Alex Wolff Biography

American actor and musician Alex Wolff was born in New York City into a family of entertainers. His mother, Polly Draper, is an actress and writer, and his father Michael is a jazz pianist.

Alex found his start in acting fairly early in life when he and his older brother, Nat, starred in the mockumentary film, The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie (2005), written and directed by their mother. This would lead to the boys featuring in their own Nickelodeon musical television series, The Naked Brothers Band, from 2007-2009.

Following the success of the show, Alex knew acting was something he wanted to seriously pursue. In fact, his college admission essay was all about how he feels more himself when he’s acting than any other time. He appeared on several TV shows between 2009 and 2010, including playing himself in the TV movie Mr. Troop Mom (2009), a guest appearance on the hit TV series Monk in 2009 and seven episodes of the HBO drama, In Treatment in 2010.

His first big film role came in the form of a small part in the 20th Century comedy film The Sitter (2011), in which he appeared alongside Jonah Hill and Sam Rockwell. Next he appeared in the indie film A Birder’s Guide to Everything (2013) and the coming-of-age drama Coming Through the Rye (2015). He scored a supporting role in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016) and played terrorist Dzhokar Tsarnaev in the drama Patriots Day (2016), which was based on the Boston Marathon bombing.

In 2017, Alex featured in the Jumanji (1995) reboot, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) as nerdy, teenage outcast Spencer, and also played John Backderf, close friend to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, in My Friend Dahmer (2017).

In 2018, Alex returned to the silver screen in the horror-thriller Hereditary (2018) as Peter Graham, the son in a family seemingly cursed by spirits.

Most recently, he played Luis Alvarez in the Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer (2023) and Reuben in the thriller A Quiet Place: Day One (2024).

Alex plays drums, guitar, piano and the ukelele. He lives in New York City.

Filmography:

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
Oppenheimer (2023)
The Line (2023)
A Good Person (2023)
Susie Searches (2022)
Old (2021)
Pig (2021)
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Human Capital (2019)
Bad Education (2019)
Castle in the Ground (2019)
The Cat and the Moon (2018)
Stella's Last Weekend (2018)
Dude (2018)
Hereditary (2018)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
Thoroughbreds (2017)
The House of Tomorrow (2017)
My Friend Dahmer (2017)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016)
Patriots Day (2016)
Coming Through the Rye (2015)
A Birder’s Guide to Everything (2013)
The Sitter (2011)