Gabriel LaBelle

Gabriel LaBelle (born September 20, 2002)^[1] is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his leading role as young aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans (2022), for which he received acclaim and won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer.^[2][3][4]

Gabriel LaBelle
LaBelle at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(2002-09-20) September 20, 2002 (age 22) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Education	Concordia University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2013–present

LaBelle has also appeared in the action film The Predator (2018) and in the Showtime drama series American Gigolo (2022). In 2024, he starred as producer Lorne Michaels in the biographical film Saturday Night, for which he received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

Early life and education

LaBelle was born in Vancouver, and is the son of hair stylist Megan LaBelle and producer and character actor Rob LaBelle.^[5][6] He was raised Jewish.^[7][8][9]

LaBelle began interest in acting at the age of 8 at a summer camp, playing roles in its musical productions of Footloose, Shrek The Musical and Aladdin. LaBelle made his on-screen acting debut in 2013 on an episode of the Canadian TV series Motive in a guest role, thanks to his father landing his son an agent and being a producer on the show.^{[citation needed]} In 2017, he starred in the indie horror film Dead Shack, which premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival and Fantasia Film Festival.^[10]

It was in 2020 that LaBelle became fully committed to acting as a career and flew to Montreal to apply for theater programs, until the COVID-19 pandemic locked down the city. He ultimately got in to Concordia University’s drama program, but had to attend classes virtually. He also wanted to pursue a career in acting in New York City, but put the plans on hold to take care of his family at home.^[11][12] He also deleted his social media in early 2020, saying that it made him "a better actor because you want to be focused, creative and confident" without seeking online validation.^[13]

Career

2021–2022: Breakthrough with The Fabelmans

LaBelle at the premiere of The Fabelmans in 2022

In March 2021, LaBelle received from casting director Cindy Tolan the offer to audition, among 2,000 other contenders, for the lead role of Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans, which at the time had kept its title, plot and character names under wraps.^[3] Following his audition, he was initially not cast in the role until he received a virtual callback three months later, with Spielberg, Tolan and 38 other representatives in attendance, where he then won the part.^[11] To prepare for the role, LaBelle watched and re-watched some of Spielberg's films, such as Empire of the Sun (1987) and gained access to photographs, home movies and other material from Spielberg's family's archives.^[11] He was also taught how to use the 8mm and 16mm camera props that were used on set, which had real film inside of them, as well as how to cut and splice film stock using the editing machines and film projectors of the time period. He also got to keep the 8mm camera Sammy used to film the family camping trip and Escape to Nowhere short film as a souvenir after the completion of principal photography.^[14][13]

The Fabelmans premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, where LaBelle's performance received critical acclaim and he was recognized as a 2022 TIFF Rising Star, and won the award for Best Young Performer at the 28th Critics' Choice Awards and the award for Breakthrough Performance from the National Board of Review (the latter for which he shared with Danielle Deadwyler for Till). The ensemble cast of the film was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.^{[15][16][17][18]}

2022–present

After completion of filming on The Fabelmans, LaBelle moved to Los Angeles to pursue more film, television and theater projects as an actor, with intentions to also direct at some point.^[14] In 2022, LaBelle joined the cast of the Showtime series adaptation of American Gigolo, in the role of the young version of Julian Kaye, played by Jon Bernthal.^[19][20]

In 2024, LaBelle played one of the lead roles in Adam Carter Rehmeier's coming-of-age comedy Snack Shack, which was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.^[21][22] LaBelle was cast as Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels in Jason Reitman’s movie Saturday Night, which accounts the behind-the-scenes story of the NBC late-night show's opening night. It premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival in August 2024.^[23][24][25] His performance earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.^[26]

LaBelle will next star in the romantic crime drama Dutch & Razzlekhan, based on the 2016 Bitfinex hack.^[27]

Filmography

Film

List of Gabriel LaBelle film credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Max 2: White House Hero	Alfred	Credited as Gabe LaBelle
	Dead Shack	Colin
2018	The Predator	EJ
2022	The Fabelmans	Sammy Fabelman
2024	Snack Shack	Moose
	Saturday Night	Lorne Michaels

Television

List of Gabriel LaBelle television credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Motive	Chad Chase	Episode: "Detour"
2015	iZombie	Charlie	Episode: "Love & Basketball"; credited as Gabe LaBelle
2021	Brand New Cherry Flavor	Tim Nathans	Episode: "Jennifer"
2022	American Gigolo	Young Julian Kaye	Main cast

Awards and nominations

List of Gabriel LaBelle awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2022	Atlanta Film Critics Circle	Best Breakthrough Performer	The Fabelmans	Nominated	[28]
	Las Vegas Film Critics Society	Best Actor		Nominated	[29]
		Best Male Youth Performance		Won
	National Board of Review	Breakthrough Performance		Won	[30]
	North Texas Film Critics Association	Best Newcomer		Won	[31]
	Phoenix Critics Circle	Best Actor		Nominated	[32]
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Youth Performance		Won	[33]
2023	Columbus Film Critics Association	Breakthrough Film Artist		Nominated	[34]
	Critics' Choice Movie Awards	Best Young Actor/Actress		Won	[35]
		Best Acting Ensemble		Nominated[a]
	DiscussingFilm Critics Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance		Runner-up	[36]
	Dorian Awards	Rising Star Award		Nominated	[37]
	Georgia Film Critics Association	Breakthrough Award		Runner-up	[38]
	Hollywood Critics Association	Star on the Rise Award		Won	[39]
	International Cinephile Society	Best Breakthrough Performance		Nominated	[40]
	Minnesota Film Critics Alliance	Best Actor		Nominated	[41]
	Music City Film Critics' Association	Best Young Actor		Won	[42]
	North Carolina Film Critics Association	Best Breakthrough Performance		Nominated	[43]
	Online Film and Television Association	Best Breakthrough Performance: Male		Nominated	[44]
	Palm Springs International Film Festival	Vanguard Award		Won
	Paris Film Critics Association Awards	Best Male Revelation		Nominated	[45][46]
	San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Actor		Nominated	[47]
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama		Nominated	[48] [49]
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture		Nominated[a]	[50]
2024	Denver Film Festival	5280 Award	Saturday Night	Won	[51]
2025	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Acting Ensemble		Nominated[a]	[52]
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy		Nominated	[26]

Notes

1. Shared with the cast