A rising star in the making, Grayson Thorne Kilpatrick is set to make waves as he navigates the choppy water of Hollywood. The young actor was born in Huntsville, Alabama on April 1, 2004. His April Fool’s birthday might be subject to jokes, but his passion and dedication to acting is most definitely no joke. Throughout his teen years, Grayson has worked on many student, independent, and feature films as well as TV shows, like “Documentary Now!”, “Chicken Girls: The Movie”, “This Isn’t Working”, “Daddy’s Home”, Cinemax “Outcast”, Netflix’s “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later” “Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell”, “Vikes”, “American Horror Story”, “To Tell The Truth” and FX’s “Dave” among others. Soon, his talent can be seen on the TBS/Roku Channel sitcom Chad alongside SNL alum Nasim Pedrad and Jake Ryan.
Chad follows a 14-year-old Persian teenage boy during high school as he desperately tries to fit in with the cool kids, cope with his mother’s dating life and reconcile his cultural identity. The catch is, the titular character is played by the fortysomething Pedrad, herself also the creator and writer of the show. In each episode, which clocks in at around 20-24 minutes, Chad gets involved in some sort of hijinks in his attempt to navigate high school hierarchy and troubles at home.
With its offbeat concept, witty dialogues and unconventional angle on an immigrant story, the Warner Brothers production earned good reception from audiences and was greenlit for a second season in 2021. Due to TBS’s pivot toward non-scripted shows, it was announced that the show didn’t get renewed for a third season right after the completion of the second. After spending some time in limbo, the comedy found a second leash in life at Roku Channel and is finally set to air in 2024.
For the second season of the comedy, Grayson will be recurring as Ethan. Not much is known about the role, except that he would make appearances in at least three episodes of season 2: episode 1 (“Class President”), episode 4 (“Senor Doobs”), and episode 9 (“American Boy”).
What’s certain is that the actor cannot be more excited to show the world his work on the show.
“I am so very grateful to Warner Brothers/TBS and the amazing star of this show Ms. Nasim Pedrad for this opportunity,” Grayson said. He further reiterated how much fun he had on the Chad set.
“The cast and crew were the best,” he added, “they were so very welcoming and supportive.”
The love of acting spawned unexpectedly for Grayson. Following a home invasion incident that left a young Grayson traumatized, his parents enrolled him at Child Play Therapy to help him cope with his fear. The stint marked the start of his lifelong aspiration for performing arts. Several years later in 2012, Grayson and his father encountered Grayson Russell (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) who was in town filming his new movie Space Warriors in the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. At the screening of the movie, Russell offered him to play an extra in the movie. The sense of camaraderie that Grayson shared with Russell inspired him to take up the challenge. In spring of 2013, he ended up getting the part and witnessed for the very first time how a film production worked. That year, his mom enrolled him in a local acting school called Hollywood Huntsville. Grayson began training under Bill and Ayoka Billions and later took acting classes from Gray’s Studio out of Los Angeles. Once a month, Grayson and his family would travel to Nashville to take part in David Gray’s monthly weekend intense training in the Nashville area.
Proving his natural affinity for acting, in the same year Grayson made his screen debut in the feature film “Campin Buddies” working alongside legends like Tom Lester known for his role as Eb in “Green Acres” and Ray Stevens, Don Most known for his roles as Ralph the Mouth on “Happy Days” and Victoria Jackson known from her time at “SNL”.
Since then, the actor has steadily worked his way up. In 2016, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting full time alongside both his parents. For their dedication in helping him chase his dream, Grayson consistently credited his parents as his biggest supporters. He’s been a proud member of SAG-AFTRA since 2016.
Aside from his acting endeavors, Grayson is also prolific behind the scenes. He is passionate about writing and directing. In 2017, he wrote his first SAG Short Film, John Foley: Motivationally Speaking. In the film, made in honor of one of his favorite actors Chris Farley, Grayson played John Foley, the son of Matt Foley. For his performance in the role, he earned a Best Actor in a short film at the Young Artist Awards.
Nonetheless, acting remains Grayson’s utmost priority. He wants to continue developing his range as an actor by taking on more challenging works with filmmakers and actors that he respects. One of his goals is to work with acclaimed director Jordan Peele or star in a psychological thriller. He cited James McAvoy as his acting inspiration, particularly after watching his performance in M. Night Shyamalan’s Split and Glass. As a huge comic book fan, Grayson has always wanted to work with Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr. Like McAvoy and Downey Jr, he would like to channel the versatility of his acting skills through a variety of genres.
“I am not much into the fame of being an actor,” Grayson added, “but I just want to be on set making people laugh, helping someone that may need help.”
Grayson resides in Los Angeles with two dogs, Cinnamon Grace (Teacup Pomeranian), Isis (Pomsky who is named for his mom favorite DC Comic Superhero), and a cat, Luna. when he’s not on set, Grayson plays guitar, Ukulele, flute, Oboe, and harmonica. He’s also an avid Rubik’s Cube collector with over 100 Rubik’s Cubes of all sizes and styles. His other hobbies include archery and watching College Football.
He’s represented by Luber Roklin Entertainment in Los Angeles and People Store Talent Agency in Atlanta.
Social Links for Grayson
Instagram: www.instagram.com/graysonkilpatrick
Twitter: www.twitter.com/GraysonT04
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/graysonthornekilpatrick
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/grayson-kilpatrick-71181b93
Famous Birthdays: https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/grayson-kilpatrick.html
Written by: Sherry Lee, GTK PR
