Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff attend W Magazine’s Annual Best Performances Party on January 05, 2024.Photo:Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Nat andAlex Wolffhave come a long way since their days onNickelodeon.
Nat was born to musician Michael Wolff and actress Polly Draper on Dec. 17, 1994. He became a big brother when his parents welcomed Alex on Nov. 1, 1997. From a young age, the siblings gravitated toward the entertainment industry, with Nat leading the charge via musical performances and Off-Broadway appearances.
Since then, the brothers have continued making music and learning from each other. “We bothpush in different directionsand we don’t go exactly down the same road. In that way, I think it’s an interesting counterpoint,” Nat told PEOPLE in 2024.
Here’s everything to know about Nat and Alex Wolff’s sibling relationship, including their shared passion for acting and music.
Nat and Alex’s parents are creatives themselves
Nat and Alex Wolff with their parents Polly Draper and Michael Wolff at the ‘Stella’s Last Weekend’ New York premiere on October 8, 2018.Desiree Navarro/Getty
Desiree Navarro/Getty
Their father, Michael, is an accomplished jazz pianist and composer who has performed with over two dozen symphonies throughout his illustrious career, according tohis website. He was the bandleader and musical director onThe Arsenio Hall Showfrom 1989 to 1994.
“It’s got a lot of irreverence and a lot of reality,” Polly toldThe New York Timesin 2007 of the show. She also shared insight about creating her husband’s character, saying, “I write him like a kid and the kids like the adults. The adults make total fools of themselves, and the kids love it.”
They grew up in New York City
Nat and Alex Wolff as kids.Nat and Alex Wolff Instagram
Nat and Alex Wolff Instagram
“New York is inspiring. New York is alive. … New York also is family to me, because it’s where our parents are. It’s the home base,” Alex toldV Magazinein 2021.
Nat explained that he felt the same sense of togetherness in the city during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“New York got hit so hard …There was a community feeling that that happened after 9/11, when we were kids,” he toldV Magazine. “That happened again in the last year, where people in New York feel more bonded together.”
L. Busacca/WireImage
The title that started their careers in Hollywood originated when the brothers were young and climbed out of the bathtub while announcing, “We’re the Naked Brothers Band."
According to a 2007 interview withThe Boston Globe, Nat wanted to be a child actor, but Polly thought it would be “too brutal” for him, so she helped him record a show as a compromise.
“Nat decided he wanted to film his own sitcom, so we did a film called ‘Don’t Eat Off My Plate,’ ” Polly toldThe New York Times. “I pretended to interview his friends and do a documentary.”
With a budget under $1 million, the movie was filmed over five weeks in 2004 using friends and family. “We would sneak into locations and run,” she said of the filming process.
To tie everything together, Nat followed in his dad’s steps, and he wrote all the music for the project.
Nat and Alex are still making music together as adults
Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff at the ‘The Kill Team’ premiere during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
After the end of their show in 2009, they continued pursuing music as a duo. Their debut studio album under Nat & Alex Wolff,Black Sheep, hit shelves in October 2011.Throwbacksfollowed in October 2013, a soundtrack comprised of unreleased songs recorded during their time on Nickelodeon.
They dropped an EP,Public Places, in December 2016 and followed it up with their sophomore album,Table For Two, in June 2023.
“I think it has more of a sound than anything we’ve ever done. … a more cohesive sound even though the songs are really different and the production can be different,” Alex told PEOPLE of their latest project.
He continued, “It doesn’t sound as much like my song or Nat’s song. It sounds like our songs, and I think we’re going to keep changing our sound every album.”
Although their tour for the album, which kicked off with a Boston show in January 2024, is their first together since 2012, some things haven’t changed. The brothers have carried over a tradition of a pre-show chant, which Nat says, “We’ve been doing thatsince we were little kids.”
They costarred in a movie
Nat and Alex Wolff with Paulina Singer in ‘Stella’s Last Weekend’.Paladin / courtesy Everett
Paladin / courtesy Everett
“Both characters aren’t really us. There are aspects of our personality that through like three years or four years of talking about the script and reading different drafts we kind of pushed our characters into the directions,” Nat said in an interview withBUILD Series.
The following year, Alex made his directorial debut withThe Cat and the Moon. The film premiered in 2019 at the San Antonio Film Festival and stars Alex, along with Skyler Gisondo and Mike Epps.
Nat and Alex are supportive of each other
Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff attends the “Hereditary” New York Screening on June 5, 2018.Nicholas Hunt/Getty
Nicholas Hunt/Getty
Like many siblings do, Nat told PEOPLE that he and Alex aren’t always on the same page, “but we don’t fight when we’re making music together.”
“We know each other very well and we look out for each other’s strong suits and pitfalls,” Alex explained. “It’s hard to explain except that’s probably why it’s best done in music. It’s not something intellectual. It’s more something musical.”
Nat also noted that they ultimately “end up meeting in the middle” while working together.
Alex added, “If you’re there, you can understand what starts to happen between the two of us. We can balance each other out. And also, it’s very natural. It’s not a conscious thing where we’re trying to manage each other or clip each other’s wings. It’s really filling in the blanks.”
source: people.com
