Nat Wolff

Nathaniel Marvin Wolff Bio

Nathaniel Marvin Wolff, known professionally as Nat Wolff, is an American actor, musician, and singer-songwriter who first attracted national attention as a child composer and performer for the Nickelodeon series The Naked Brothers Band. Born in Los Angeles on December 17, 1994, Wolff starred alongside his younger brother Alex in the popular mockumentary series and released two soundtrack albums that charted on the Billboard 200 rankings. Following the conclusion of that show, Wolff transitioned into mainstream film with leading and supporting roles in major motion pictures, establishing himself as one of the most versatile young actors of his generation.

Wolff has built an impressive body of work that spans music, film, and theater. He continues to release albums with his brother as the duo Nat & Alex Wolff, and he has taken on dramatic and comedic roles in films directed by some of Hollywood’s most respected filmmakers, including Scott Frank and Greta Gerwig. His career demonstrates a rare commitment to pursuing creative interests across multiple disciplines, with each project building upon the momentum of the last.

Early Life and Background

Nathaniel Marvin Wolff was born on December 17, 1994, in Los Angeles, California, to jazz musician Michael Wolff and actress Polly Draper. He is the older brother of actor and musician Alex Wolff, and his extended family includes venture capitalist and civic leader William Henry Draper III as his maternal grandfather, and banker and diplomat William Henry Draper Jr. as his great-grandfather. His uncle is venture capitalist Tim Draper, and his cousin is TV personality and venture capitalist Jesse Draper. Wolff was raised in a culturally Jewish household; his father is Jewish and his mother is from a Christian background.

Wolff displayed musical talent from an extraordinary early age, teaching himself to play major and minor chords on the piano by the age of 4 and beginning to compose his own songs shortly thereafter. As a preschooler, he formed a band with his friends called The Silver Boulders, and he continued to develop his craft throughout his childhood. He was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, which he inherited from his father. His early exposure to the performing arts came through his mother’s career, and he began appearing in off-Broadway productions at a very young age, performing frequently at the Improv Comedy Club in Manhattan, New York.

Path to Actor

Wolff began his professional acting career off-Broadway with minor roles in his mother’s plays Getting into Heaven (2003) and Heartbeat to Baghdad (2004), both staged at The Flea Theater in Manhattan, New York. By the age of 8, he had placed a sign on his bedroom door expressing his desire to become a child actor, which prompted his mother to suggest filming a home movie called Don’t Eat Off My Plate alongside his brother Alex. The two young boys climbed out of their bathtub as toddlers and referred to themselves as the naked brothers band, which inspired the concept and title for the project.

When he was 7 years old, Wolff held a birthday party outside his apartment following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, where he and his band performed a benefit concert featuring a self-composed song called Firefighters. The event raised over $46,000 for the families of New York City Fire Department Squad 18. The home movie that began as a family project evolved into The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie, which screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005 when Wolff was 9 years old. A former Nickelodeon executive purchased the film as the pilot for a television series, launching Wolff’s national career.

Nathaniel Marvin Wolff Career

Early Career (2003–2012)

Wolff’s first professional roles came through off-Broadway theater in New York City, where he appeared in his mother’s plays at The Flea Theater and performed regularly at the Improv Comedy Club. His musical development during this period was accelerated by his father’s guidance in the studio, and by age 9 he had composed Crazy Car, a track that would eventually appear on the Billboard Hot 100 rankings and make him one of the youngest composers ever to achieve that milestone. The Naked Brothers Band film won him an Audience Award for a Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005, providing early critical recognition of his dual talents as an actor and musician.

The success of the film led to The Naked Brothers Band television series, which aired on Nickelodeon from 2007 to 2009 and was created, written, and directed by his mother Polly Draper. Wolff’s father co-starred in the series and produced its soundtrack albums, which reached the 23rd spot on the Billboard 200 chart. He wrote the song Yes We Can at age 13 as a tribute to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and the then-Senator and his daughters personally called to express their appreciation for the work. When the network proposed extending production into the school year, Wolff’s parents chose to end the series after three seasons so that he and his brother could continue their education at a private school in New York City.

Breakthrough (2013–2015)

Wolff made a significant transition from child star to serious film actor with his roles in Admission (2013) alongside Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, and Palo Alto (2013), directed by Greta Gerwig, which earned him critical attention for his dramatic performance. He then appeared in Behaving Badly (2014) and landed a breakthrough role in The Fault in Our Stars (2014), the adaptation of John Green’s bestselling novel, where he played the loyal best friend to Shailene Woodley’s character. The film was both a box-office success and a critical hit, and Wolff won two Teen Choice Awards for his performance, including Choice Movie: Scene Stealer and Choice Movie: Chemistry.

Wolff followed his success in The Fault in Our Stars with a leading role in Paper Towns (2015), another John Green adaptation directed by Jake Schreier, in which he played the protagonist Quentin Jacobsen. The film further established his ability to carry a major motion picture and demonstrated his range across comedic and dramatic material. In the same year, he starred in the independent drama Ashby, directed by Tony McNamara, playing a high school student who befriends a retired CIA operative played by Mickey Rourke. He received a CinemaCon Award for Rising Star in 2015, honoring his ascent in the entertainment industry.

Notable Works and Milestones

Wolff’s career-defining period from 2013 to 2015 included five major film releases: Admission, Palo Alto, The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, and Ashby. The twin Teen Choice Awards wins for The Fault in Our Stars in 2014 represent his most significant industry recognition to date, acknowledging both his scene-stealing performance and his on-screen chemistry. His work in Paper Towns in 2015, as the lead actor in a major studio adaptation of a beloved young adult novel, marked a clear turning point in his career toward more substantial dramatic roles.

Nathaniel Marvin Wolff Award Nominations

Wolff has earned five award nominations across his career, spanning television, film, and music categories. His earliest nominations came from his work on The Naked Brothers Band, which generated recognition from the Young Artist Awards and the Kids’ Choice Awards. His transition to film brought additional nominations and established him as a respected performer across different genres and mediums.

Nathaniel Marvin Wolff Awards Won

Wolff has won two awards during his career, with additional recognition for his work as a musician and actor. His first major award came in 2005 when The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie received an Audience Award for a Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival. He also earned a BMI Cable Award in 2007 for composing the music for the television series The Naked Brothers Band. His most recent major wins came in 2014 with two Teen Choice Awards for The Fault in Our Stars in the categories of Scene Stealer and Chemistry.

Nathaniel Marvin Wolff Family

Wolff is the son of jazz musician and composer Michael Wolff and actress, writer, and director Polly Draper. He has one sibling, his younger brother Alex Wolff, who is also an actor and musician and performed alongside him in The Naked Brothers Band and in several film projects, including Stella’s Last Weekend, which was written and directed by their mother. His extended family includes his maternal grandfather William Henry Draper III, a venture capitalist and civic leader, and his great-grandfather William Henry Draper Jr., a banker and diplomat. His uncle is venture capitalist Tim Draper, and his cousin is TV personality and venture capitalist Jesse Draper.

Personal Life

Wolff was raised in a culturally Jewish household, as his father is Jewish and his mother is from a Christian background. He has been open about living with Tourette’s syndrome, a condition he inherited from his father. In June 2025, Wolff began a relationship with singer and songwriter Billie Eilish, and the couple made their red carpet debut together at the Los Angeles premiere of her concert film in May 2026.