee but didn't get the part, which ultimately went to Chord Overstreet.

His first Glee appearance was on the thirteenth episode of the third season, titled "Heart", as Joe Hart, a formerly home-schooled Christian. During that episode he performed in two songs: Gym Class Heroes' "Stereo Hearts", and a mashup of The Association's "Cherish" and Madonna's "Cherish". Although his prize for having won The Glee Project was seven episodes, he appeared in each of the final ten episodes of Glee's third season. In addition, he has subsequently appeared as a mentor for The Glee Project's second season, and has appeared in 12 episodes in Glee's fourth season.

Recently he cut off his dreadlocks because he wanted to try to get more mainstream roles. He thought his dreadlocks limited him too much. He looked at keeping his dreads as more of a burden.