Sean Nelson (actor)

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Sean Nelson
Born (1980-05-09) May 9, 1980 (age 43)
Bronx, New York
, U.S.
OccupationActor
External image
image icon Sean Nelson IMDb photo

Sean Nelson (born May 9, 1980) is an American actor.[1] Nelson began his career as a child actor, receiving notice after his film debut in Fresh (1994), as the eponymous title character.

Major roles in American Buffalo (1996) and The Wood (1999) followed, in addition to Nelson playing the recurring role of Jesse Bayliss on drama Sisters (1995−96). Nelson has continued acting in adulthood, predominantly in independent films and small roles on television.

Nelson has won an

Sundance Film Festival Award
, both for his role in Fresh.

Early life

Nelson was born in the

Bronx, New York,[2] in a working class family.[3] He is the son of Aubrey, a mechanical engineer, and Sonia Nelson.[4]

In 1988, he enrolled at a local acting school. Nelson's mother had originally wanted her son to learn the piano and take voice lessons, but the instructor decided Nelson should study acting instead.[3] As a teenager, Nelson attended the Professional Performing Arts School.[3] Nelson studied film at Temple University[5] and he graduated by 2007.[6]

Career

By the age of 10, he landed a role in the off-Broadway play Hey Little Walter.[2] He made his TV debut in a 1992 episode of the NBC series Here and Now starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Nelson appeared on stage as Steve in a 1994 production of The Shadow Box.[7]

Nelson made his film debut in Fresh (1994),[8] appearing as the lead character Michael (who goes by Fresh), a young boy who works for two drug dealers.[9] The film's director, Boaz Yakin, had originally dismissed Nelson after his first audition, but a casting director convinced Yakin to give Nelson another audition, and Nelson won the part.[10]

His performance in the film was met with positive reception, with reviewers describing Nelson as "vibrant,"

Sundance Film Festival Award[10] in addition to the Independent Spirit Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.[2] Nelson was the inaugural honoree for the latter. He also received a Young Artist Award nomination for his work on Fresh.[14]

Throughout the 1990s, he appeared in guest roles on crime dramas

The Deseret News stated Nelson was able to "hold his own" alongside the more experienced actors.[17] Nelson would later reprise his role of Bobby in a theater production of American Buffalo (2005).[1]

He portrayed young Mike in The Wood (1999), with one reviewer opining Nelson was the strongest of the three young actors in the film.[18] Stephen Holden of The New York Times believed Nelson provided poignancy to the film.[19] Nelson performed as DeAndre McCullough, the son of divorced drug addicts, in the HBO miniseries The Corner (2000).[20] Tom Shales, a reviewer for The Washington Post, claimed Nelson was "magnetic" in the role of DeAndre.[21]

Nelson appeared in the 2004 short film Date as James,[22] and portrayed Willie in Stake Land (2010).[23] Nelson was Charlie, a teenager newly released from juvenile hall, in the 2005 miniseries Miracle's Boys.[24] Some of his film work as an adult includes The Gospel (2005) and Premium (2006). Nelson has guest starred on television series Elementary (2014), The Good Wife (2015), and Blue Bloods (2022).

Filmography

Television

References

  1. ^
    Boston Globe. 3 August 2005. Archived from the original
    on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b c "Buffalo co-star is a serious teen actor". Bartow Press. October 7, 1996. p. 8.
  3. ^ a b c Onishi, Norimitsu (September 18, 1994). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: WAKEFIELD; At 14, Lessons in Film Success: Bronx Actor Is Wary of Fame". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  4. The Los Angeles Times
    . Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  5. ^ Flaherty, Mike (April 14, 2000). "Newcomer Sean Nelson on the rise". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  6. .
  7. .
  8. ^ Webster, Dan (September 30, 1994). "Film offers a 'Fresh' approach to moviemaking". The Spokesman-Review. p. 14.
  9. The Free-Lance Star
    . p. D1.
  10. ^ a b Gaul, Lou (September 2, 1994). "Real kids act in movies". The Beaver County Times. p. 4.
  11. ^ Vancheri, Barbara (August 31, 1994). "Vibrant characters give 'Fresh' meaning". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C-5.
  12. ^ Stewart, Sarah (September 12, 1994). "'Fresh' and frighteningly realistic". The Michigan Daily. p. 9.
  13. ^ Potts, Jackie (September 23, 1994). "Chilling urban drama fueled by hope, not rage". Boca Raton News. p. 8E.
  14. Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original
    on August 20, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  15. ^ Michaels, Taylor (July 8, 2000). "Alexander of 'Corner' is a 'NewsRadio' alumna". The Dispatch. p. 17.
  16. ^ Turan, Kenneth (September 27, 1996). "Dull 'American Buffalo' not worth nickel". The Sunday Gazette. p. D21.
  17. The Deseret News
    . Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  18. The Free-Lance Star
    . p. F2.
  19. ^ Holden, Stephen (July 16, 1999). "FILM REVIEW; When Loss Of Virginity Is the Birth Of Love". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  20. Warsaw Times-Union
    . p. 5.
  21. Eugene Register-Guard
    . p. 4.
  22. .
  23. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (April 21, 2011). "Bringing On the Vampires in 'Stake Land'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  24. ^ Caramanica, Jon (February 13, 2005). "A Boys' Choir of Consultants". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2022.

External links