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Who is Mike Faist?
American actor Michael David ‘Mike’ Faist was born in Gahanna, Ohio USA, on 5 January 1992, making Capricorn his zodiac sign. He has 17 acting credits, and is perhaps known best for playing Riff in the 2021 musical movie “West Side Story”, which starred Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort, and was directed by Steven Spielberg. It follows the rivalry between the street gangs Sharks and Jets, and the film won 71 of its 362 award nominations, including an Oscar win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Ariana DeBose).
Mike’s today highly active in the film industry, and is currently shooting for the upcoming movies “The Bikeriders” and “Challengers”.
Education and early life
Mike was raised in Ohio by his adoptive parents Kurt and Julia Faist, who are owners of a real estate business; he was 17 when he met his biological mother, and his elder half-brothers taught him to fly planes (he’s since become a licensed pilot).
Mike was five when he persuaded his adoptive parents to enroll him at dancing school, after having watched Gene Kelly perform in the 1962 romantic musical comedy movie “Singin’ in the Rain”. After only a year of practicing dancing, Mike began auditioning for roles in children’s and community theatre; his first appearances were in “The Wizard of Oz”, “Oliver!” and “Alice in Wonderland”.
Mike studied at Gahanna Lincoln High School and appeared in all the plays performed there, including “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Grease”. He matriculated in 2009, and then moved to New York City, enrolling at American Musical and Dramatic Academy, but dropped out a year later, wanting to focus on acting.
Roles in movies
Mike’s debut film role was playing Tony in the 2012 drama “The Unspeakable Act”, and the year 2015 saw him appear in three movies: the romantic drama “Touched with Fire”, the drama “The Grief of Others”, and the short thriller “Yellow”.
In 2016, he starred as Benny in the drama “Our Time”, which also starred Ashley Nicole Anderson and Robert Gorrie, and was written and directed by Marc Lucas. It follows Chris who’s planning to leave his hometown as soon as he matriculates, however, his car has broken down and he’s thus begun selling drugs to make money to fix it. In 2017, Mike appeared in both the drama “I Can I Will I Did”, and the comedy “Active Adults”.
He played Lawrence Fowler in the 2018 fantasy horror “Wildling”, which stared Brad Dourif and Bel Powley, and was written and directed by Fritz Bohm; it follows a teenage girl as she’s learning secrets about her childhood.
Mike’s since appeared in only two movies: the 2020 drama “The Atlantic City Story”, and the 2022 biographical comedy “Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game”.
Roles in TV series
Mike’s debut TV series role was playing Olsen in the 2015 pilot episode of the popular crime horror “Eye Candy”, which starred Casey Deidrick and Victoria Justice, and was created by Christian Taylor; it follows a woman who believes that her online date’s a murderer.
In 2017, Mike played Glenn Lawrence in the episode “Complicated” of the mystery crime drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, and the following year saw him portray Mekka in the episode “Masking” of the crime mystery “Deception”.
His only other TV series role has been playing the lead character Dodge Mason in all 10 episodes of the 2021 crime adventure “Panic”, which also starred Olivia Scott Welch and Jessica Sula, and was created by Lauren Oliver; it follows the deadly game ‘Panic’ which takes place in the small town of Carp in Texas.
Theatre acting
Mike’s debut theatre role was playing Morris Delancey in the 2011 “Newsies”, performed at the Paper Mill Playhouse, then played Morris and the lead character Jack Kelly when the musical transferred to Broadway.
The year 2014 saw him star as Rhys Thurston in the off-Broadway play “Appropriate”, and then starred alongside Peter Dinklage in the 2015 off-Broadway play “A Month in the Country”.
Mike starred as Connor Murphy in the first ever production of the musical “Dear Evan Hansen” in August 2015, but the following years saw him appear in only a single play: “Days of Rage”.
He’s currently preparing to portray Jack Twist in the West End production of “Brokeback Mountain”.
Other credits
Mike sang the songs “Tonight (Quintent)”, “Cool” and “Jet Song” in the 2021 movie “West Side Story”, and he the song “Tonight” in the 2022 episode “Review of the Year 2021: Part II” of the podcast “Diminishing Returns”.
He received special thanks for the 2022 documentary movies “The Stories of West Side Story the Steven Spielberg Film”, and “West Side Story: A New Generation”.
Some of Mike’s recent talk-show appearances have been in “20/20”, “IMDb on the Scene – Interviews”, and “The Drew Barrymore Show”.
Awards and nominations
Mike’s won three of his 23 award nominations: a 2018 Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album, for the songs which he and his colleagues sang in the play “Dear Evan Hansen”; a 2021 Phoenix Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor; and a 2022 Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Breakthrough Performance: Male, both for “West Side Story”.
Love life and girlfriend
Mike avoids sharing the details of his love life with the public, but has still allowed his fans a glimpse into it. He’s today in a long-term relationship with American professional dancer Alexis Tilly; it’s believed that the two began dating in January 2018, because they began uploading pictures featuring themselves together onto their Instagram accounts around that time, but this is yet to be confirmed by Mike.
There are no other women whom Mike’s been with, that we know about; he’s in a relationship with Alexis Tilly as of June 2023, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Prior to succeeding in the film industry, Mike lived in the back of a McDonald’s parking lot and collected food stamps; he also sold tickets in Times Square.
He helped launch the 2018 Ohio Artists Gathering, a playwright’s festival held in Columbus.
Mike isn’t active on Instagram but his fan page is ‘followed’ by over 12,000 people, and there are more than 800 pictures and videos uploaded onto it; most of these are scenes from his movies and TV series.
He enjoys being physically active; Mike goes for a run nearly every morning, and also exercises at the gym several times each week.
He loves animals, and some of his favorites are elephants, donkeys and kangaroos.
One of Mike’s favorite actors is Anthony Hopkins, and some of his favorite movies include “The Father”, “Meet Joe Black”, and “Silence of the Lambs”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Mike’s age is 31. He has brown hair and blue eyes, is 6ft (1.83m) tall and weighs around 170lbs (78kgs).
Mike’s net worth’s been estimated at over $2 million, as of June 2023.
