Sean Nelson (actor)

Nelson was born in the Co-op City section of the Bronx, New York,{{cite news|date=October 7, 1996|title=Buffalo co-star is a serious teen actor|page=8|newspaper=Bartow Press}} in a working class family.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/18/nyregion/neighborhood-report-wakefield-14-lessons-film-success-bronx-actor-wary-fame.html|title=NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: WAKEFIELD; At 14, Lessons in Film Success: Bronx Actor Is Wary of Fame|last=Onishi|first=Norimitsu|date=September 18, 1994|website=The New York Times|access-date=October 30, 2022|author-link=Norimitsu Onishi}} He is the son of Aubrey, a mechanical engineer, and Sonia Nelson.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-18-ca-39970-story.html|title=Sean Nelson, the Sundance Kid|last=Tagami|first=Ty|date=September 18, 1994|website=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 30, 2022}}

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. As a teenager, Nelson attended the Professional Performing Arts School. Nelson studied film at Temple University{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2000/04/14/newcomer-sean-nelson-rise/|title=Newcomer Sean Nelson on the rise|last=Flaherty|first=Mike|date=April 14, 2000|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=October 30, 2022}} and he graduated by 2007.{{cite book|last=Hemphill|first=Clara|date=2007|publisher=Teachers College Press|isbn=9780807774472|title=New York City's Best Public High Schools: A Parents' Guide|edition=3rd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XLYCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Sean+Nelson%22+%22Temple+University%22&pg=PT60}}

By the age of 10, he landed a role in the off-Broadway play Hey Little Walter. 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EfYugMlfPLcC&dq=%22Sean+Nelson%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA19|page=19|last=Willis|first=John|author-link=John A. Willis|date=March 2000|title=Theatre World 1994-1995|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9781557832504}}

Nelson made his film debut in Fresh (1994),{{cite news|last=Webster|first=Dan|date=September 30, 1994|title=Film offers a 'Fresh' approach to moviemaking|page=14|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review}} appearing as the lead character Michael (who goes by Fresh), a young boy who works for two drug dealers.{{cite news|last=Arar|first=Yardena|date=September 5, 1994|title='Fresh': A 12-year-old stuck in an ailing culture|page=D1|newspaper=The Free-Lance Star}} 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.{{cite news|last=Gaul|first=Lou|date=September 2, 1994|title=Real kids act in movies|page=4|newspaper=The Beaver County Times}}

His performance in the film was met with positive reception, with reviewers describing Nelson as "vibrant,"{{cite news|last=Vancheri|first=Barbara|date=August 31, 1994|title=Vibrant characters give 'Fresh' meaning|page=C-5|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}} "superb,"{{cite news|last=Stewart|first=Sarah|date=September 12, 1994|title='Fresh' and frighteningly realistic|page=9|newspaper=The Michigan Daily}} and "the key to the movie's success."{{cite news|last=Potts|first=Jackie|date=September 23, 1994|title=Chilling urban drama fueled by hope, not rage|page=8E|newspaper=Boca Raton News}} He earned a Sundance Film Festival Award in addition to the Independent Spirit Award for Best Breakthrough Performance. Nelson was the inaugural honoree for the latter. He also received a Young Artist Award nomination for his work on Fresh.{{cite web|url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms16.htm|title=Sixteenth Annual Youth in Film Awards|website=Young Artist Awards|access-date=October 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820064811/http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms16.htm|archive-date=August 20, 2010}}

Throughout the 1990s, he appeared in guest roles on crime dramas Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, and New York Undercover.{{cite news|last=Michaels|first=Taylor|date=July 8, 2000|title=Alexander of 'Corner' is a 'NewsRadio' alumna|page=17|newspaper=The Dispatch}} Nelson played the role of Bobby in American Buffalo (1996), starring opposite Dennis Franz and Dustin Hoffman.{{cite news|last=Turan|first=Kenneth|date=September 27, 1996|title=Dull 'American Buffalo' not worth nickel|page=D21|newspaper=The Sunday Gazette|author-link=Kenneth Turan}} A movie critic of The Deseret News stated Nelson was able to "hold his own" alongside the more experienced actors.{{cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/1996/9/27/19268100/even-star-power-can-t-save-tedious-american-buffalo|title=EVEN STAR POWER CAN'T SAVE TEDIOUS 'AMERICAN BUFFALO'|last=Vice|first=Jeff|date=September 27, 1996|website=The Deseret News|access-date=October 30, 2022}} Nelson would later reprise his role of Bobby in a theater production of American Buffalo (2005).

He portrayed young Mike in The Wood (1999), with one reviewer opining Nelson was the strongest of the three young actors in the film.{{cite news|last=Hewitt|first=Chris|date=July 18, 1999|title=Movie works well once it gets in gear|page=F2|newspaper=The Free-Lance Star}} Stephen Holden of The New York Times believed Nelson provided poignancy to the film.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/16/movies/film-review-when-loss-of-virginity-is-the-birth-of-love.html|title=FILM REVIEW; When Loss Of Virginity Is the Birth Of Love|last=Holden|first=Stephen|date=July 16, 1999|website=The New York Times|access-date=October 30, 2022|author-link=Stephen Holden}} Nelson performed as DeAndre McCullough, the son of divorced drug addicts, in the HBO miniseries The Corner (2000).{{cite news|last=Greene|first=Josh|date=April 15, 2000|title=The Corner Tells True Story Of Family's Struggle To Persevere|page=5|newspaper=Warsaw Times-Union}} Tom Shales, a reviewer for The Washington Post, claimed Nelson was "magnetic" in the role of DeAndre.{{cite news|last=Shales|first=Tom|date=April 22, 2000|title=Inner-city reality, art meet at 'The Corner'|page=4|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|author-link=Tom Shales}}

Nelson appeared in the 2004 short film Date as James,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5qmplifVDIC&dq=%22Sean+Nelson%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA187|page=187|title=Frame by Frame III: A Filmography of the African Diasporan Image, 1994-2004|last=Thomas McClauskey|first=Audrey|date=2007|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253348296}} and portrayed Willie in Stake Land (2010).{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/movies/in-stake-land-jim-mickle-brings-on-the-vampires-review.html|title=Bringing On the Vampires in 'Stake Land'|last=Catsoulis|first=Jeannette|date=April 21, 2011|website=The New York Times|access-date=October 30, 2022}} Nelson was Charlie, a teenager newly released from juvenile hall, in the 2005 miniseries Miracle's Boys.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/arts/television/a-boys-choir-of-consultants.html|title=A Boys' Choir of Consultants|last=Caramanica|first=Jon|date=February 13, 2005|website=The New York Times|access-date=October 30, 2022|author-link=Jon Caramanica}} 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).

• Fresh (1994), as Michael "Fresh"
• American Buffalo (1996), as Bobby
• A Stranger in the Kingdom (1998), as Nathan Andrews
• The Wood (1999), as Young Mike
• The Year That Trembled (2002), as Phil Robbins
• Date (2004), as James
• The Gospel (2005), as Young Frank
• Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005) (TV), as Hezekiah
• The Orphan King (2005), as Damon
• Miracles Boys (2005), as Charlie
• Premium (2006), as Austin Price
• The Mannsfield 12 (2007), as Lil Rich
• Stake Land (2010), as Willie
• The Breaking Point (2014), as Jay

• Law & Order, as Damon Fox (1 episode, 1994), Shawn Foreman (1 episode, 2005), and Lt. Van Buren's son (2 episodes, 2009)
• Homicide: Life on the Street, as Ronnie Sayers (1 episode, 1995)
• New York Undercover, as Alex (2 episodes, 1994–1995)
• Sisters (1991), as Jesse Bailiss (8 episodes, 1995–1996)
• The Client, as Justin Mayfield (1 episode, 1996)
• Touched by an Angel, as Calvin (2 episodes, 1997)
• The Corner (2000 miniseries), as DeAndre McCullough
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as Tito Frank (1 episode, 2001)
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as Taye Powers (1 episode, 2003)
• The Jury, as McKinley Jones (1 episode, 2004)
• Miracle's Boys (2005 miniseries), as Charlie
• ''Tales as Stokley Overton ( S3. Ep.1, 2022)
• Power Book II: Ghost as Kai (3 episodes, 2023)

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0625735|Sean Nelson}}

{{Independent Spirit Award for Best Breakthrough Performance}}

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Category:1980 births

Category:Male actors from the Bronx

Category:American male child actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:Living people

Category:People from Co-op City, Bronx

Category:Temple University alumni

Category:Sundance Film Festival award winners

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:20th-century African-American male actors

Category:21st-century African-American male actors