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[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Genres	Pop, rock, indie, bubblegum pop
Occupation(s)	Actor, musician, singer-songwriter, composer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Columbia Records (2007–2008) Nick Records (2007–2008) Sony BMG Music Entertainment (2007–2008) SaddleUp Records (2011–present) RED Music (2011–present)
Website	natnalex.com

Nathaniel Marvin "Nat" Wolff (born December 17, 1994)^[1] is an American actor, singer-songwriter, composer, keyboardist, and guitarist. Wolff gained recognition for starring in and composing the music for the Nickelodeon musical comedy series The Naked Brothers Band (2007–09) which was created and produced by his actress mother Polly Draper; the series earned him a Broadcast Music, Inc. Cable Award in 2007. He is also known for his portrayal of Isaac in the theatrical film The Fault in Our Stars (2014) which won him two Teen Choice Awards.

Wolff's jazz pianist father Michael Wolff co-produced two of his and his brother's soundtrack albums titled The Naked Brothers Band (2007) and I Don't Want to Go to School (2008); the former of which ranked number 23 on the Top 200 Billboard Charts. Nat and his younger actor and musician brother Alex Wolff, who also co-starred in the series, formed a duo called Nat & Alex Wolff and they released an album titled Black Sheep in 2011.

Personal life

Wolff was born in Los Angeles, California, to jazz pianist Michael Wolff and actress Polly Draper.^[1] He is the older brother of actor/musician and singer-songwriter Alex Wolff. His maternal grandfather is venture capitalist and civic leader William Henry Draper III,^[2] and is also the nephew of venture capitalist Tim Draper,^[3] cousin of actress Jesse Draper,^[4] and great-grandson of banker and diplomat William Henry Draper Jr.^[5][6] His father is Jewish, while his mother is from a Christian background; Wolff was brought up "culturally Jewish."^[7][8] He was raised in New York City, and has stated that in his spare time he likes to play basketball, write music, and play with the family's dog, E.T.

Career

Wolff at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival

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,^[9] "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.‍ '​" By age 5, he started writing his own songs, and by the time he was in preschool, he constructed a band called The Silver Boulders alongside 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 playwrighting 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 had 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 (2007-2009) 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 Top 200 Billboard Charts. Wolff, who was 6 when he wrote the song, is believed to be the youngest person ever to compose a charting song on the Top 200 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's other film credits include appearing in the Nickelodeon TV movie 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 playwright What Would Woody Do? at The Flea Theater. Wolff co-starred in in the comedy film Admission (2013) and the comedy film Behaving Badly in 2014. That same year, his role in the drama film The Fault in Our Stars earned him two Teen Choice Awards in the categories of Movie Scene Stealer and Chemistry.^[14] Wolff is also set to appear as Q in a forthcoming adaptation of Paper Towns.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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