Meet Jaden Michael, Actor Tapped To Play Young Colin Kaepernick In New Netflix Biopic
Meet Jaden Michael!
Debby Wong / Shutterstock Netflix is creating an upcoming six-episode series about Colin Kaepernick called “Colin in Black & White.”
The show follows the childhood of the NFL quarter back and activist, Colin Kaepernick, and his experiences as a Black teen adopted by a white family.
Jaden Michael, the star of Baz Luhrmann’s “The Get Down,” will play young Kaepernick, prompting to people to wonder more about the young actor.
Who is Jaden Michael, actor who plays Colin Kaepernick?
Jaden Michael is best-known for his appearances in Paterson, NYC 22, Wonderstruck, The Bug Diaries, Cyberchase, Custody, Children of the Ether, Clean Woman, Every Secret Thing, Seed of the Fight, Out There, and A Little Game.
He plays Rafe in The Get Down, directed by Baz Luhrmann and Miguel Martinez in Vampires vs. the Bronx.
On October 27, 2020, Jaden Michael posted a photo to Instagram of himself next to an old picture of Kapernick.
“Its happening!” he wrote in the caption, “The very well deserved biopic of the amazing @kaepernick7 directed by @ava thanks to @netflix is coming to your screen in the near future! I couldn’t be more ecstatic to tell the story of the Legend, the Leader, the All-Star, Collin Kaepernick.”
How old is Jaden Michael?
Jaden Michael is currently 17 years old.
He was born on October 5, 2003, which makes him a Libra.
Jaden Michael was born and raised in New York City.
He started his career in modeling at the age of two.
He also worked as a voice actor for Nick Jr. He played Baby Jaguar in Dora the Explorer and the Purple Monkey in Team Umizoomi.
Vampires Vs. The Bronx is not just a film about vampires, but the hardships that come along with gentrification.
Vampires Vs. The Bronx was directed and co-written by Osmany Rodriquez.
It was also written by Blaise Hemingway.
It’s a horror film that follows a group of teenagers who fight to protect their neighborhood in the Bronx after a vampire invasion.
“I had never worked on a project before with so much Spanish influence. When I realized Oz was a Dominican like me, I became super-excited," Michael said in an interview.
“To be able to play an American with a passion and love for his heritage was really heartwarming and I was able to assimilate to it. Furthermore, the underlying idea of culture being sucked out of a community, through gentrification, really hit home as I saw my family’s community and even my own community change.”
He worked with Unicef and the UN.
Jaden Michael was a part of the Global Kids Council by UNICEF and Grey Ad.
“It was an honor to work with so many talented people who care about children and their future,” he said.
He's a proud New Yorker.
"New York is so full of culture and vibrant with emotion." Michael said. "It’s truly an actor’s paradise."
One of his favorite activities is people-watching. As an actor, he observes how strangers walk.
“I know this sounds like some creepy acting nerd stuff, “ he said, “but it’s really fun to just sit back and observe people.”
Izzy Casey is a writer and editor based in NYC who covers news & entertainment for YourTango. Her work has been published in or is forthcoming from Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts, Black Warrior Review, Bennington Review, BOAAT, Prelude, NY Tyrant, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. She received her MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was the recipient of a fellowship with the Poetry Foundation.