| Birth Name: | Nathaniel Marvin Wolff | ||||||||
| Birth Date: | 17 December 1994 | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Years Active: | 2003–present | ||||||||
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Nathaniel Marvin Wolff (born December 17, 1994)[1] is an American actor and musician. He gained recognition for composing the music for The Naked Brothers Band (2007–2009), a Nickelodeon television series he starred in with his younger brother, Alex, that was created by their actress mother, Polly Draper. Wolff's jazz pianist father, Michael Wolff, co-produced the series' soundtrack albums, The Naked Brothers Band (2007) and I Don't Want to Go to School (2008), both of which ranked the 23rd spot on the Top 200 Billboard Charts.
Following the ending of the Nickelodeon series, Wolff and his brother formed the music duo Nat & Alex Wolff, and they released the album Black Sheep in 2011. He later became known for his lead role in the film Paper Towns (2015), and other films such as Admission, Behaving Badly, and Palo Alto, each of which premiered in 2013. Wolff also co-starred in the highly successful theatrical film, The Fault in Our Stars (2014) before portraying Ed in the film Ashby in 2015. He portrayed Light Turner in the Netflix adaptation of Death Note (2017).[2]
He and his younger brother starred in the 2018 film Stella's Last Weekend, which was written and directed by Draper, who also co-starred in the film.
Wolff was born in Los Angeles, California, to jazz pianist Michael Wolff and actress Polly Draper on December 17, 1994.[1] He is the older brother of actor and musician Alex Wolff. His maternal grandfather is venture capitalist and civic leader William Henry Draper III,[3] and he is also a nephew of venture capitalist Tim Draper,[4] cousin to actress Jesse Draper, and a great-grandson of banker and diplomat William Henry Draper, Jr.[5] [6] His father is Jewish,[7] [8] while his mother is from a Christian background.[9] [10]
Wolff has Tourette's syndrome that he inherited from his father.[11]
When Nat and his younger brother, Alex, were toddlers, they arose from the bathtub shouting, "We're the naked brothers band!", which inspired the name of the subsequent Nickelodeon TV series. Their father tells of Nat teaching himself to play major and minor chords on the piano when he was four years old. As his father recalls: "I asked him, How did you learn them?' He said, 'Dad, they're right here.' I said, 'What are those chords?' He said, 'These are my proud chords."[12] By age five, Wolff had started writing his own songs, and by the time he was in preschool, he constructed a band called The Silver Boulders with his best friends.[13]
Nat first gained notice in the wake of the September 11 attacks when he held his birthday party outside his apartment, which is where he performed his composition titled "Firefighters". The benefit concert was a success; it raised over $46,000 and was donated to the children of New York City Fire Department's Squad 18.[14] Alex eventually joined the band as the drummer; both boys were emboldened by The Beatles. When Wolff was young, he put signs on his bedroom door stating: "I want to be a child actor!" As a result, Draper decided to appease Nat by letting him film his own sitcom called Don't Eat Off My Plate, which served as the basis for .[15]
Despite the Nickelodeon TV show’s success over three seasons, the network proposed to film a 30 TV movie fourth season during the school year, leading his parents to cancel the series in 2009.[16] From the beginning, they were hesitant to expose Nat and Alex to stardom at a young age[17] and agreed to the series spin-off on the provision that filming would take place only during the summers, which allowed him and his brother to proceed with their enrollment at private school in New York City.[18] [19] [20]
He began his acting career Off-Broadway with a minor role in his mother's play Getting Into Heaven (2003) and in the Off-Broadway production of Heartbeat to Baghdad (2004), both at The Flea Theater.
He later gained recognition, at the age of nine, for starring in and contributing lead vocals, instrumentation, and lyrics for the 2005 musical comedy film , which was written and directed by his mother, and obtained the Audience Award for a Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The film was bought by Nickelodeon as the pilot to the television series of the same name (2007–09),[13] [20] which was created, showran, written, and directed by his mother, while his father co-starred and produced and supervised the music. Moreover, Nat's younger brother was featured in the ensemble cast and played drums.
The series earned Nat one BMI Cable Award for composing the series' music, as well as two Young Artist Award nominations and one KCA nomination for Best TV Actor. The show produced two soundtrack albums and the single "Crazy Car" reached #83 on the Top 100 Billboard Charts. Wolff, who was six when he wrote the song, is believed to be the youngest person ever to compose a charting song on the Billboard charts. His unreleased song "Yes We Can" featured in the series, in honor of President Barack Obama, was heard by the President and his two daughters who enjoyed it and called him.[21] Prior to the encounter, Nat had the occasion of meeting Obama, who emboldened him to write the composition.[21]
Wolff's other film credits include appearing in the Nickelodeon television film special Mr. Troop Mom (2009), the romantic comedy New Year's Eve (2011), and the independent comedic drama Peace, Love & Misunderstanding (2011). In 2010, he starred in his brother's play What Would Woody Do? at the Flea Theater. Wolff co-starred in the comedy film Admission (2013), Palo Alto (2013), and the comedy film Behaving Badly (2014). That same year, his supporting role in the drama film The Fault in Our Stars earned him two Teen Choice Awards in the categories of Choice Movie: Scene Stealer and Choice Movie: Chemistry.[22]
In 2015, Wolff starred in Paper Towns, his second film adaptation of a John Green novel following The Fault in Our Stars. He played the lead role, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen, a teenage boy in love with his neighbor (played by Cara Delevingne). Writing for Variety, critic Justin Chang stated: "Wolff, who's present in just about every scene, manages to hold the center as a young man who isn't overly concerned about either standing out or fitting in, and whose behavior can often be as hesitant as it is impulsive."[23] He starred in the off-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's play Buried Child with Ed Harris and Taissa Farmiga, from February 2 through March 13, 2016.[24]
In 2017, Wolff starred in Death Note, a Netflix film based on the manga of the same name,[25] and the romantic comedy Home Again.[26] [27] In 2018, he appeared in the independent thriller Rosy, directed by Jess Bond,[28] [29] and the drama Stella's Last Weekend, directed by his mother, Polly Draper, and costarring his brother, Alex. In 2019, he appeared in Good Posture, directed by Dolly Wells,[30] and in 2020 appeared in Mortal, directed by André Øvredal.[31]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Nat Wolff / Himself | |||
| 2011 | New Year's Eve | Walter | ||
| Special Things To Do | Cliff Finley | Short film | ||
| Peace, Love & Misunderstanding | Jake Hudson | |||
| 2012 | Stuck in Love | Rusty Borgens | ||
| 2013 | Admission | Jeremiah Balakian | ||
| The Last Keepers | Simon | |||
| Palo Alto | Fred | |||
| 2014 | The Fault in Our Stars | Isaac | ||
| Behaving Badly | Rick Stevens | |||
| 2015 | Grandma | Cam | ||
| Ashby | Ed Wallis | |||
| Paper Towns | Quentin "Q" Jacobsen | |||
| The Intern | Justin | |||
| 2016 | In Dubious Battle | Jim Nolan | ||
| 2017 | Leap! | Victor | Voice role | |
| Death Note | Light Turner | |||
| Home Again | Teddy Dorsey | |||
| 2018 | Rosy | Doug | ||
| Stella's Last Weekend | Jack | |||
| 2019 | The Kill Team | Andrew Briggman | ||
| Good Posture | Jon | |||
| Semper Fi | Oyster | |||
| 2020 | Mortal | Eric | ||
| Body Cam | Danny | |||
| Mainstream | Jake | |||
| 2021 | The Great Gatsby Live Read! | Jay Gatsby | ||
| 2022 | Murder at Yellowstone City | Young Jim Ambrose | ||
| 2023 | Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One | Batman / Bruce Wayne | Voice role[32] | |
| 2024 | Which Brings Me to You | Will | Also producer[33] [34] | |
| Pavements | Scott Kannberg | [35] | ||
| TBA | Play Dirty | TBA | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–2009 | The Naked Brothers Band | Nat Wolff / Himself | Main cast; 42 episodes | |
| 2009 | Mr. Troop Mom | Nat Wolff / Himself | Television film | |
| 2017 | Room 104 | Elder Joseph | Episode: "The Missionaries" | |
| 2020–21 | The Stand | Lloyd Henreid | Television miniseries; main cast | |
| 2022 | Joe vs. Carole | Travis Maldonado | Limited series[36] | |
| 2023 | The Consultant | Craig | Main cast; 8 episodes |
| Year | Song | Artist | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | "Graduation" | Benny Blanco, Juice Wrld | Jasper | ||
| 2024 | "Chihiro" | Love-interest |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Buried Child | Vince | The New Group | |
| 2023 | The Seagull/Woodstock, NY | Kevin | ||
Soundtrack albums as part of the TV series The Naked Brothers Band
Studio albums as duo Nat & Alex Wolff
Singles
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Hamptons International Film Festival | Audience Award – Family Feature Film | ||
| 2007 | BMI Awards | Cable Award | The Naked Brothers Band | |
| 2008 | Young Artist Awards | Best Young Ensemble Performance in a TV Series | ||
| 2009 | Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actor | |||
| Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Television Actor | |||
| 2010 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actor | ||
| 2014 | Young Hollywood Awards | Breakthrough Actor | Himself | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Scene Stealer | The Fault in Our Stars | ||
| Choice Movie: Chemistry (with Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley) | ||||
| 2015 | Choice Summer Movie Star: Male | Paper Towns | ||
| CinemaCon Awards | Rising Star | Himself | ||