From Boston athlete to Atlanta actor, model and entrepreneur, Nathaniel Nathaniel didn’t move 1,000 miles from home simply to chase a role. He came to build a career and ultimately, an empire.
THE DREAM STARTED IN BOSTON
Before Nathaniel Nathaniel ever stepped in front of a professional camera, he was a kid in Boston watching movies and imagining himself on the other side of the screen.
Trips to the theater with his mother and older brother introduced him to the magic of film.
And growing up in a city synonymous with stars like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg made Hollywood somehow feel both incredibly far away and strangely possible.
“I always saw myself being on the big screen, doing great things,” Nathaniel says. But acting wasn’t his first stage. Sports were.
At 6-foot-2 and roughly 240 pounds, Nathaniel was a three-sport athlete competing in football, wrestling and track and field before playing college football at Husson University in Maine as a defensive tackle and defensive end.
Yet even while football commanded his attention, another side of his personality kept showing up.
He vlogged around campus. He DJed parties. He hosted a sports radio show, talking Celtics, Patriots and everything in between while bringing teammates on as guests.
Without realizing it, Nathaniel was learning how to perform.
WHEN THE ACTING BUG HIT
The person who finally connected the dots was his older sister, who worked in set design at the time.
She saw her brother vlogging, DJing and hosting and asked the obvious question: Why not acting? Something clicked.
The childhood dream suddenly didn’t feel so childish.
Nathaniel auditioned for a New York play scheduled to be performed at NYU. Then COVID hit, shutting down the production before it could reach the stage.
For some, that might have been the end of the experiment. For Nathaniel, it was confirmation. He had caught the acting bug.
ONE CAR. ONE DREAM. ATLANTA.
In October 2020, Nathaniel made a decision that would change his life.
He packed everything he could into his 2008 Kia Optima and drove from Boston to Atlanta.
No family waiting. No established circle of friends.
No guarantee that anything would happen. Just a goal.
“I moved down here because I had a dream,” he says. “I had no family, no friends, no nothing. I did it.”
Nearly six years later, Atlanta has become home.
The gamble also gave Nathaniel something every aspiring actor eventually needs: proximity to opportunity.
Today, he is represented by Hayman Talent and New York’s Swain Thomas Agency and continues training with an acting coach while building his résumé through commercial and theatrical auditions.
His recent commercial work includes portraying Rich Thompson, a plumber and family man, in a campaign that flew him to Virginia for production.
He also appeared in a Sonic commercial.
The commercials may represent steps along the journey, but Nathaniel knows exactly where he wants that road to lead. The big screen.
THE BLACK JAMES BOND
Ask Nathaniel about his dream role and there’s no hesitation. CIA agent. Action. Intrigue. Leading man energy.
“I see myself as the Black James Bond,” he says.
But underneath the confidence is something more important: a desire for range. Nathaniel studies performers including Denzel Washington, Idris Elba, Leonardo DiCaprio and Chadwick Boseman—not because he wants to duplicate them, but because he admires actors capable of disappearing inside completely different characters.
“I don’t want to just play the same roles,” he says. “I want to be able to take a role, and it’s not Nathaniel anymore. It’s somebody else.”
One dream collaboration sits particularly high on his list: being directed by Denzel Washington. If Washington asked him for another take?
Nathaniel laughs that he would happily do ten. He wants to be pushed. He wants the expectations to be high. Because the goal isn’t simply to work. It’s greatness.
CONFIDENCE STARTED AT HOME
That confidence has roots far deeper than Hollywood. Nathaniel grew up in Dorchester in a multicultural neighborhood surrounded by Jamaican, Irish, Asian, Puerto Rican and other families. He credits his mother with teaching him how to walk into virtually any room and remain himself. “She’s been talking me up my entire life,” he says. “She was very intentional with me.”
Watching her connect naturally with people became his blueprint.
Whether Nathaniel is walking into an audition, a business meeting or onto a set, he doesn’t believe he needs to become smaller, quieter or different to belong. He simply walks in as Nate.
MODEL. ENTREPRENEUR. PRODUCER.
Acting may be the centerpiece, but Buchanan’s vision extends well beyond it.
He is also building his modeling career, with particular interest in athletic and sportswear campaigns.
His size, athletic background and commitment to fitness make brands such as Nike and Adidas natural aspirations.
He has also modeled his own clothing line, More Hustle, More Money, adding entrepreneur to a résumé that continues to expand.
Then there is producing.
Nathaniel is developing College High, a football drama inspired in part by his experiences as a college athlete.
His shorthand for the concept?
Friday Night Lights meets Euphoria.
THINKING BIGGER THAN THE NEXT ROLE
Nathaniel calls himself an actor, model and entrepreneur.
Then he adds another word: Mogul.
Not because he believes he has already arrived there, but because he believes in naming the destination while doing the work required to reach it.
He looks at careers such as Mark Wahlberg’s and George Clooney’s—men who turned successful acting careers into larger business portfolios—and recognizes the kind of blueprint he wants to build for himself.
The acting matters. So does ownership.
So does producing. So does business.
And so does creating opportunities that don’t depend entirely on someone else saying yes. When he isn’t building that future, Buchanan’s life becomes surprisingly simple. He works out, swims, kayaks, spends time outdoors, plays video games and proudly claims the title of grill master.
But the ambition is never too far away.
The Boston kid who once imagined himself on the movie screen is now in Atlanta actively building the life he used to picture from a theater seat.
And Nathaniel isn’t interested in merely making it onto the screen.
He wants to build something big enough to exist long after the credits roll.
NATHANIEL AT A GLANCE
NAME: Nathaniel Buchanan
ROOTS: Dorchester, Boston
HERITAGE: Jamaican + Costa Rican
CURRENT HOME: Atlanta
COLLEGE: Husson University
ATHLETIC BACKGROUND: Football • Wrestling • Track & Field
CREATIVE LANES: Actor • Model • Producer • Entrepreneur
REPRESENTATION: Hayman Talent + Swain Thomas Agency
BRAND: More Hustle, More Money
IN DEVELOPMENT: College High
SPORTS BUSINESS: NIL Representation
DREAM ROLE: CIA Agent / “The Black James Bond”
DREAM DIRECTOR: Denzel Washington
ACTORS HE ADMIRES: Denzel Washington • Idris Elba • Leonardo DiCaprio • Chadwick Boseman
OFF CAMERA: Fitness • Swimming • Kayaking • Outdoors • Grilling • Gaming
ULTIMATE VISION: Actor. Entrepreneur. Mogul.