Oaks Pegley Started his career at a very young age and quickly became one of the most notable child actors in television or movies, and he is not slowing down as he enters young adulthood. Born on November 11, 2004, in Allentown, PA, Fegley was only seven when he first appeared in the short film Glass Like an unnamed boy. His first professional acting job came in 2014, at the age of ten, when he appeared in the military drama, Fort BlissLike Paul Swann. Since then, he has gone on to star in several critical and commercially successful productions.
Oakes Fegley is the rare young star who did not spend a lot of time in a children’s or teen sitcom and did not spend years as a minor character in larger productions. As soon as 2016, Fegley was leading a Disney live-action adaptation of Play Pit the DragonAnd rarely since, he hasn’t been part of a TV show or movie’s main cast. Even at such a young age, He has a chin to hold the screen. He can be alone on camera and can play opposite some of the greatest actors ever. Whether in a science fiction TV series or a magical biopic, Fegley can fit right in.
10
Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014)
Young Ally Thompson (3 episodes, 2014)
Based in Atlantic City in the 1920s and 1930s, Boardwalk Empire follows political heavyweight “Nucky” Thompson as he battles mobsters, politicians, government agents and the common people who look to take him on. Now, with the federal government cracking down on bootlegging and other illegal activities, and everyone looking to take over control of the city, Nucky’s lavish lifestyle is in danger of collapsing.
- Release date
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September 19, 2010
- Seasons
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5
- Showrunner
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Terence Winter
Boardwalk Empire was one of the first modern television shows to take an interest in the early 20th century, focusing on the fictional Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), the most powerful man in Atlantic City and a bootlegger and racketeer. With a wide ensemble cast, Boardwalk Empire Covers fake and real events of the era. Nucky’s muscle in the series is his brother, Eli Thompson (She Whigham), the sheriff of Atlantic City.
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In three flashback episodes, a young Eli Thompson is shown, played by Oakes Fegley. The young Eli was the favorite of his parents and thus managed to avoid the alcohol-dealing blows of their father. It’s never easy to play a younger version of another actor’s character, much less someone so young, but Fegley channels the older man Erie. There is no doubt who the young boy is supposed to be when he walks into the scene.
9
The Goldfinch (2019)
Young Theo Decker
The Goldfinch is told in two parts. The first finds a young 13-year-old Theodore Decker (Oakes Pegley) witnessing his mother being killed in a terrorist bombing, while the second part takes place 8 years later. After his mother is killed, Theodore is sent to foster care, where he eventually starts taking drugs and alcohol, as well as gambling to mask the pain of his mother’s death, for which he believes himself responsible.
The film itself does not always work as well as one would like, but Pegley’s performance is great and deeply difficult for such a young actor.
The film itself does not always work as well as one would like, but Pegley’s performance is great and deeply difficult for such a young actor. Once again, Fegley manages to channel an older actor, this time, Ansel Elgort. It’s a moving performance from Fegley, who sells Theodore’s pain and grief while keeping him naive to some of the bigger questions in the story because he’s a young boy.
8
Person of Interest (2011-2016)
Gabriel Hayward (3 episodes, 2014-2016)
In this sci-fi crime drama, a wealthy programmer named Harold Finch has developed a surveillance AI that can predict terrorist acts and identify civilians involved in impending crimes. with former CIA Operative John Rees, he hopes to use the technology, called “The Machine”, to stop crimes before they happen.
- Release date
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September 22, 2011
- Seasons
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5
- Showrunner
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Greg Plageman
Person of interest is a science fiction crime drama that follows reclusive tech billionaire, Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), a man who has created a computer program called “The Machine” that has an impressive and unnerving ability to collect enough data that it can predict terrorists. Attacks. However, when the program begins to predict much more mundane crimes, the NYPD decides to use it to stop crimes before they even happen, raising some moral questions.
Oakes Fegley appeared in three episodes of the series as Gabriel Hayward, the human face of the Samaritan AI, an evil artificial intelligence that was built to compete with the machine. Gabriel is a young genius computer programmer who replaces John Greer (John Nolan). Fegley plays the young boy as precocious and charmingWhich makes his complete obedience to the authoritarian Samaritan all the stranger.
7
The War With Grandpa (2020)
Peter Decker
Oakes Fegley goes up against Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro in The war with Grandpa And the chemistry between the two is the best part of the film which sometimes feels like it’s spinning its wheels. The film stars De Niro as Ed Marino, an elderly widower who moves in with his daughter and her family. In particular, he moved into his grandson Peter’s room, forcing Peter out, much to his annoyance.
They do not like each other, the two agree to a war with the rules that they cannot damage other people’s belongings, and they cannot tell anyone. What ensues is a creative prank war that slowly bonds grandpa and grandson. The lengths they each go to beat the other is very funny, and watching the pair slowly warm to one another is even tearjerking at times.
6
The Fableman (2022)
Chad Thomas
The Fabelmans is a film loosely based on the life of a young Steven Spielberg, with Gabrielle Labelle playing the role of 16-year-old aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman. Fictionalizing but tracing essential moments in the director’s life, the Fabelmans is set in the 1960s with the titular family moving from New Jersey to California, where a dark secret begins to cause the life of young Sammy to unravel. In order to escape from the reality he encountered, he turns to films and hides a new dream – the aspiration to become a filmmaker. The film allows the director and the audience to look back on the past and try to understand the motivations of family members’ various actions by contextualizing them through the lens of film.
- Release date
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November 23, 2022
- Figure
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Paul Dano, Gabriel Labelle, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, Nicolas Cantu, Michelle Williams, Gabriel Bateman, Sam Rechner, Oakes Fegley, Julia Butters
- runtime
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151 minutes
- Budget
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$40 million
The Fableman is Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama about a young boy, Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel Labelle), who is also a stand-in for Steven himself. Throughout the film, Sammy explores how cinema can teach him the truth about the world around him, specifically, the truth about his loving, but dysfunctional family. Sammy is not the most popular kid in his high school and is often targeted by a bully, Chad Thomas (Oakes Fegley).
When Sammy finally screens one of his films for his class, the story features a thinly veiled Chad character who is shamed into the film. When Chad goes to fight Sammy, he is met by the classmates who enjoyed Sammy’s film, and he is scared. Fegley usually plays brave or kind-hearted characters, so his turn in The Fableman It’s unexpected, but he handles the material well, and the part showcases some more range from the actor.
5
Dark Matter (2024-present)
Charlie Dessen (9 episodes, 2024 – present)
Based on his novel of the same name, Dark Matter is a sci-fi drama-thriller television series created for Apple TV+ by Blake Crouch. The series follows a physicist who is kidnapped and thrown into an alternate reality where he witnesses one potential path his life could have taken. However, he learns that his family’s life is in jeopardy by an alternate version of himself.
- Release date
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May 8, 2024
- Seasons
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1
- creator(s)
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Blake Crouch
The Apple+ sci-fi series Dark matter Follows a Chicago physicist, Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), who is transported into an alternate reality with different versions of everything in his life. Now in this new world, he must return to his old universe before the other Jason takes over his life and family. The series is full of interesting questions about fate, parallel universes, and the nature of reality, which makes for a difficult but rewarding watch.
Oaks Fegley plays Charlie Dessen, Jason’s son, and he soon realizes that there is something wrong with the new Jason who suddenly appears in his home. for the most part, Charlie is only developed as much as Jason’s relationship with himBut he still has enough screen time in a major streaming original series. with Dark matter Season 2 on the way, Charlie is sure to get a much deeper exploration in the coming episodes.
4
Accused (2023-present)
Devin Harmon (1 episode, 2023)
Accused is a legal drama series that delves into the complexities of criminal cases from the perspectives of both the accused and the accusers. Each standalone episode presents a new case, exploring the moral and ethical dilemmas of the characters involved. The series aims to offer a nuanced picture of the criminal justice system, highlighting the intricacies and challenges inherent in each case.
- Figure
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Abigail Breslin, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Jason Ritter, Keith Carradine, Molly Parker
- Release date
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January 22, 2023
- Seasons
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1
- creator(s)
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Howard Gordon, Jimmy McGovern
Accused is an anthology of crime drama with each new episode taking place in a new location and following a new case. Audiences are led to the court by the mentioned events of the defendant. In the first episode of the series, Oakes Fegley plays Devin Harmon, a troubled young man who is suspended from school for threatening another student. His father, Scott (Michael Chiklis), worries that his son will commit an act of mass violence when he finds Devin’s diary filled with revenge fantasies.
Especially in today’s era, playing this kind of character can go very wrong, but Fegley finds a balance between empathy for his character and understanding the turmoil inside him.
Scott’s concern is proven when Devin returns to his high school with a gun and holds the students hostage. Scott tries to talk his son down, but Devin angrily blames his father and takes his own life. After the judge heard the story, all charges against Scott were dismissed. Fegley imbues a dark and unlikeable character with a tremendous amount of emotion. Especially in today’s era, playing this kind of character can go very wrong, but Fegley finds a balance between empathy for his character and understanding the turmoil inside him.
3
Wonderstruck (2017)
Ben
Wonderstroke, directed by Todd Haynes, connects the stories of a boy in the Midwest and a girl in New York fifty years ago, when both children embark on a quest to uncover a shared mysterious connection.
- Release date
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October 20, 2017
- Figure
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Cory Michael Smith, James Urbaniak, Michelle Williams, Morgan Turner, Ekaterina Samsonov, Amy Hargreaves, Oakes Fegley, Marko Caka, Damian Young, Julianne Moore, Tom Noonan
in WonderstruckTwo stories are woven together. One is set in 1927 and follows a young, deaf girl, Rose (Millicent Simmons), who runs away from her father’s home in search of her mother, a famous actress, Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore). The second story takes place in 1977 and follows the newly orphaned Ben (Oakes Pegley), who is made deaf by accident. Like Rose, he also runs away, but he intends to find his father.
A difficult and moving performance, Fegley is heartbreaking as a young boy who loses one thing after another and can’t seem to catch any kind of break. It’s a very emotional journey and Pegley has to shoulder half the crowd and thus plays a deaf character, another level of difficulty for the young actor. Wonderstruck is a mature and magical picture that needs someone with Fegley’s gravitas and innocence to make it work.
2
Adam the First (2024)
Adam
As the title character in Adam the firstOakes Fegley is often on screen alone for much of the film, and when he’s not, he engages in hearty and serious debates with some incredible older actors, and he holds his own. in Adam the firstAdam is a 14-year-old boy who sets off across the United States to meet a series of people who may or may not be his father. It is a moving portrait of love, empathy and resilience in the face of multiple failures.
Pegley has one-on-one conversations with David Duchovny, Larry Fine and more when he travels across the United States and not once does he feel like he’s being kicked out. It’s a mature, impressive performance from the young actor. His nervousness and humility make him feel like a real childBut his relentlessness in tracking down his family is powerful and enough to elicit plenty of tears.
1
Pete’s Dragon (2016)
Fit
Pete’s Dragon is an action-adventure fantasy movie that takes the classic Disney film and reimagines it for a new era. The story follows young orphan Pete and his best friend Elliot, a massive green dragon who lives in a forest in the Pacific Northwest. When a forest ranger’s daughter happens upon young Pete, she discovers the stories surrounding the dragon line up with recent incidents, leading her to search for the truth while trying to find Pete’s origins.
- Director
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David Lowery
- Release date
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August 12, 2016
- runtime
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103 minutes
- Budget
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$65 million
Which was even more unexpected than Play Pete’s DragonA solid but largely forgotten Disney animation, the live-action adaptation was just as successful as it ended up being, both critically and commercially. with 88% on Rotten tomatoes and $144 million at the box office (via boxOfficeMojo), Play Pete’s Dragon is one of The most well-received of all the Disney live-action adaptations. Some even consider it one of the best remakes of the 2010s.
Like the titular “Pete,” Fegley no doubt had a huge hand in why the film works so well. Pegley is incredibly vulnerable as the young, orphaned boy and his relationship with the visually dazzling dragon is heartwarming and honest. It’s a sincere film and one that needs an actor as sincere as him Oaks Pegley. He never winks at the camera or goes over the top. He fits perfectly into the story.