Born in Brooklyn in 1991, Jeremy Allen White’s parents were aspiring actors who moved to New York City with the hope of appearing on Broadway. Those dreams fell by the wayside with the arrival of their son, leading his father to start his own business, filming legal depositions, while his mother pursued a career in education.
His parents’ desire to perform was something that was passed on to White. “I trained as a dancer when I was young — jazz, ballet, tap,” White explained to Interview Magazine, revealing that he still enjoyed it. “Going out dancing with friends is my favorite thing to do,” he shared. “I break out all my old moves.” White was just 11 when he abruptly ceased his dance training when he felt that instruction in his middle school wasn’t at the level he felt it should be. “I didn’t think it was serious enough for me,” he recalled for GQ. “So obnoxious.”
After turning his back on dance, he gravitated toward his school’s drama department. Dance, however, remains a part of his repertoire. “I tap all the time … it’s like a nervous tic or something …” he told Variety, revealing his tendency to break into a soft-shoe shuffle before a take. “I’ve had ADs, PAs, fellow actors always ask, ‘What is going on there?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know exactly, but I am tap dancing. I don’t know why I am, but I am.'”
