Alex Wolff
American actor and musician (born 1997)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexander Draper Wolff (born November 1, 1997)[1] is an American actor, musician, and singer-songwriter. He first gained recognition for starring alongside his older brother, Nat, in the Nickelodeon musical comedy series The Naked Brothers Band (2007–2009) that was created by his mother, Polly Draper. Wolff's 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 were placed on the Billboard 200 charts.
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November 1, 1997
- Actor
- musician
Alex Wolff | |
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Wolff in 2019 | |
| Born | Alexander Draper Wolff November 1, 1997 New York City, U.S. |
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| Years active | 2005–present |
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| Musical career | |
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| Member of | Nat & Alex Wolff |
| Formerly of | The Naked Brothers Band |
After the Nickelodeon series ended, Wolff and his brother formed a music duo called Nat & Alex Wolff, and they released the albums Black Sheep (2011), Public Places (2016) and Table for Two (2023). He focused his career on film roles, portraying Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Patriots Day (2016) and John "Derf" Backderf in My Friend Dahmer (2017). Wolff made his directorial debut with the drama film The Cat and the Moon (2019). His other acting roles include My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Hereditary (2018), Pig (2021), Old (2021), and A Quiet Place: Day One (2024).
Early life
Wolff was born on November 1, 1997, in Manhattan, New York,[1] to actress and filmmaker Polly Draper and jazz musician Michael Wolff. He is the younger brother of actor and musician Nat Wolff. His father is Jewish[2][3][4] and mother is Christian.[5] Wolff is a cousin to actress and venture capitalist Jesse Draper,[6] nephew of venture capitalist Tim Draper,[7] maternal grandson to venture capitalist and civic leader William Henry Draper III,[8] and great-grandson of banker and diplomat William Henry Draper Jr.[9][10]
Wolff has Tourette's syndrome that he inherited from his father.[11]
When he and his older brother were toddlers, they climbed out of the bathtub and called themselves "the naked brothers band", which inspired the name of the subsequent Nickelodeon TV series.[6] As a young child, Wolff taught himself how to play the saxophone, as well as drums by viewing footage of Ringo Starr.
Although the Nickelodeon TV show The Naked Brothers Band remained successful over three seasons, his parents decided to cancel the series in 2009.[12]
It was a confusing thing, it wasn't really canceled. They wanted us to do a couple movies for them, but we didn't really want to do that," Wolff explains. "Or, they wanted us to do 60 episodes during the school year, but my parents wanted us to go to school, so we couldn't do that. They didn't want to keep doing what we were doing."[12] - Nat Wolff
From the beginning, their parents were hesitant to expose him and his brother to stardom at a young age[13] and later agreed to the series spin-off on the provision that filming would take place only during the summer and early fall, which allowed him and his brother to proceed with their enrollment at private school in New York City.[14][15][16]
Career
Wolff began his acting career at the age of 6 in the musical comedy film The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie that was written and directed by his mother and screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005.
It was not until he was 9 years old that he gained fame after the film was commissioned by a former Nickelodeon executive as the pilot to the television series The Naked Brothers Band (2007–2009), which was also created, showran, written, and directed by his mother.[6][16] He contributed lyrics, vocals, and instrumentation for both the film and series; their father produced and supervised the music. The show released two soundtrack albums that were placed on the Billboard 200 charts and the song "Crazy Car" ranked #83 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
In 2007, Wolff portrayed the young boy in the Fall Out Boy music video "The Take Over, the Breaks Over". He made a cameo in the Nickelodeon TV movie Mr. Troop Mom and the USA police-procedural, comedic television drama Monk, both in 2009. He also wrote and starred in the play What Would Woody Do? at The Flea Theater—which was directed by his mother—and the HBO medical drama In Treatment, both in 2010. Wolff later appeared in the comedy film The Sitter (2011) and starred alongside Brendan Fraser in the independent film HairBrained (2012).[17]
In 2015, Wolff starred in the indie drama Coming Through the Rye. In 2016, he had a supporting role in the comedy sequel My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and played terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the drama Patriots Day, about the Boston Marathon bombing.
In 2018, he starred in the supernatural horror film Hereditary. He made his directorial debut with The Cat and the Moon (2019), which he also wrote and starred in.[18]
In 2020, Wolff participated in Acting for a Cause, a live classic play and screenplay reading series, created, directed and produced by Brando Crawford. Wolff played Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Warren Straub in This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan. The reading raised funds for non-profit charities including Mount Sinai Medical Center. Wolff co-produced the second reading.[19][20]
Since 2024, he and his brother are touring with Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and musician Billie Eilish as the opening act for her concerts across the United States.[11]
Awards
For Wolff's work on The Naked Brothers Band series and film, he obtained the Audience Award for a Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005,[21] a Broadcast Music, Inc. Cable Award in 2007, and was nominated for a Young Artist Award both in 2008 and 2009.[22][23] He also received a Certificate of Outstanding Achievement for Best Actor at the Brooklyn International Film Festival for his lead role in the film HairBrained in 2013.[24] On October 11, 2018, Wolff received the Auteur Award at the San Diego International Film Festival.[25]
He received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for his performance in the film Castle in the Ground.[26]
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–2009 | The Naked Brothers Band | Alex Wolff | Main cast |
| 2009 | Mr. Troop Mom | Alex Wolff | Television film |
| Monk | Brian Willis | Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes Camping" | |
| 2010 | In Treatment | Max Weston | 7 episodes |
| 2016 | Divorce | Cole | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Red Oaks | Director | Episode: "Summer in the City" |
| Crash & Burn | Gabriel | Television film | |
| 2020 | Acting for a Cause | Algernon / Warren Straub | 2 episodes |
| 2024 | So Long, Marianne | Leonard Cohen | [27] |
| 2025 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Simon | Episode: "Frank Is in a Coma" |
Music videos
| Year | Song | Artist | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | "Lithonia" | Childish Gambino | Drummer |