Alex Wolff

This article is about the actor. For Alex Woolf the medieval historian, see Alex Woolf. For the sportswriter, see Alexander Wolff.

Alex Wolff
Wolff in 2019
Born	Alexander Draper Wolff (1997-11-01) November 1, 1997 (age 26) New York City, U.S.
Occupations	Actor musician filmmaker
Years active	2005–present
Parents	Michael Wolff Polly Draper
Relatives	Nat Wolff (brother) William Henry Draper Jr. (great-grandfather) William Henry Draper III (grandfather) Tim Draper (uncle) Jesse Draper (cousin)
Musical career
Genres	Pop rock indie bubblegum pop
Instrument(s)	Vocals drums guitar keyboards
Labels	Columbia Nick Sony BMG SaddleUp RED
Member of	Nat & Alex Wolff
Formerly of	The Naked Brothers Band

Alexander Draper Wolff (born November 1, 1997)^[1] is an American actor, musician, and filmmaker. He first gained recognition for starring alongside his older brother Nat in the Nickelodeon musical comedy series The Naked Brothers Band (2007–09), which was created by the boys' mother Polly Draper. Wolff and his brother released two soundtrack albums for the series, The Naked Brothers Band and I Don't Want to Go to School, which were co-produced by their father Michael Wolff. Subsequent to the conclusion of the Nickelodeon series, Wolff and his older brother formed a duo called Nat & Alex Wolff, and released the albums Black Sheep (2011), Public Places (2016) and Table for Two (2023). The brothers also co-starred in their mother's comedy-drama film Stella's Last Weekend (2018).

Wolff focused his career on film roles, portraying Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Patriots Day (2016) and John "Derf" Backderf in My Friend Dahmer (2017). His other acting roles include My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), and Hereditary (2018). Wolff made his directorial debut with the drama film The Cat and the Moon (2019).

Early life

Wolff was born in Manhattan, New York City,^[1] to actress and writer Polly Draper and jazz pianist Michael Wolff. He is the younger brother of actor and musician Nat Wolff. His father is Jewish^[2][3][4] and his mother is Christian.^[5] Wolff is a maternal grandson of venture capitalist and civic leader William Henry Draper III,^[6] a nephew of venture capitalist Tim Draper,^[7] a cousin of actress Jesse Draper,^[8] and a great-grandson of banker and diplomat William Henry Draper Jr.^[9][10]

Career

Wolff began his acting career at the age of 6 in the 2005 musical comedy film The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie, written and directed by his mother. It was commissioned by Nickelodeon as the pilot to the television series The Naked Brothers Band (2007–2009) which was also created, produced, written and directed by his mother.^[8][11] 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 and the song "Crazy Car" ranked #83 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

In 2007, he portrayed the young boy in the Fall Out Boy music video "The Take Over, the Breaks Over". Wolff 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 starred in his playwriting 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).^[12]

In 2015, he 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, Wolff starred in the supernatural horror film Hereditary. He made his directorial debut with 2019's The Cat and the Moon, which he also wrote and starred in.^[13]

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.^[14][15]

Awards

For Wolff's work on The Naked Brothers Band series and film, he obtained a Broadcast Music, Inc. Cable Award in 2007, Audience Award for a Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005,^[16] and was nominated for a Young Artist Award both in 2008 and 2009.^[17][18] 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.^[19] On October 11, 2018, Wolff received the Auteur Award at the San Diego International Film Festival.^[20]

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.^[21]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie	Alex Wolff
2011	From Up on Poppy Hill	Riku Matsuzaki (voice)	English dub
	The Sitter	Clayton
2012	The Empty Room	Allen	Short film
2013	A Birder's Guide to Everything	Timmy Barsky
	Hair Brained	Eli Pettifog
2015	Coming Through the Rye	Jamie Schwartz
	Boots	Noah	Short film
2016	My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2	Bennett
	The Standoff	Zane
	Patriots Day	Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
2017	Thoroughbreds	Party Friend	Uncredited
	The House of Tomorrow	Jared Whitcomb
	My Friend Dahmer	John 'Derf' Backderf
	Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	Spencer Gilpin
2018	Hereditary	Peter Graham
	Dude	Noah
	Stella's Last Weekend	Oliver
2019	The Cat and the Moon	Nick	Also writer and director
	Castle in the Ground	Henry
	Bad Education	Nick Fleishman
	Human Capital	Ian
	Jumanji: The Next Level	Spencer Gilpin
2021	Pig	Amir
	Old	Trent
2023	A Good Person	Mark
	The Line[22]	Tom
	Oppenheimer	Luis Walter Alvarez
2024	A Quiet Place: Day One	Reuben	Post-production[23]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007–2009	The Naked Brothers Band	Alex Wolff	Main cast
2009	Mr. Troop Mom	Alex Wolff	Television film
2009	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"
2017	Crash & Burn	Gabriel	Television pilot
TBA	So Long, Marianne	Leonard Cohen	In production[24]

References

1. "Alex Wolff: Biography". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
2. Seidel, Mitchell (September 1, 2007). "Michael Wolff". JazzTimes. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
3. "Celebrity Jews". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. May 18, 2007. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
4. Smason, Alan (March 8, 2013). "Jeff Berlin to Join Wolff and Clark Expedition Here". Crescent City Jewish News. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
5. Smason, Alan (November 2, 2006). "Cleveland Set to Enjoy Smooth Jazz Stylings of Michael Wolff". Cleveland Jewish News. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
6. Europa Publications (2003). The International Who's Who 2004. Routledge. p. 454. ISBN 1857432177.
7. Saracevic, Al (January 26, 2007). "The Technology Chronicles: Six Degrees of Tim Draper". SFGate. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
8. Lee, Felicia R. (January 25, 2007). "A TV Family Bound by Blood and a Band". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 5, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
9. Lim, Jason (June 3, 2011). "Baidu Early Investor, Tim Draper Is the Risk Master". TechNode.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
10. P.V, Sahad (October 16, 2008). "Next Tech Giant Will Be a Cellphone Application Company: Tim Draper". VCCircle.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
11. Steinberg, Jacques (September 22, 2007). "Famous for Playing Rock Stars". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
12. "Alex Wolff – Filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2015. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
13. Couch, Aaron (March 12, 2018). "Alex Wolff Sets Cast for Directorial Debut 'The Cat and the Moon' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018.
14. "Young Hollywood Actors Perform Online for Charity". BBC News. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
15. Acting for a Cause (TV Series 2020– ) - IMDb, archived from the original on June 11, 2020, retrieved September 18, 2020
16. "Naked Brothers Band TV Movie: Awards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
17. "29th Annual Awards 2008". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
18. "30th Annual 2009 Nominations and Recipients". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
19. "2013 Winners". Brooklyn International Film Festival. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
20. Gray, Tim (August 29, 2018). "Alex Wolff, Dominique Fishback to Receive San Diego Festival Honors". Variety. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
21. Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations" Archived August 29, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. ET Canada, March 30, 2021.
22. "'The Line' Review: A Chilling, Nuanced Look at Fraternity Culture | Tribeca 2023". Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
23. DiVincenzo, Alex (May 9, 2024). "New A Quiet Place: Day One Trailer Teases The End Of Days In NYC". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
24. Whittock, Jesse (April 13, 2023). "'So Long, Marianne': Alex Wolff to Play Leonard Cohen As Crave Boards NRK Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Alex Wolff at IMDb