Author: Kelly Neukom
When I first see Nick Braun (sophomore) walk into the room, it’s a little intimidating. After all, I am sitting down and he is really tall (6’5″, I would later learn). I stand to shake hands and his completely envelops mine. As soon as he sits down, however, I’m put at ease. His voice is remarkably gentle and he lounges on the couch, totally comfortable with being interviewed. He smiles the entire time, peering out from under his Beatles-like haircut that falls into his eyes.
It’s strange to think that hundreds of 13-year-old girls would probably give up their backstage passes to a Hannah Montana concert in order to be sitting where I am right now.
Although Braun might not be quite the phenomenon Miley Cyrus is, he definitely has achieved a large following ever since he starred in Disney’s Sky High in 2005 and the Disney Channel movie Minutemen, which premiered on January 25.
“I hope he doesn’t [have a girlfriend]!” one comment on his Internet Movie Database (iMDb) discussion board reads. “Wish guys like him actually existed in the real world.”
“Nick Braun is as sexy as they get,” another says.
“It’s definitely weird,” Braun said sheepishly when I mentioned these. “They just see me onscreen and make judgments about me-they don’t really know anything about me. It is really sweet and nice to have a fanbase, though. I got recognized at the airport recently. It’s so crazy.”
Braun has been acting for nine years-his first job, in the Showtime TV movie Walter and Henry, was filmed when he was only 11.
“My dad is also an actor,” Braun said. “My parents divorced and my dad didn’t have anyone to work on scenes with or talk about auditions with. I started reading scenes with him and got really into it. I finally auditioned for Walter and Henry and ended up getting the part. It was really dramatic-I had to cry, curse, yell. It was scary to star in a movie when I was so young.”
He went on to win roles in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and in the TV movie Carry Me Home. Getting the role of Zach in Sky High helped him “get his foot in the door” of the Disney company.
“Minutemen had the same producers as Sky High, so they asked me back to do another movie,” he said. “Disney was a good route to take because they liked my sense of comedy, and Disney really takes care of its actors.”
Minutemen, about a group of high schoolers who go back in time to better the social status of their peers, ended up being Braun’s favorite film because of the sense of camaraderie he developed with the other young actors.
“We shot the movie on location in Salt Lake City, which meant that we all lived in the same motel together and shared experiences,” he said. “It took five weeks to shoot, so I got really close to people.”
Braun also enjoyed being in Minutemen because his character, Zeke, was unlike Braun’s other roles. “I’m never seen as the tough guy because I have a baby face. I knew I could do it, though; I just never had the chance. When I played Zeke, I got to wear leather and learn how to ride a motorcycle,” Braun said.
Braun was so excited about the movie’s premiere that he had a party at his house for his Oxy friends the day it came out.
“Nick mentioned filming Minutemen earlier this year, but I didn’t hear more about it until a couple months before it came out,” Braun’s friend Harini Ramireddy (junior) said. “He showed me some of the Minutemen merchandise he got and was so excited about the movie’s individual [page] on the Disney Channel website. I expected it to be like any other Disney movie and geared towards an audience of kids and teenagers, but I actually found it pretty funny and entertaining.”
Bobby Bonaparte (sophomore) said Minutemen didn’t do Braun justice. “I think Nick is an amazing actor on the TV, but he will blow your mind if you ever see him live,” Bonaparte said.
Braun hopes to have a career in acting. He already auditions for roles five or six times a week. “I’d love to do independent movies with original stories,” he said, citing Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Daniel Day-Lewis and Christian Bale as his inspirations. “It’s just such a thrill once you put yourself into someone else’s personality-you’re living under a guise that’s not your own.”
Balancing acting with schoolwork and a social life is difficult, but Braun said it is “worth the sacrifice.”
“I like being busy anyway,” he said. “Acting is hard and crazy and I get nervous about every single audition I do, but I’m never happier than when I land a role. Acting is my dream job.”
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