Tyler Alvarez on being a go-getter early on

Tyler Alvarez

Even when he was a kid, “American Vandal” actor Tyler Alvarez knew what he wanted to do, and he did what he could to make it happen.

“I was about 11 or so when I heard some commercial about getting into acting and in that moment, I decided I was going to go for it,” Alvarez recently told Status Magazine. “I started calling agents and managers and setting up acting classes all on my own at that age. I spent hours researching on how to break into the biz.”

Given his age back then, he wouldn’t get taken seriously, he related: “I hate when I would call to set up a meeting and they would request to speak to a parent. Like, hello? I [handled] all of my own business, even though I was probably around four feet tall and had a squeaky voice at the time.”

He eventually landed a role in Nickelodeon’s “Every Witch Way,” where he was a cast member for over 80 episodes. Later, he got a recurring role in “Orange is the New Black.”

Alvarez also played a teen student in two seasons of the mockumentary series “American Vandal.”

Alvarez’s next project is the James Franco film “The Pretenders,” where he plays a high school student aspiring to be a stage actor.

He recounted that he was a loner when he was younger. “My older brother was really popular in school—he was the captain of every team. That made me feel like I needed to live up to that kind of reputation,” the 21-year-old actor said.

“Sadly, I am not the most athletic. I eventually made a lot of friends but I remember the feeling of not having friends like it was yesterday,” Alvarez added.—OLIVER PULUMBARIT