Childhood & Early Life
Nathan West was born Nathan Luke West, on September 29, 1978, in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Hockey has always been a craze in Alaska, and Nathan became fascinated by it as a kid.
He played hockey all through his childhood years, even after he joined high school. However, ever since his early days, he had an inclination toward performing arts. He began making music at the age of 16, when he was in high school. He was heavily inspired by the musical styles of singers such as Bob Dylan and Otis Redding.
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Career
He began playing hockey seriously when he joined the ‘Service High School’ in his hometown, Anchorage. He was eventually drafted by the ‘Detroit Whalers,’ which played in the ‘Ontario Hockey League,’ one of the three small leagues that constituted the highly revered ‘Canadian Hockey League.’
His love for acting brought him back to America as he made his acting debut in 1994, appearing in a sports comedy–drama film titled ‘D2: The Mighty Ducks.’ It was the second film in the ‘Mighty Duck’ trilogy and had Nathan essaying a small role of an Iceland goalie.
At the age of 20, he made his comeback after a 4-year break, with the guest role of ‘Sam’ in the TV series titled ‘The Adventures of A.R.K.’
In 1998, he also appeared in a slightly bigger role, as ‘James Parrish’ in the series titled ‘The Practice.’
The year 1999 turned out to be a busier year for Nathan, as he appeared playing guest roles in four series that year, titled ‘Smart Guy,’ ‘ER,’ ‘Chicago Hope,’ and ‘Saving Graces.’ These featured him in small one-episode roles. He was struggling to have a strong hold on his acting career but was unable to do so. Around the same time, he also began focusing on his career as a musician, but acting remained constant.
He made his major film debut with the teen cheerleading comedy film ‘Bring It On’ in 2000. He played the role of ‘Jan’ in the film. It earned decent critical acclaim. The film also turned out to be a huge box-office success. The success of the film resulted in slightly better roles for Nathan.
The same year, he furthered his TV career with a small one-episode role in the series titled ‘Get Real,’ playing ‘Carter.’
Toward the end of 2000, he earned the first major role of his acting career, when he was signed to play a recurring character in the drama series titled ‘7th Heaven.’ He played ‘Johnny’ in the series. It was one of the highest-rated series of the time. Nathan appeared in four episodes of the series, in 2000 and 2001.
In 2001, he appeared in the parody movie titled ‘Not Another Teen Movie,’ in which he played an actor. Despite the fact that the film received bad reviews from critics, it was a massive commercial success and is now known as a cult movie in the parody genre.
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He did not achieve the desired success on TV. In the early 2000s, he only appeared playing guest roles in series such as ‘Boomtown.’ In 2002, he appeared in the supporting role of ‘Jackson Wilde’ in a small series titled ‘Septuplets.’
In 2002, he earned the first leading role of his career in the straight-to-video thriller film titled ‘The Skulls II.’ He played ‘Parker Neal’ in the film. It was a huge critical and commercial debacle.
He appeared in the supporting role of ‘James’ in the independent film titled ‘Home Room.’ The film attained good audience reception.
He had a huge break in the 2004 sports docudrama film titled ‘Miracle.’ The film starred Kurt Russell in the lead role and had Nathan in the supporting role of ‘Rob McClanahan.’ The film became a big critical and commercial success.
Later, in 2008, he appeared in the sports–drama film titled ‘Forever Strong,’ which received bad reviews from critics but was loved by the audience.
In 2010, Nathan appeared in the last film of his career to date. He played the lead role of ‘Charles B. Anderson’ in the historical romantic drama ‘Alleged.’
He is currently busy making music, after forming a musical duo named ‘WestLeigh’ with his wife. They mostly play covers of classic songs, but they also have original singles such as ‘Love Lit the Sky.’
Family & Personal Life
Nathan West met actor Chyler Leigh during the audition for the ‘WB’ series titled ‘Saving Graces.’ They began dating soon, and they also appeared in many TV series together.
They got married on July 20, 2002, after Nathan proposed to her on the sets of the film ‘Not Another Teen Movie.’ They had three children.
While they were dating, they had fallen into the trap of drug addiction. They have since recovered.
