Nathaniel “Nate” McIntyre has been performing since he was 8 years old, and at 23 he admits the list has gotten so long he can’t remember every credit. It started with modeling and commercials, then his breakout as Young Simba in The Lion King, first on the national tour and then on Broadway. From there came Disney’s Magic Camp, a turn as Bradley on black-ish, and a role he says pushed him further than any before it: Seren in David Makes Man, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s acclaimed drama on OWN.
This year, he’s everywhere. As Jackie Jackson in Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic that became a global box-office hit, McIntyre worked alongside Colman Domingo under director Antoine Fuqua. The cast rehearsed daily for a month to master the Jackson 5’s choreography. And as KJ on The CW’s All American, he stepped into one of TV’s most loyal fan bases after the departure of Daniel Ezra’s Spencer James. He won viewers over with a love triangle, a hard-won brotherhood with Khalil, and a big heart that doesn’t always think before it speaks.
In this conversation with Rasiah, McIntyre opens up about the high school teacher who banned the words “I can’t,” the self-described nerd behind the actor (comic books, anime, and superheroes he drew with his dad), and the advice Michael Evans Behling gave the new cast over dinner. He also talks about filming the show’s powerful ICE episode, why Will Smith is his blueprint, and what young Black men pursuing the arts need to know.
With the All American series finale here, he promises fans both tears and joy. Next, he goes supernatural as a vampire in Disney’s Coven Academy.