Nicolas Cantu
Nicolas Cantu (born September 8, 2003),[2] formerly[3] known by his internet pseudonym Junky Janker, is an American actor and YouTuber. Cantu is best known for his animation roles as Gumball in the Cartoon Network animated TV series The Amazing World of Gumball, and as Leonardo in the 2023 computer-animated film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.[4] In live-action, Cantu is known for starring as Elton Ortiz in the AMC television series The Walking Dead: World Beyond.[2][5] His YouTube channel has over 425,000 subscribers.[6]
Nicolas Cantu | |||||||
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Born | Austin, Texas, U.S. | September 8, 2003||||||
Other names | Junky Janker[lower-alpha 1] | ||||||
Occupation(s) | Actor, YouTuber | ||||||
Years active | 2014–present | ||||||
YouTube information | |||||||
Subscribers | 440,000 (July 2021) | ||||||
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Early life
Nicolas Cantu was born in Austin, Texas on September 8, 2003. He grew up in San Antonio, Texas and attended Stone Oak elementary school.[7][8] He has two brothers.[9] He moved to Los Angeles, California when he was 10 years old in order to pursue his acting career. Cantu moved back to his home town of San Antonio, Texas in 2022.[7]
Career
Television
He began his voice acting career at the age of twelve with a guest role as Diego in a 2016 episode of the Nickelodeon series Dora and Friends: Into the City!. He then began voice acting in main roles in the same year. His first main voice role was as Rowan Freemaker in the Disney XD television series Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures.[10] He also starred as Paco on the TV animated show Future-Worm!, voiced Prince James for the Disney Junior show Sofia the First, replacing Tyler Merna, and provided additional voices for the reboot series The Powerpuff Girls.[11] In 2017, Cantu voiced the title character on the Cartoon Network series The Amazing World of Gumball, replacing Jacob Hopkins, starred in an episode of Teachers as Quinn and played Travis on an episode of Disney Channel's Raven's Home. In 2018, Cantu appeared as Raymond on The Good Place. In 2019, he made one-episode appearances on the TV series Bizaardvark, Sydney to the Max and DuckTales. He voiced Winston on Middle School Moguls and appeared as Andrew on the CBS sitcom The Unicorn. He also voiced Dak on the Netflix series DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders. In 2020, he voiced Rhys on an episode of Where's Waldo?, played Elton Ortiz on AMC's The Walking Dead: World Beyond and provided the voice of Teia on the animated series Puppy Dog Pals. In 2021, he played Dennis Kern on an episode of The Rookie, appeared as JJ on two episodes of 9-1-1: Lone Star and voiced Ensign Mainstay on the Netflix series Kid Cosmic. In 2022, he voiced Smooth Jason and Wrinkly on the Netflix show Oddballs. His most recent roles include American Born Chinese, Hailey's On It! and Skull Island.
Film
Cantu began his film career at the age of fourteen with a voice role as Curly on the 2017 Nickelodeon TV film Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.[12][13] He then starred in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans as Hark in 2022.[14][15] He provided the voice of Leonardo on the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
Personal life
He is close friends with American singer, Brennley Brown.[17]
On November 8, 2018, Cantu hosted a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital Los Angeles at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, California.[18]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie | Curly (voice) | TV Movie | [19] |
2017 | The Impossible Joy | Tomas | Short film | [20] |
2017 | Vikes | Joey | ||
2022 | The Fabelmans | Hark | [21] | |
2023 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem | Leonardo (voice) | [22][23] |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Note | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Dora and Friends: Into the City! | Diego Márquez (voice) | 1 episode | |
2016–2017 | Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures | Rowan Freemaker (voice) | 31 episodes | [24] |
2016–2018 | Future-Worm! | Paco (voice) | 6 episodes | [25] |
2016–2018 | Sofia the First | Prince James (voice) | 14 episodes | [26][27] |
2016–2019 | The Powerpuff Girls | Additional voices | ||
2017–2019 | The Amazing World of Gumball | Gumball Watterson, Humor, Anxiety, Zachariah Lopez Kirby (voice) | 71 episodes | |
2017 | Teachers | Quinn | 1 episode | |
2017 | Walk the Prank | Kid #1 | 1 episode | |
2017 | Raven's Home | Travis | 1 episode | [28][29] |
2018 | The Good Place | Raymond | 1 episode | |
2019 | Bizaardvark | Jackson | 1 episode | |
2019 | Sydney to the Max | Dominic | 1 episode | |
2019 | DuckTales | B.O.Y.D. (voice) | 1 episode | [30] |
2019 | Middle School Moguls | Winston (voice) | 4 episodes | |
2019–2020 | The Unicorn | Andrew | ||
2019–2020 | DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders | Dak (voice) | 26 episodes | [30] |
2020 | Where's Waldo? | Rhys (voice) | 1 episode | |
2020-2021 | The Walking Dead: World Beyond | Elton Ortiz | 20 episodes | [30][31] |
2020 | Puppy Dog Pals | Teia (voice) | 1 episode | |
2021 | The Rookie | Dennis Kern | 1 episode | [32] |
2021 | 9-1-1: Lone Star | JJ | 2 episodes | |
2021-2022 | Kid Cosmic | Ensign Mainstay (voice) | 2 episodes | |
2022 | Family Guy | High School Kid by the Bleachers (voice) | 1 episode | |
2022 | Oddballs | Smooth Jason, Wrinkly (voice) | 2 episodes | |
2023 | American Born Chinese | Barry | 2 episodes | |
2023 | Hailey's On It! | Otto (voice) | 1 episode | |
2023 | Skull Island | Charlie (voice) | 8 episodes | [30][33] |
TBA | Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Leonardo (voice) | [34] |
Nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | The Amazing World of Gumball, episode "The Grades" | Nominated | [35] |
2019 | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Voice-Acting Role: Teen Artist | Sofia the First | Nominated | [36] |
References
- "RIP THA GOAT #KOBEYJANKER #NEWBIG #GONEFOREVERYOUWILLBEMISSED⚱️". instagram.com.
- Martinez, Kiko (September 15, 2022). "Actor Nicolas Cantu returns to San Antonio after 8 years". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- THE END OF THE LINE #NEWBIG, retrieved September 19, 2023
- McIntosh, Steven (July 28, 2023). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reviews: Mutant Mayhem impresses critics". BBC Online. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- Pardiwalla, Tanzim (September 30, 2020). "Exclusive: 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond's Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu On Relating To Teens In A Post-Apocalyptic World". Mashable. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- "junky janker's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile)". Social Blade. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- Martinez, Kiko (August 2, 2023). "5 things to know about San Antonio actor, 'Ninja Turtles' star Nicolas Cantu". San Antonio Express-News. Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- Price, Robert (December 3, 2022). "San Antonio actor makes film debut in Steven Spielberg's 'The Fabelmans'". WOAI-TV. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- "Bring your #brother to work day 😎 #brotherlylove #brothers #fountain #beautifulday #california #dreamworks #project @sebastiancantuuu #nicolascantuofficial". instagram.com.
- "LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Premieres June 20 on Disney XD". www.starwars.com.
- "San Antonio native Nicolas Cantu's character keeps developing in final season of Walking Dead spinoff". www.sacurrent.com.
- "Nick Titles 'Hey Arnold!' Movie Starring Original Voicers". www.animationmagazine.net.
- "Nickelodeon Reveals Title of the Hey Arnold! TV Movie as Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie; Original Voice Actors Return". ir.paramount.com.
- "'I mean, it's Steven Spielberg': Former NEISD student will star in legendary director's film". www.expressnews.com.
- "San Antonio actor makes film debut in Steven Spielberg's 'The Fabelmans'". news4sanantonio.com.
- Cantu, Nicolas (November 2, 2020). "Walking Dead: World Beyond's Nicolas Cantu on How to Survive an Apocalypse". BUILD Series Sydney (Interview). Interviewed by Danny Clayton. Yahoo! News. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- "Happy #sixteen to my #sweet friend @brennleybrown 🎉🎂🎉🎂 #birthdaygirl #thevoice #celebrate #happybirthday #nicolascantuofficial". instagram.com.
- "Please join my friends and I on Thursday, November 8th to help raise funds benefiting the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. We will have a dine-in event happening ALL DAY at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank. SWIPE RIGHT to see flyer for details. @childrensla @gunnarsizemore @andrerobinson2 @junkyjanker @noah_k_bentley #chla #childrenshospitallosangeles #fundraiser #juniorambassador #helpingkids". instagram.com.
- "Hey Arnold movie: Nickeloden announces title, 19 original actors returning". ew.com.
- "Nick Sets "Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie" for Nov. 24th Debut". www.animationscoop.com.
- Martinez, Kiko (November 23, 2022). "San Antonio actor Nicolas Cantu stars in Steven Spielberg's 'The Fabelmans'". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- Tallerico, Brian (July 27, 2023). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- "The cast #tmnt #tmntmovie 💥". instagram.com.
- "LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures - Nicholas Cantu Interview". youtube.com.
- "New 'Walking Dead' Spinoff Casts Its First Three Leads". deadline.com.
- "World Beyond actor Nicolas Cantu in TMNT: Mutant Mayhem teaser". undeadwalking.com.
- "Excited to be Prince James!!#sofiathefirst #voiceoveractor #voiceactor #disneychannel #nicolascantuofficial". instagram.com.
- "Great times as guest star on #ravenshome with this funny and #amazing lady ❤️ @ravensymone #actors @disneychannel #funonset #lovemyjob #kidactor #disney #show #ravensfan @nicolascantoo #nicolascantuofficial". instagram.com.
- "Shooting an #episode for #ravenshome was #epic #disneychannel #setlife #halloween #scary #newepisode #mustwatch #happyday #funday #nicolascantuofficial". instagram.com.
- Kelley, Shamus (July 25, 2023). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - Nicolas Cantu on Taking Charge as Leonardo". Den of Geek. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- Otterson, Joe (July 10, 2019). "New 'Walking Dead' Series Casts Three Lead Roles (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- "@therookieabc @abcnetwork". instagram.com.
- Ratcliffe, Amy (June 22, 2023). "Nerdist Watches SKULL ISLAND's First Episode with Series Star Nicolas Cantu". Nerdist. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- Pulliam-Moore, Charles (July 26, 2023). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is already spawning a sequel and a spinoff series". The Verge. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- Flores, Terry (December 4, 2017). "'Coco' Tops 2018 Annie Awards Nominations With 13". Variety. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- 2019 Young Artist Academy - 40th Awards Nominations. Young Artist Award. April 20, 2019. Event occurs at 4:59. Retrieved July 29, 2023 – via YouTube.
Notes
- Cantu retired this alias in September 2023.[1]
External links
- Nicolas Cantu at IMDb
- Nicolas Cantu at Behind The Voice Actors