Ansel Elgort

The weight of the family name and first steps

Ansel Elgort was born into a family where art was not an option but everyday language. His father was a photographer for Vogue magazine and his mother directed operas. The path to the stage was laid out long before he learned to read a script.

He trained at the School of American Ballet in New York during his teenage years. He wasn't only interested in acting; he wanted to master movement and rhythm above all else. That physical training ultimately became his greatest tool in front of the camera.

In 2013, he landed his first role in the remake of Carrie. He played a supporting character that barely required any effort. But it got casting directors in Los Angeles to notice a nearly six-foot-six kid with the look of someone who wouldn't hurt a fly.

Body language was everything.

Before turning twenty, he was already filming Divergent in Chicago. The industry was desperately searching for the next teen idol, and Elgort fit the profile. But it was another film that broke his anonymity that same year.

The fan phenomenon and the red Subaru

In 2014, he starred in The Fault in Our Stars. The film cost just 12 million dollars and ended up grossing more than 300 million at box offices around the world. The phenomenon was so intense that the actor had to deal with crowds of fans on every red carpet he walked.

And the gamble paid off.

But the real change of direction came in 2017 thanks to Edgar Wright. The director gave him the keys to a getaway car in Baby Driver. Elgort had to learn extreme driving maneuvers so the action scenes would look believable without relying too much on stunt doubles.

The film was edited to the rhythm of the music the lead character listens to on his headphones. Elgort earned his first Golden Globe nomination for this role. It was the moment critics began to take him seriously beyond teen magazine covers.

In 2019, he took part in the adaptation of The Goldfinch. The film was a resounding flop that barely recouped a fraction of its 40 million dollar budget. It was a hard blow to his career that forced him to rethink his next steps in the industry.

Spielberg's rigor and the Japanese underworld

Steven Spielberg was cast in 2021 to play Tony in the new version of West Side Story. The shoot was a trial by fire due to the vocal and physical demands the director imposed. Elgort had to bring back all of his ballet training to keep up with the choreography on the streets of New York.

In 2022, he moved away from conventional film to star in the HBO series Tokyo Vice. He played Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who investigates the yakuza in Japan. For the role, he studied Japanese for months until he could shoot entire scenes in the language without dubbing.

He learned to speak Japanese fluently.

Production on the series continued until 2024, when its second season premiered. During this time Elgort kept a low profile in the American media after several personal controversies slowed his usual pace of work in Hollywood.

His work as a DJ and music producer under the name Ansølo remains active alongside his film shoots. He has released several singles and performed at large-scale electronic music festivals. His professional priority, however, is still long-running projects on streaming platforms.

The second season of Tokyo Vice finished airing in April 2024, with critical reception even stronger than the first season. Filming on real Kabukicho locations was constantly supervised by local authorities to avoid clashes with the real criminal groups operating in the area.