Who is Nicolas Cantu?
Nicolas Cantu was born on 8 September 2003, in Austin, Texas, USA. He is an actor, voice actor, and YouTube personality, best known for voicing the character Gumball Waterson in the animated series “The Amazing World of Gumball” from 2017 to 2019. Other notable projects he’s worked on include “Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures”, and “The Walking Dead: World Beyond”.
The Wealth of Nicolas Cantu
As of mid-2020, Nicolas Cantu’s net worth is estimated to be over $1 million, earned through a successful career in acting.
Aside from voice work, he’s also appeared in numerous commercials and also earns consistently from his work on YouTube. He’s also been involved in a few stage productions and independent features.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Nicolas grew up in Austin, the middle child among three children. At a young age, he showed that he was more sociable than his siblings, and very observant of his surroundings; he was very outgoing as a child, and upon discovering the world of acting, he was determined to pursue it as a career. He was supported by his mother, and the family watched as he portrayed various characters at home, creating roles, doing voices, and performing routines that he worked on.
Eventually, this led him to participate more in productions in his school, first working on the play “The Bear Went Over The Mountain”. He wasn’t satisfied with just school players, however, and soon his mother joined him in auditioning for roles nearby, leading him to work on a small film for San Antonio, Texas. He also did commercial work, and seeing his potential, his mother brought him to Hollywood where they looked for an agent.
Rise to Prominence
After signing with an agent, Cantu got his first professional role as a voice actor, being cast as the recurring character, Prince James in “Sofia the First”.
The animated series aired on the Disney Channel, and follows the titular character, a child who becomes a princess following her mother’s marriage to a king; numerous other Disney princesses appear as guests in several of the show’s episodes. With the success of this first project, the family decided to move to Los Angeles so that they could have easier access to the entertainment industry, as L.A. was filled with opportunities.
After working on several national commercials, Nicolas landed a role in the Disney XD show “Walk the Prank”, which follows four children as they pull pranks on other actors, while also showcasing some of their life away from all the pranking.
The show ran for three seasons, though he was mainly a supporting cast member in the show. The following year he ventured into film work, appearing in “Vikes” and ‘The Impossible Joy”, the latter film telling the story of an illegal immigrant who is guided by an older man as he tries to navigate his life at school, and falling in love for the first time.
The Amazing World of Gumball
In 2017, Nicolas got one of his most notable roles when he was cast in “The Amazing World of Gumball”, voicing the main character Gumball and replacing Terrell Ransom Jr. for the role after it was voiced by Ransom for around three years.
The show follows the life of the blue cat Gumball Waterson, a 12-year old who goes on adventures with his goldfish best friend and adoptive brother Darwin. They often become involved in misadventures that intertwine with their relationships.
The show became very popular and by the time he joined the series, it was already internationally recognized. His time in the show was noted for its change in production style, which involved darker and more satirical comedy. He was the last to hold the mantle of Gumball, as after its sixth season, the show eventually ended.
Meantime he had other projects, such as “Dora and Friends: Into the City!” a sequel to “Dora the Explorer” which deals with a now 10-year-old Dora who attends school and has several friends. Some of the characters from the original show appear as guests from time to time.
Recent Endeavors
While working on “The Amazing World of Gumball”, Cantu also did voice work for “Arnold: The Jungle Movie”, a continuation of “Hey Arnold!: The Movie”, and based on several episodes of “Hey Arnold!” the animated series.
The show provides a definitive end to the show, while also showing a potential revival for the series, as it discussed the location of Arnold’s missing parents.He then did guest voices for “Duck Tales” before working on the animated series “DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders”, based on the franchise “How to Train Your Dragon”. His latest projects is the show “The Walking Dead: World Beyond”, scheduled for two seasons.
Aside from his acting work, he’s also been busy regularly updating a YouTube channel called junkyjanker, more as a video blog (vlog) and comedy channel. This was a second channel as he didn’t want to be associated any longer with his first channel, which consisted of sketch comedy videos he later labeled as cringe.
He doesn’t update his channel regularly, though showcases some of his voice acting talents through several animated videos.
Personal Life
Nicolas is still young, and apparently isn’t interested in pursuing any romantic relationships yet, but is busy working on developing his acting career further. During his free time he enjoys skateboarding, playing basketball, drawing, and animation. His channel is also an outlet for him to showcase his animation skills, while also taking advantage of his voice acting background. He often spends his free time with his family, and the family’s three pet dogs.