Nicholas Braun subsisted on ‘only candy and coffee’ while filming ‘Zola’

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Nicholas Braun is best known for his role as “Cousin Greg” on Succession, but he covers the latest issue of British GQ for another supporting role: the crazy boyfriend in Zola, the movie based on the viral “ho trip” Twitter thread. As I dove into this GQ profile, I realized that I didn’t know anything about Braun. Like, at all. He’s 33 years old, he’s been working since he was a kid, he’s a Disney contemporary of Selena Gomez, and he’s 6’7”. He’s also just kind of loose and weird, but in a nice way. Like, you can tell, he’s happy where he is. He’s just famous enough to be recognized but not famous enough to be swarmed. He runs his own social media, he hangs out with friends and makes dumb videos and he’s into music. It’s kind of charming how quirky, nice and well-adjusted he comes across. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

He doesn’t find his self-worth in being famous: “I do love when people love the show but if it makes me feel so much better about myself that someone said this to me, I think I need to work on my self-esteem more.”

He’s an anxious person: “I guess I’m one of those people who is not, like, instantly comfortable with people; it takes me a while to know what version of myself I’m going to be with somebody. When there’s any kind of awkward silence, I’m like, ‘OK, probably time to go.’ But I think Greg doesn’t have that voice in his head.”

Being a Disney kid with Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. “When you do a movie with Selena or Demi, you know, and they’re, like, being groomed in a way for being the next big thing, you kind of sense it.” At 13 he turned down the opportunity to test for a lead role in a major sitcom that might have made his name because of the implications it would have on the back end of his adolescence. “The opportunities to be the lead of a Disney Channel series felt scary to me. It felt like a commitment that might come around to bite me in the ass.”

He still questions his choice to spend his late teens as a normal kid: “I was looking at the Twilight people and I was like, ‘Man, that must be awesome.’ But then, you know, it dies down and it changes. I think I’ve just believed in the slow rise and to make sure that I focus on my work and that I remain an artist and not necessarily go towards the thing that would get me the most fame the most quickly.”

On his character in Zola: “I felt this relationship was kind of eating him up,” he says. Braun lost some weight. He put lesions on his skin. He subsisted on only candy and coffee. “I was just on this really weird, thin, kind of manic energy.”

Why he wore Crocs to the Emmys: “It doesn’t feel good when you’re wearing stuff you don’t like – you feel like a mannequin or something. You’re like, ‘Yeah, they put the clothes on me and here I am looking nice and slick, but it doesn’t actually feel like me.’ So I guess I’m trying to find ways to do this that feel good to me and in brands that I like and, I mean, Crocs felt like the right thing for an at-home Emmys.” He now owns ten pairs of Crocs, wearing them three to four times a week, and is expanding into more straightforwardly fashionable footwear thanks to his new pal Virgil Abloh, as he makes deeper forays into the world of high fashion. “I still don’t feel like I’m made to be in the fashion world but it gets more fun the more you learn about it.”

[From British GQ]

It was probably pretty smart for him to decide, when he was like 13-14, that he didn’t want to be a Disney kid forever and he didn’t want that kind of stardom at that age. It probably helped that he came from what sounds like a wealthy family, with a dad who was in the industry too. The thing about how “method” he is with his characters though… some of those stories were kind of terrible. He partied with Juggalos as research and lived on candy and coffee while they were filming Zola? Gross. And the Crocs… well, I hate Crocs, but God bless.

HMS Queen Elizabeth

Covers courtesy of British GQ.

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18 Responses to “Nicholas Braun subsisted on ‘only candy and coffee’ while filming ‘Zola’”

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  1. LightPurple says:

    Cousin Greg!

  2. jferber says:

    I had a friend who only smoked cigarettes and ate cookies while she was going through a very traumatic divorce. I think the candy and coffee thing is a very similar reaction. He already said he’s an anxious person, so I do understand his food choices. I’m also an anxious person, but go in the opposite direction: I eat more of everything, which is also a poor and dispiriting choice.

    • observer says:

      i already posted a comment saying this, but as an eating disordered person myself, the “eating disorder radar” in my head that is constantly scanning other people for ED behavior is going ding ding ding

  3. Ann says:

    I want to party with Juggalos. Just once. They fascinate me.

    Good on this dude for skipping the Disney path of destruction to adulthood. Way too many kid actors come out F’ed up. That’s some real maturity for anyone, but especially a teenager, to realize the level of long-term commitment that comes with a job like that. This guy gives me old soul vibes.

    • observer says:

      juggalos are absolutely fascinating to me too, every time some media outlet does an “investigative expose” on juggalo culture i deep dive into it lol

      my general impression is they range from actual literal sociopaths to really nice but crazy guys (guys in the nongendered sense) who are just harmless misfits accepting of most other kinds of misfits. i wanna party with them too, and i don’t f–king party.

  4. faithmobile says:

    I was friends with a couple of brothers who were both on hit tv shows in the 90’s their parents worked hard to keep their lives normal and by keeping their home base in northern California, to this day they are both well adjusted adults but it could have so easily gone another way.

  5. Lara says:

    For a long time I thought he was in his early 20s because he gives off VERY strong young douchey hipster vibes, but he’s actually 33. Yikes. 😬

    • Culture Cannibal says:

      I’ve hung out with him and he is so far removed from being douchy. He is one of the nicest, most down-to-earth celebs I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. He’s quirky in the most sincere and engaging ways. Yeah, he dates a lot. But he’s never an as*hole about it, you know? He’s just a really sound, really nice and *really* talented dude. I can’t say enough good stuff about him, and I’m so glad he’s having his moment finally!

      • Lara says:

        Lol I see you’re probably one of his many NYC conquests so I’ll just leave it alone.

    • CHIMES@MIDNIGHT says:

      You’re being rude, Lara.

  6. Sally says:

    Eh, that wealthy, influential dad is kinda operative here, isn’t he? He knew he’d get another chance. The kids from poorer backgrounds don’t and they won’t risk it, especially if they have family depending on them. So good for him that he made that choice, but he’s lucky that it was an actual choice for him. Don’t get me wrong, I really like him as an actor too and I love that he’s one of the few truly tall ones who get work, but… yeah, that interview wasn’t a highlight.

  7. Justjj says:

    Ok, for the first time in a long time, I’m too old to know who this person is. Yikes.

  8. observer says:

    “Braun lost some weight. He put lesions on his skin. He subsisted on only candy and coffee. “I was just on this really weird, thin, kind of manic energy.””

    can we talk about how if a woman were to say this, it would be eating disordered talk/behavior, but if a man does it suddenly it’s ~*quirky*~

    also: he put lesions on his skin? elaborate on that because…how? doesn’t this imply he self-harmed as well? i’m not getting the “and an sfx artist did it” vibe from this statement AT ALL.