WOLFGANG
NOVOGRATZ
“From as early as I can remember,
basketball was my life,” says the
22-year-old Novogratz, who played
for Harvard Westlake in high school
and was scouted for Division I college
teams before a 12th-grade drama class
changed his trajectory. He relocated to
study at the London Academy of Music
and Dramatic Art and then went back
to L.A. to perform in revivals of Va nya
and Sonia and Masha and Spike and
This Is Our Youth before his matinee
idol looks landed him roles in a series
of romantic comedies, including The
Last Summer. Next he’ll appear in the
drama Yes, God, Yes and will travel to
South Africa to film the supernatural
love story Hush Hush. It’s a hectic
schedule but one he says basketball
prepared him for. “Ninety-nine percent
of what I learned as an athlete,” he
says, “I can use in acting.”