Alex Wolff


Alexander Draper Wolff is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and director.
He first gained recognition for starring alongside his older brother Nat in the Nickelodeon musical comedy series The Naked Brothers Band, 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 and Public Places. The brothers also co-starred in their mother's comedy-drama film Stella's Last Weekend.
Wolff focused his career on film roles, portraying Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Patriots Day and John "Derf" Backderf in My Friend Dahmer. His other acting roles include My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, , and Hereditary. Wolff made his directorial debut with the drama film The Cat and the Moon.

Personal life

Wolff was born in Manhattan, New York, 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 and his mother is Christian. Wolff is a maternal grandson of venture capitalist and civic leader William Henry Draper III, a nephew of venture capitalist Tim Draper, a cousin of actress Jesse Draper, and a great-grandson of banker and diplomat William Henry Draper Jr.

Career

Wolff began his acting career at the age of 6 in the 2005 musical comedy film , written and directed by his mother. It was commissioned by Nickelodeon as the pilot to the television series The Naked Brothers Band which was also created, produced, written and directed by his mother. 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 and starred alongside Brendan Fraser in the independent film HairBrained.
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.

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, and was nominated for a Young Artist Award both in 2008 and 2009. 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. On October 11, 2018, Wolff received the Auteur Award at the San Diego International Film Festival.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007'Alex Wolff
2011From Up on Poppy HillRiku Matsuzaki English dub
2011The SitterClayton
2012The Empty RoomAllenShort film
2013A Birder's Guide to EverythingTimmy Barsky
2013Hair BrainedEli Pettifog
2015Coming Through the RyeJamie Schwartz
2015BootsNoahShort film
2016My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2Bennett
2016The StandoffZane
2016Patriots DayDzhokhar Tsarnaev
2017ThoroughbredsParty FriendUncredited
2017The House of TomorrowJared Whitcomb
2017My Friend DahmerJohn 'Derf' Backderf
2017'Spencer Gilpin
2018HereditaryPeter Graham
2018DudeNoah
2018Stella's Last WeekendOliver
2019The Cat and the MoonNickAlso writer and director
2019Castle in the GroundHenry
2019Bad EducationNick Fleischman
2019Human CapitalIan
2019Spencer Gilpin
2020PigAmir

Television