Entertainment

Who Is Nat Wolff From 'Paper Towns?'

by Maitri Suhas

If you're a John Green fan/The Fault In Our Stars devotee, you've probably already watched the new trailer for Paper Towns a half a dozen times. As Bustle's Alyse Whitney noted, Paper Towns is about a full 180 degree turn from TFIOS, and the trailer starring Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff is promising that Paper Towns is gonna be fun and mysterious with a great soundtrack. You probably already know Delevingne from her modeling career and her friendship with Taylor Swift, but you might not recognize her co-star Nat Wolff, so who exactly is he?

Even though you might only vaguely remember his face in an "I've seen him somewhere" sort of way, it looks like he's about to blow up, and he's had a long acting and music career already at the age of only 20 years old.

You might know Wolff from his performance in — you guessed it — The Fault In Our Stars! The young actor/singer/songwriter played a supporting role as Isaac, Augustus' (Ansel Elgort) best friend who is blind. He was pretty phenomenal, winning two Teen Choice Awards for playing Isaac and securing his spot as the lead in Paper Towns. Wolff told MTV that Isaac was "the hardest part he's ever done."

But that's not his only claim to fame. Wolff played a role in director Gia Coppola's film based on James Franco's short story collection of the same name, Palo Alto. If you didn't see it, Wolff plays a bad boy high-schooler (see: jerk) named Fred who loves to drink and smoke, and who gets mixed up with April (Emma Roberts) and her friends. He does a great job playing a troubled kid who you hate, but also feel really horrible for. It's a pretty intense performance that and Wolff was praised for it. He said in an interview with Indie Wire about playing Fred,

I guess in that character it was thinking about kids who I went to high school with who were really self-destructive and also finding part in that part of myself that's self-destructive and the part of myself that needs a lot of attention and kind of aspects of myself that I like to keep hidden.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Wolff had a career that started long before his recent film roles, and it's pretty interesting. He was born into an entertainment family and is the son of actress, writer, and director Polly Draper, whose most recent role was as Jenny Slate's mother in the amazing film Obvious Child. Draper wrote and directed The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie in 2005, starring Wolff and his brother Alex in a musical comedy mockumentary about a band with a rift. It was such a hit that it was turned into a Nickelodeon TV series in 2007.

But my favorite fact about Nat Wolff is that in 2001, after the horrific September 11 attacks, he held a benefit concert on his birthday outside of his family's apartment in New York City which ended up going verywell. The benefit reportedly raised over $46,000 for the New York City Fire Department. And all when he was just a little kid!

Wolff is one to watch, and his starring role in Paper Towns is sure to bring him into a bright spotlight, even though he's been entertaining for his entire life.

Image: Getty Images