Nice Boy of the Week: Noah Centineo

Whoa, whoa, whoa, if you haven’t heard of Noah Centineo AKA the Internet’s boyfriend, where have you been this past month? A few of us Nice Girls have been aware of Noah over the last couple of years thanks to his portrayal of Jesus Adams-Foster on Freeform’s THE FOSTERS and now courtesy of Netflix rom-coms TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE and SIERRA BURGESS IS A LOSER (which dropped August 17 and September 7 respectively), the rest of the team has caught up. It’s not just the Nice Girls who have been utterly charmed by the charismatic and soulful 22-year-old – the rest of the world is sitting up and taking notice too. According to W Magazine, within 24 hours of TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE being released on Netflix, Centineo gained an incredible 2 million followers on Instagram! Summer 2018 is the Summer of Noah so it’s no surprise that we’re making this young star our latest Nice Boy of the Week.

Centineo as Jamey in SIERRA BURGESS IS A LOSER.

Noah Gregory Centineo was born on May 9, 1996 in Miami, Florida and grew up in Boynton Beach before convincing his family to move to LA when he was 15 years old so that he could pursue an acting career. Centineo fell into acting when he was eight years old but believe it or not, it wasn’t actually something he intended to pursue. He had his mind set on becoming a soccer player or drummer and happened to be tagging along to his older sister Taylor’s audition, where he was noticed and persuaded to audition – the rest was history! At age 13, he landed the lead role of Josh Peterson in the family film THE GOLD RETRIEVERS. Two years later, he landed a role on the Disney Channel series AUSTIN AND ALLY, which lead him to working on various other Disney Channel projects and moving to L.A. In 2015, he took over the role of Jesus Adams-Foster from Jake T. Austin (who coincidentally was also a former Disney Channel star) during season three of the then ABC Family series THE FOSTERS, a role which he continued to play until the series ended after five seasons earlier this year. Don’t worry though, Centineo will be reprising his role on the spin-off GOOD TROUBLE, set to air in early 2019!

THE FOSTERS cast

Post THE FOSTERS life has been gone to Centineo, he appeared in the film SPF-18, go90 series T@gged as well as starred in Camilla Cabello’s music video for ‘Havana‘, but it wasn’t until the world watched him as charming yet sensitive jock Peter Kavinsky in the Netflix teen rom-com TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE that Centineo’s profile really blew up. When casting was announced for the movie, which already had a dedicated fanbase from the 2014 novel which it was adapted from written by Jenny Han, sure interests piqued but nothing could compare to when people around the world actually sat down and watched the film and fell in love with charisma, depth and whoa whoa whoas that Centineo brought to the role of Peter Kavinsky.  Then when it was revealed swoon-worthy moments from the film such as the pocket-spin scene and Peter moving the popcorn bowl before indulging in a pillow fight were improvisations by Centineo and yep we were goners! (Don’t even get us started on that candid snap of Centineo and co-star Lana Condor napping together on set that made its way into the film as Lara Jean’s lock screen. GAHHHH) Then just a mere weeks after the film had dropped on Netflix and let’s be honest, we still hadn’t really recovered, Netflix drops another teen rom-com with Centineo as the the romantic lead – Jamey in SIERRA BURGESS IS A LOSER. Like Peter Kavinsky, Jamey is a jock but prefers to avoid the popular crowd. He’s content with hanging out with his nerdier friend and his deaf brother. He may be a talented football player but he gets tongue-tied over pretty cheerleaders just like any other teenage boy and also is yearning for a deeper connection, something that he finds when he virtually meets Sierra. And just like that, sensitivity within teenage boys is made cool again and millions of girls around the world are swooning over Centineo and the characters he plays.

Centineo as Jamey with Shannon Purser in SIERRA BURGESS IS A LOSER.

We’re not going to lie or even try to deny that this past month we’ve been soaking up as many videos and interviews with Centineo as we can, and considering how big the Netflix press train has been going on these two films, that is A LOT. Throughout it all, we’ve discovered plenty of things about Centineo that make him a worthy Nice Boy of the Week. He’s definitely an old soul, sensitive and intelligent. Um hello, did you see that interview where he revealed that he loves being sentimental and also that one of his favorite dates was when he traded books with a girl and they just sat there reading for three hours? (OMG stop it!) His favorite scenes from the two Netflix films both happen to be when his character is having quiet and meaningful conversations with the leading ladies. (Aww!) The scar on his face was from when he was bitten by a dog when he was six years old and although the dog took out a chunk of his face and little Noah was crying, he empathized with the dog and did not want it to be put down – sensitivity clearly showing from a young age! (And didn’t let the incident deter him from loving dogs.) Speaking of puppies, as wise beyond his years that he may appear to be, Centineo also has a puppy dog playfulness and charm that makes him even more endearing. (Also, while we are on the subject of Centineo and puppies, if you haven’t already seen the Buzzfeed interview where he answers questions while playing with puppies, please go watch it NOW.)

Centineo as Peter Kavinsky with Lana Condor as Lara Jean Covey in TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE.

What does the future hold for Centineo? Will he continue his reign as Netflix rom-com king? We sure hope so! He’s not ruling anything out though, citing that he’d like to play all sorts of characters: “Serial killer. Heroin addict. Nice boy. Jock. Bully. Nerd.” In the meantime, you can catch him in GOOD TROUBLE when it premieres in early 2019, as well as the film The Stand-In, which not only sees him starring alongside RIVERDALE‘s Camila Mendes, but also reunites Centineo with his AUSTIN AND ALLY co-star Laura Marano. We’ve also got our fingers crossed that Netflix will green-light the remaining two stories in the TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE trilogy. You can also follow him on Instagram: @ncentineo and Twitter: @noahcent.