Thomas Daniel Nelson (born December 7, 1997) is an American actor. He is best known for his performances as Neil in the biopic ''

My Friend Dahmer ''My Friend Dahmer'' is a 2012 graphic novel and memoir by artist John "Derf" Backderf about his teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, who later became a serial killer. The book evolved from a 24-page, self-published version by Backderf in 20 ...

'' and Russell in ''

The Cat and the Moon ''The Cat and the Moon'' is a 2019 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Alex Wolff, who stars alongside Mike Epps, Skyler Gisondo, Tommy Nelson, Patricia Pinto, and Stefania LaVie Owen. The film had its world premiere at the ...

''.

Career

Nelson's film debut came in 2006 playing Edward Jr. Age 6–7 in Robert De Niro's, '' The Good Shepherd''. In 2012, he played Nickleby, a Khaki Scout, in the

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

film ''

Moonrise Kingdom ''Moonrise Kingdom'' is a 2012 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Roman Coppola, and starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, ...

''. Since then, he has transitioned into maturer roles beginning with his portrayal of Neil in ''My Friend Dahmer''. He starred as Russell in the

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film ''The Cat and the Moon'', alongside his ''Dahmer'' costar

Alex Wolff Alexander Draper Wolff (born November 1, 1997) is an American actor and musician. He first gained recognition for starring alongside his older brother Nat in the Nickelodeon musical comedy series '' The Naked Brothers Band'' (2007–09), which ...

. Outside of film, he has made guest appearances on television shows such as '' Gotham'', ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

'', and ''

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

''. During May to August 2019 he appeared alongside Taylor Hanks in the one-act play ''Fucknut (happy new year)'' written by Ryan Sans at

Dixon Place Dixon Place is a theater organization in New York City dedicated to the development of works-in-progress from a broad range of performers and artists. It exists to serve the creative needs of artists—emerging, mid-career and established—who a ...

and 13th Street Repertory Theatre.

Personal life

Nelson was born in

West Haven, Connecticut West Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It is located on the coast of Long Island Sound. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 55,584. History Settled in 1648, West Haven (then known as West Farms) ...

and attended

West Haven High School West Haven High School is a secondary school located in West Haven, Connecticut, which educates students in grades 9–12. The mascot of West Haven is the Blue Devil. Administration and campus As of July 1, 2009, the school principal was ...

. He played guitar in jazz band and was actively involved in theatre including productions of ''The Drowsy Chaperone'' and ''The Laramie Project''. In 2015 he was the recipient of the

Connecticut Association of Schools The Connecticut Association of Schools and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) is the governing body for secondary school athletics and other interscholastic competition in the state of Connecticut. Sports offered Fall * ...

Fine Arts Award for the Music/Theatre Division. A

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

fan, he played football during his senior year. Growing up, his favorite player was

Brian Dawkins Brian Patrick Dawkins Sr. (born October 13, 1973) is an American former football safety who played 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Clemson and was drafted b ...

. From September 2015 to December 2017, he attended the Film, Television, Voice-overs, & Commercial Acting (FTVC)

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pace ...

School of Performing Arts program. He left in January 2018 to focus on acting. Despite having naturally brown hair, Nelson admitted in an interview with BUILD Series that he kept his hair blonde and adopted the wardrobe of his character from ''The Cat and the Moon'' (joggers, sweatshirt, and a gold chain) for six months after filming ended. This can be seen in his appearance on ''Better Call Saul''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Thomas Daniel Living people 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Connecticut American male child actors American male film actors 1997 births