Nat Wolff

Nat Wolff
Wolff at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Stuck in Love
Background information
Birth name	Nathaniel Marvin Wolff
Born	(1994-12-17) December 17, 1994 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop, rock, indie
Occupation(s)	Actor musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Columbia Records (2007–08) Nick Records (2007–08) Sony BMG (2007–08) SaddleUp Records (2011–present) RED Music (2011–present)
Associated acts	Nat & Alex Wolff The Naked Brothers Band
Website	www.natandalex.com

Nathaniel Marvin "Nat" Wolff (born December 17, 1994)^[1] is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and musician. Wolff gained recognition for composing the music for The Naked Brothers Band (2007–09), 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); the former of which ranked the 23rd spot on the Billboard 200 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.

Personal life

Wolff was born in Los Angeles, California, to jazz pianist Michael Wolff and actress Polly Draper.^[1] He is the older brother to actor/musician and singer-songwriter Alex Wolff. His maternal grandfather is venture capitalist and civic leader William Henry Draper III,^[2] and he is also the nephew of venture capitalist Tim Draper,^[3] cousin to actress Jesse Draper,^[4] and the great-grandson of banker and diplomat William Henry Draper, Jr.^[5][6] His father is Jewish, while his mother is of Christian background; Wolff was brought up "culturally Jewish."^[7][8]

Career

When Nat and his younger brother Alex were toddlers, they arose from the bathtub shouting: "We're the naked brothers band!" 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.'"^[9] 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.^[4]

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.^[10] 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!" At first, his mother refused because she did not want her children exposed to stardom when they were young. As a result, Draper decided to appease Nat by letting him film his own sitcom called Don't Eat Off My Plate.^[11]

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, contributing lead vocals, instrumentation, and lyrics for the 2005 musical comedy film The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie, 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) which was created, written, produced 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 also wrote and performed the music.^[4][12]

The series earned him 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 #23 on the Billboard 200. 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", in honor of President Barack Obama, was heard by the President and his two daughters who enjoyed it and called him.^[13] Prior to the encounter, Nat had the occasion of meeting Obama, who emboldened him to write the composition.^[13]

Wolff at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival

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.^[14]

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 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."^[15] He will star in the Off-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's play Buried Child with Ed Harris and Taissa Farmiga. The production is scheduled to run from February 2 through March 13, 2016.^[16]

Wolff's upcoming film projects include starring roles in Death Note, the American remake of the 2006 Japanese psychological thriller of the same name,^[17] and the independent thriller Rosy to be directed by Jessica Manafort.^[18]

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Albums

Soundtrack albums as part of the TV series The Naked Brothers Band

• 2007: The Naked Brothers Band
• 2008: I Don't Want to Go to School

Studio albums as duo Nat & Alex Wolff

• 2011: Black Sheep

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nat Wolff.

• Nat Wolff at the Internet Movie Database
• Nat Wolff on Twitter