Dylan Riley Snyder
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Dylan Riley Jacob Snyder (born January 24, 1997) is an American actor, filmmaker, and Twitch streamer. Beginning his acting career in community theatre at the age of five, Snyder is known for his acting, singing, and dancing abilities, starring as Young Tarzan in the 2006 Broadway musical, '' Tarzan'', as Timmy in the 2009 feature film, '' Life During Wartime'' and as Milton on the Disney XD comedy series ''
Kickin' It ''Kickin' It'' is an American comedy television series created by Jim O'Doherty that aired on Disney XD from June 13, 2011 to March 25, 2015. The series stars Leo Howard, Dylan Riley Snyder, Mateo Arias, Olivia Holt, Alex Christian Jones, and ...
''.


Early life

Snyder was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the son of Ashley and Les Snyder. Snyder has one sibling, an older sister named Cassidy. His older sister was involved in community theatre, and he grew up attending her musical theatre rehearsals. At the age of four, a director, Brent Jones, noticed he could take direction, and at the age of five, his family began letting him audition, leading to his first speaking role as "Tiny Tim" in a community theatre production of ''
A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
''. Snyder's appearance as "Tiny Tim" caught the attention of local actor, writer and director, Tina Fitch, who was impressed with his work and would go on to cast him in several University of Alabama (U of A) productions whenever they needed a child performer. Some of his early community theatre credits include "Dill Harris" in Theatre Tuscaloosa's production of '' To Kill a Mockingbird'', "Michael Darling" in Theatre Tuscaloosa's production of '' Peter Pan'', "Buster" in the U of A's production of ''
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his p ...
'', "Young Pippin" in the U of A's production of '' Pippin'' and "Billy Moore" in the U of A's production of ''
Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...
''. In 2003, the Snyder family moved to
Petal, Mississippi Petal is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, along the Leaf River. It is part of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 10,454 in the 2010 census, increasing to 11,010 in the 2020 census. History T ...
. With his boy soprano range, Snyder performed with the Mississippi Boys Choir and the Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera. In 2005, he was selected for the American Boys Choir; however, it was during this time that
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
devastated much of Mississippi, prompting the Snyder family to move back to Alabama where family friend, Tina Fitch, suggested he go to New York City to try his luck in professional theatre.


Career

In August 2005, Snyder and his mother began preparations to make the move to New York City and five months later, on his ninth birthday, Snyder and his mother settled into a Manhattan apartment, while his father remained at his job in Mississippi and his sister attended college in Alabama. He soon began going on professional auditions and, after competing with hundreds of boys for the role, landed the part of " Young Tarzan" in Disney's Broadway musical adaptation of '' Tarzan''. After landing the part, Snyder studied gymnastics to meet the physical demands of the role and worked with a Disney vocal coach to learn to project his voice. Snyder made his Broadway debut as "Young Tarzan" in September 2006 and, as is typical with demanding children's roles on Broadway, alternated in the role with Alex Rutherford, appearing in a total of 169 performances until the show closed in July 2007. While living in New York, Snyder continued to develop his musical theatre talents, taking ballet lessons with Yuka Kawazu, tap dance lessons with Janine Molinari, voice lessons with Richard Lissamore, dialect lessons with Amy Stoller, and
etiquette Etiquette () is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a ...
lessons at the Etiquette School of Manhattan. During this time he began landing work as a model, appearing in print advertorials for H&M and Lord & Taylor and in commercials for Univest Bank, Benadryl and Chuck E. Cheese's, as well as breaking into television, landing lead roles in the '' Sesame Street'' segments, "Jet Side Story" and "Casablanca", as well as voicing the roles of "Griffin" and "Hound Dog" in two episodes of the Nickelodeon animated series, '' Wonder Pets!'' In February 2009, Snyder made his film debut portraying "Leo Amatog", an autistic boy who encounters a self-absorbed Chicago architect during an overnight bus trip in the short film, ''Valley of the Moon''. In September 2009, Snyder appeared as "Timmy Maplewood" in
Todd Solondz Todd Solondz (; born October 15, 1959) is an American filmmaker and playwright known for his style of dark, socially conscious satire. Solondz's work has received critical acclaim for its commentary on the "dark underbelly of middle class America ...
' dramatic comedy, '' Life During Wartime''. Touring the film festival circuit for almost a year before getting a limited release in July 2010, the black comedy tackled such controversial subjects as suicide, incest and pedophilia. The film earned critical acclaim for its director as well as accolades for Snyder, with '' Variety'' critic Todd McCarthy writing "The most compelling character this time around is Timmy (Dylan Riley Snyder)", and after commending the film's "superb" cast, McCarthy reserved his highest praise for Snyder, writing "Most heart-wrenching of all is young, freckle-faced Snyder, playing a still prepubescent kid forced to cope with the messiest of adult problems and faced with potential psychological issues he can't possibly digest." In November 2009, Snyder returned to the New York stage portraying "Young Horace Robedaux" a role based on the father of
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
winning author, Horton Foote in the epic nine-part
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
production of '' The Orphans' Home Cycle''. The show was critically acclaimed and Snyder, along with the rest of the cast, creative team and producers, was honored with a special
Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...
saluting "the breadth of vision, which inspired the exceptional direction, performances, sets, lighting, costumes, music and sound that made ''The Orphans' Home Cycle'' the theatrical event of the season." The play itself would also go on to win the
Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...
and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and ran until May 2010. In the summer of 2010, Snyder landed his first comedic role, co-starring as awkward honors student turned
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
competitor, Milton Krupnick on the Disney XD original comedy series, ''
Kickin' It ''Kickin' It'' is an American comedy television series created by Jim O'Doherty that aired on Disney XD from June 13, 2011 to March 25, 2015. The series stars Leo Howard, Dylan Riley Snyder, Mateo Arias, Olivia Holt, Alex Christian Jones, and ...
''. Snyder had no
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
experience prior to landing the role, and when asked about the karate aspect of the show, Snyder explained "When we need to do karate on the show we have choreographers teaching us the moves, but I really enjoy doing the kicks. I lived in New York for five years prior to this and while I was there I did mainly theater. I did a lot of dance so getting into karate was a little easier for me." The pilot was filmed in the summer of 2010, and in November of that year, Snyder and his mother moved to Los Angeles when Disney XD announced it had green-lit the series. ''Kickin' It'' premiered in June 2011, and quickly became Disney XD's number 1 original series in the network's history. In September 2011, Disney XD announced that the show had been renewed for a second season. The network announced on November 5, 2012 that the series had been renewed for a third season and would go into production in January 2013. Dylan Riley Snyder later worked on wife Allisyn Ashley Arm's YouTube series ''Astrid Clover'' where he portrays Astrid's boom operator named Boom Guy. In 2015, Snyder starred in ''
Mamaboy ''Mamaboy'' is a 2017 comedy film directed by Aaron Leong and written and produced by Rick Kuebler. The film stars Sean O'Donnell as a teenager who decides to undergo an experimental procedure that enables him to carry his girlfriend's baby to ter ...
'' as Milton, the snoopy school newspaper editor/reporter. Mamaboy is about a high school student who must hide the fact that he has become pregnant from his family, friends and the school faculty, including his baseball coach (played by Gary Busey).


Personal life

Snyder lived in Los Angeles with his mother during filming for ''
Kickin' It ''Kickin' It'' is an American comedy television series created by Jim O'Doherty that aired on Disney XD from June 13, 2011 to March 25, 2015. The series stars Leo Howard, Dylan Riley Snyder, Mateo Arias, Olivia Holt, Alex Christian Jones, and ...
'' while his father and sister still resided in Alabama. He is a former member of the Boy Scouts of America as well as one of the founding members of Broadway Kids Care. In 2011, Snyder listed his hobbies as
Rubik's Cube The Rubik's Cube is a Three-dimensional space, 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarians, Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik t ...
s, origami, juggling, billiards and chess. In December 2014, Snyder started a relationship with '' Sonny with a Chance'' actress Allisyn Ashley Arm. They got engaged on New's Year's Day 2019 and married on September 18 of that year.


Filmography


Awards


References


External links

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Dylan Riley Snyder
at TV Guide
Dylan Riley Snyder
in
Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Dylan Riley 1997 births 21st-century American male actors American child models American male child actors American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from Alabama Male actors from Mississippi Male actors from Manhattan People from Petal, Mississippi People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama