Dallas Dupree Young (born October 25, 2006) is an American actor best known for his recurring role in '' The Fosters'', and his starring role in the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

sitcom '' Cousins for Life''. In 2021, he joined the cast of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series '' Cobra Kai'', a sequel to ''

The Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and W ...

'' films.

Early life

Young was born and raised in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He is the son of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player

Eric Young Sr. Eric Orlando Young Sr. (born May 18, 1967) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and left fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Sa ...

and his wife Beyonka Jackson. His older brother,

Eric Young Jr. Eric Orlando Young Jr. (born May 25, 1985) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder and current first base coach for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Colorado Ro ...

, is also a professional baseball player. Young dreamed of becoming a professional athlete like his father and brother. He had aspirations of playing for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

like they did. In addition to baseball, Young also loves basketball and football. Between the ages of 5 and 6, Young studied karate. He would later take kickboxing lessons as well. Though he was sure he would become a baseball player, plans changed when a neighbor encouraged Young to go into acting. Young credited shows he grew up watching such as, '' Family Matters'', ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...

'' and '' Jessie'', with helping him discover his passion for acting. He later met with talent scout Diana Horner. Young was invited to attend an acting showcase in Los Angeles where he met his manager. His manager would then introduce him to an agent and Young began booking jobs immediately. He credits

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

as his biggest influence. As of 2019, Young was homeschooled to accommodate his busy work schedule.

Career

Young began acting at age 9 when he appeared in a short film. He later made his television debut in Investigation Discovery's documentary television series, '' Murder Among Friends''. He filmed his audition on his on his manager's front lawn and he booked the gig the very next day. He would go on to appear in episodes of '' Shameless'', '' The Mayor'', '' The Good Place'' and '' The Fosters''. He also landed a small role in the 2018 sci-fi film '' Ready Player One''. In 2018, Young landed his first leading role when he was cast as Stuart in the

sitcom ''Cousins for Life'', created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert. In 2019, he appeared in two episodes of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

Mixed-ish ''Mixed-ish'' (stylized as ''ish'') was an American single-camera sitcom created by Kenya Barris, Peter Saji and Tracee Ellis Ross that premiered on ABC on September 24, 2019. The series is a prequel to ''Black-ish'', and the second series to be ...

''. Young was later cast in the

Willie Aikens Willie Mays Aikens (born October 14, 1954) is an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Toronto Blue Jays between 1977 and 1985. He had established hims ...

biopic ''The Royal''. In 2020, Young appeared in an episode of the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

drama, ''

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

''. That year, he would also book a recurring role on another Netflix series, ''

The Big Show Show ''The Big Show Show'' is an American sitcom created by Josh Bycel and Jason Berger. Produced by WWE Studios, it premiered on Netflix with eight episodes on April 6, 2020. The series stars professional wrestling veteran and titular character, the ...

'' where he played a character named after singer

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

. In 2021, Young was cast in the recurring role of Kenny Payne in

's critical acclaimed original series, ''Cobra Kai''. At age 15, Young was the youngest member of the cast. Young auditioned for the role in 2020 and the process took approximately three weeks. While he grew up on the original films, Young waited until he booked the role to binge the television series which only added to his excitement. To prepare for the role, he studied martial arts and also researched

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

and Wesley Snipes to develop his technique for the fight scenes. In addition to ''The Royal'', Young is also set to appear in the upcoming film, ''1-800-Hot-Nite''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Dallas Dupree Living people 2006 births American male television actors American male film actors Male actors from Houston 21st-century American male actors African-American male actors