Nathaniel Potvin

Nathaniel Potvin was born on October 2, 1999, in Van Nuys, California, U.S., to Andy and Tanya Potvin. Both of his parents are involved in the film industry. He has two brothers named Philip “Philly” Potvin and Gabriel Potvin.

He got his start as an actor when he was 11 years old. A college in their locality was running a summer enrichment program for kids which required taking two courses before the admission and Potvin wanted to sign up for the dance course. Potvin and his mother met the program’s counsellor in her office where he broke into tears and told her that he did not want to take a second course. She turned to his mother and said, “He’s crying so much we might as well put him in drama.” His mother agreed and he started attending the classes. He played the lead role in the student play and thoroughly enjoyed his time there.

Potvin had been taking dance lessons at the Dance Dimensions Performing Arts Center since he was a child. He was part of a hip-hop crew that won several competitions. After doing the drama course for the summer enrichment program, an interest in performing had taken root inside of him. So, when acting classes were being offered at Dance Dimensions, Potvin jumped at the opportunity. It was here that he met his talent manager.

A talent manager met Nathaniel Potvin at Dance Dimensions where he was attending classes and realised his potential and wanted to see him act on the big screen. Potvin signed with Norwood Talent Agency but later switched to McDonald Selznick Associates (MSA) for dance and Abrams for films and commercials. He made his professional debut both as a dancer and actor in Target’s Back-to-School Campaign. He and three other students of Dance Dimensions auditioned together as a group and were selected. His next job was in the Deep Williams’ independent short film called ‘Palms’ (2012), where he was cast as the lead protagonist, Solomon Dorsey, a foster child moving between homes.

Potvin guest-starred as Jimmy Barnes in an episode of TV One’s sitcom ‘Belle's’ (2012). The following year, he got the chance to appear in ABC’s popular sitcom ‘The Middle’. He then landed a role in the TV film ‘’Twist of Faith’. Cast as Asher Jones, Potvin worked with Toni Braxton and David Julian Hirsh in the telefilm. He also did a short film in 2013, Danny Hernandez’s directorial venture ‘Different’.

In 2015, he appeared in five TV series, playing small roles in all of them. He portrayed Billy in Nickelodeon’s ‘The Haunted Hathaways’, Jalen in TVNZ 1’s ‘Love That Girl!’, Shane in Disney Channel’s ‘Jessie’, Young Tyson Briggs in CBS’s ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’, and a character credited as the Academic Top Half in Disney’s ‘Girl Meets World’. He made two TV shorts in 2015, ‘’Table 58’ and ‘The Massively Mixed-Up Middle School Mystery’.

Potvin landed his breakthrough role as Ryan Walker in Disney’s science fiction adventure comedy ‘Mech-X4’. Created by Steve Marmel whose previous works include ‘The Fairly Odd Parents’, ‘I Am Weasel’, ‘Danny Phantom’, ‘Family Guy’ and ‘Yin Yang Yo!’, the series premiered on November 11, 2016, to positive reviews from critics and fans alike. It was renewed for a second season, which began airing on September 9, 2017.

In 2017, he made his cinematic debut in the fantasy adventure ‘A World Away’. He currently plays the recurring character Ryan in Netflix’s ‘Alexa & Katie’ (2018). Potvin is set to appear in ‘Five Points’, a drama series produced by Facebook.

Potvin, along with Veronica Dunne from ‘K.C. Undercover’, co-hosted the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards Red Carpet.