Ansel Elgort

Ansel Elgort (born March 14, 1994) is an American actor. He will play Tommy Ross in the 2013 horror film Carrie, as well as Caleb Prior in the 2014 science fiction book adaptation, Divergent. He has been cast in the role of Augustus Waters in the adaptation of John Green's young adult novel The Fault in Our Stars.

Personal life

Elgort was born in New York City. His parents are Arthur Elgort, a photographer who has worked for Vogue, 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 Norwegian 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 at 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 tryout for School of American Ballet. He attended Trinity School before attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and the Stagedoor Manor summer camp. Elgort started taking acting classes at the age of twelve. He starred in his high school's production of Guys and Dolls. He appeared in the off-Broadway play, Regrets, by Matt Charman.

Career

Elgort has been modeling since a young age; one of his first works was for Teen Vogue in 2009 when he was 15. Since then he has done shoots for magazines and with his sister and dad, who are professional photographers.

Elgort's acting career began through professional stage acting, in Regrets, by Matt Charman. His first on-screen role was a secondary role in the 2013 remake of Carrie.

Elgort's 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 filming of Divergent was completed, it was announced that Elgort would be playing Augustus Waters in the upcoming film adaptation of John Green's novel The Fault in Our Stars opposite Shailene Woodley who will play Hazel Grace Lancaster. The film follows 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 Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee. The film, directed by Josh Boone, is expected to be released on June 6, 2014.

[ Wikipedia ]