Jake Ryan (American actor)

Jake Ryan (born August 26, 2003)^[a] is an American actor. He has appeared in the Wes Anderson films Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and Asteroid City (2023) as well as Bo Burnham's film Eighth Grade (2018) and Nasim Pedrad's sitcom Chad (2021–2024).

Jake Ryan
Ryan in 2023
Born	(2003-08-26) August 26, 2003 (age 21)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2009–present

Career

Ryan took up acting at age five as a hobby, which turned into a job.^[3][4] He made his film debut in the horror film The Innkeepers (2011).^[3] He began a long-running collaboration with the auteur filmmaker Wes Anderson at age seven when he was cast as a young camper in Moonrise Kingdom (2012), partly because he could play piano.^[3][5] He felt "cozy" on set with Anderson and kept in touch with him by email.^[4][5] In March 2012, an eight-year-old Ryan narrated, and got a writing credit on, a one-minute stop motion advertisement for Sony Mobile that was directed by Anderson.^[2][6] He also appeared in a promotional short for Moonrise Kingdom (opposite Jason Schwartzman) and in commentary for the Criterion Collection releases of Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom.^[2][5]

In the following years, Ryan had small parts in the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Anderson's Isle of Dogs (2018), and the Safdie brothers' Uncut Gems (2019).^[3][5] In Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade (2018), he played a "scene-stealing" boy who takes the main character, Kayla, on a date over chicken nuggets and imitates Rick and Morty; the young actor found watching himself in the film cringeworthy.^[2][4][7] He began co-starring with Nasim Pedrad in the TBS sitcom Chad in April 2021.^[8][9]

In 2023, Ryan reunited with Anderson and Schwartzman in Asteroid City, playing the dual roles of awkward teenage brainiac Woodrow Steenbeck and an actor understudying for the part of Woodrow in a play.^[4][5]

Personal life

Ryan was homeschooled on Long Island, New York, from second grade.^[2][7] He took improvisational comedy classes with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York from age 15.^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
2011	The Innkeepers	Young Boy
	The Stand Up	Trevor
2012	Moonrise Kingdom	Lionel
	Cousin Ben Troop Screening with Jason Schwartzman	Khaki Scout	Short film
2013	Inside Llewyn Davis	Danny
2015	No Letting Go	David
2018	Eighth Grade	Gabe
	Isle of Dogs	Junior Interpreter Ernie	Voice role
	Age of Summer	Woods
2019	Uncut Gems	Dwarf 2
2020	Youngest	Trevor
2023	Asteroid City	Woodrow Steenbeck
2025	Lemonade Blessing	John Santucci

Television

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Sesame Street	Jake	Episode: "Saved by Superfoods"
2015	Ground Floor	Caleb	Episode: "The Proposal – Part One"
	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Boy	Episode: "Kimmy Gets a Job!"
	The Comedians	Adam	Episode: "Red, White & Working Blue"
	Friends of the People	Ethan	Episode: "Kings of Gold"
2018	Splitting Up Together	Nathaniel	2 episodes
2019	The Cool Kids	Ernie	Episode: "Mentors"
2021	Chad	Peter	7 episodes

Notes

1. Ryan's birthday of August 26 in his Twitter bio,^[1] and his age of 19 in June 2023,^[2] place his year of birth in 2003.