Ansel Elgort (born March 14, 1994) is an American actor, music producer, and DJ under the name "Ansølo". As a film actor, he is known for playing Tommy Ross in Carrie (2013), Caleb Prior in Divergent (2014), and Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars (2014).
Early life
Elgort was born in New York City. His parents are Arthur Elgort, a fashion photographer who has worked extensively for Vogue for over thirty years, and Grethe Barrett Holby, an opera director. His father is of Russian Jewish descent, and his mother is of English, German, and Norwegian ancestry. His maternal grandmother, Aase-Grethe, was in the Norwegian resistance during World War II, and saved Norwegian Jewish children by moving them into neutral Sweden; because of these activities, she was imprisoned in a concentration camp.
Elgort has two older siblings, Warren, a film editor, and Sophie, a photographer. At the age of nine, his mother took him to try out for School of American Ballet. He attended The Professional Performing Arts School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and Stagedoor Manor summer camp. Elgort started taking acting classes at the age of twelve and starred in his high school's productions of Guys and Dolls and Hairspray.
Career
Acting
Elgort's acting career began through professional stage acting, in Regrets, by Matt Charman. His on-screen debut was a secondary role in the 2013 remake of Carrie. His first highly publicized role was in Divergent as Caleb, the brother of the protagonist, Tris, played by Shailene Woodley. The film, based on a popular young adult novel by Veronica Roth, was released on March 21, 2014.
In May 2013, immediately after the filming of Divergent was completed, it was announced that Elgort would play Augustus Waters in the film adaptation of John Green's novel The Fault in Our Stars, opposite Woodley who would play Hazel Grace Lancaster. The film followed the story of Hazel, a teenage cancer patient, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she subsequently meets and falls in love with Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee. The film, directed by Josh Boone, was released on June 6, 2014. Elgort next co-starred in the comedy film Men, Women & Children, directed by Jason Reitman and released in October 2014.
Elgort will reprise his role as Caleb Prior in Insurgent, the second film of the book series Divergent. The film has a scheduled release date of March 20, 2015. On June 23, 2014, Deadline announced that Elgort had been cast in the titular role in Van Cliburn. Based on the biography by Howard Reich, the film will depict Van Cliburn's rise to fame in 1958 when, in the midst of the Cold War, Cliburn won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in piano - an extraordinary event, since Cliburn was from the USA. The adaptation will be produced by Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen, who also produced The Fault in our Stars.
Elgort has signed to play the lead, Addison Schacht, in the book adaptation The November Criminals. Chloë Grace Moretz will co-star with Elgort, for the second time.
Elgort is represented by CAA and Brookside Artist Management's Emily Gerson Saines.
Music
Under the name "Ansølo", Elgort created a SoundCloud account to publish electronic dance music, and he has remixed songs such as "Born to Die" by Lana del Rey. In a livestream in February 2014 he stated he had signed a record deal with Tom Staar's new label Staar Traxx.
His first record "Unite" was released on April 21, 2014, and May 5, 2014 on iTunes. His second record, "Totem", was released July 21 on Beatport and iTunes.
Personal life
Elgort is dating Violetta Komyshan, his high school girlfriend.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- Ansel Elgort at the Internet Movie Database
- Ansel Elgort on Twitter
- Official music site