Thirteen-year-old actor Cole Allen plays not only one, but two characters in his first series regular role on a major network: Showtime’s Golden Globe-nominated comedy-drama, Kidding, starring alongside Jim Carrey. The series follows iconic children’s television host Mr. Pickles (Carrey), as he works to get through a major family crisis and heartbreak. Cole plays Will and Phil Pickles, twin boys of Mr. Pickles, one of which (Phil) passed away in a tragic car crash. Cole’s work on the show earned him a spot on TV Guide’s “Freshman 15” list of the top 15 breakout stars of fall TV. Season two of Kidding is set to premiere February 9th.
Born and raised in Austin, TX, it was Cole’s sister, Amalia, who started acting first. He would tag along to her auditions and eventually thought it would be fun to try for himself. He asked his mom if he could give it a try and was happy to hear her say yes. Shortly after, Cole’s first audition came unexpectedly while he was at his sister’s audition for a commercial and the casting director asked if he wanted to audition with her. He auditioned on the spot and loved the thrill of if just as much as he suspected he would.
Aside from acting, Cole is also an eighth grade student who loves studying English. In his free time he enjoys skateboarding, going to the beach, losing himself in action or adventure books, and playing video games. He is also an animal lover and his family has two dogs, two cats, four chickens, a duck and a fish. Cole lives in Austin, with his parents, sister, Amalia and brother, Yehoon, but travels between Austin and Los Angeles to film his show.
Here’s 5 fast facts about Cole!
He’s had some great times on Kidding.
I have had so many amazing experiences working on Kidding. I love to see the amazingly creative sets on the show and my favorite is the set of Puppet Time, the children’s show that Jim Carrey’s character hosts within our show. I got to shoot a scene there with Frank Langella, who plays my grandpa, and it was so fun to see the puppets and backdrops.
But there’s just ONE thing which kind of stinks about acting:
Oh man, I love almost everything about showbiz–except for early call times. I need my sleep and it is hard to get out of bed to go to work–but at least I know craft services is waiting for me when I get there.
He was THAT kid in class.
My most embarrassing moment IRL happened one day at school when I decided to climb out a second story window–just to see if I could do it. It turned out that window faced the office window of my Head of School and he saw the whole thing.
He’s got an unusual pet.
People would be surprised to know that I have a pet muscovy duck named Dally. He’s named after the character Dallas Winston from the Outsiders because has a crest of feathers on his head that looks like a greaser’s hairdo–and he wags his tail when he is excited. He was adopted from our city animal shelter, just like our dogs and cats.
No portabella for him, thanks.
I love all kinds of food, but one food that I will absolutely refuse to eat is mushrooms–I don’t like the texture.
