Gabriel LaBelle
LaBelle at the2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	September 2002 (2002-09) (age 23) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Education	Concordia University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2013–present

Gabriel LaBelle (born September 2002^[1]) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his leading role as young aspiring filmmakerSammy Fabelman inSteven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical filmThe Fabelmans (2022), for which he received acclaim and won theCritics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer.^[2][3][4]

LaBelle has also appeared in the action filmThe Predator (2018) and in theShowtime drama seriesAmerican Gigolo (2022). In 2024, he starred as producerLorne Michaels in the biographical filmSaturday Night, for which he received a nomination for aGolden Globe Award for Best Actor.

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

LaBelle began interest in acting at the age of 8 at a summer camp, playing roles in its musical productions ofFootloose,Shrek the Musical andAladdin. LaBelle made his on-screen acting debut in 2013 on an episode of the Canadian TV seriesMotive 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 filmDead Shack, which premiered at theVancouver International Film Festival andFantasia Film Festival.^[10]

It was in 2020 that LaBelle became fully committed to acting as a career and flew toMontreal to apply for theatre programs, until theCOVID-19 pandemiclocked down the city. He ultimately got in toConcordia University's drama program, but had to attend classes virtually. He also wanted to pursue a career in acting inNew 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]

In March 2021, LaBelle received from casting directorCindy Tolan the offer to audition, among 2,000 other contenders, for the lead role of Sammy Fabelman inSteven Spielberg'sThe 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 asEmpire 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 the8mm and16mm camera props that were used on set, which had real film inside of them, as well as how to cut and splicefilm 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 andEscape to Nowhere short film as a souvenir after the completion of principal photography.^[14][13]

The Fabelmans premiered at the2022 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 forBest Young Performer at the28th Critics' Choice Awards and the award forBreakthrough Performance from theNational Board of Review (the latter for which he shared withDanielle Deadwyler forTill). The ensemble cast of the film was nominated for theScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.^{[15][16][17][18]}

After completion of filming onThe Fabelmans, LaBelle moved toLos Angeles to pursue more film, television and theatre projects as an actor, with intentions to also direct at some point.^[14] In 2022, LaBelle joined the cast of theShowtimeseries adaptation ofAmerican Gigolo, in the role of the young version of Julian Kaye, played byJon Bernthal.^[19][20]

In 2024, LaBelle played one of the lead roles in Adam Carter Rehmeier's coming-of-age comedySnack Shack, which was delayed by the2023 Hollywood labour disputes.^[21][22] LaBelle was cast asSaturday Night Live producerLorne Michaels inJason Reitman's movieSaturday Night, which accounts the behind-the-scenes story of theNBC late-night show's opening night. It premiered at the51st Telluride Film Festival in August 2024.^[23][24][25] His performance earned him a nomination for theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.^[26]

LaBelle will next star in the romantic crime dramaDutch & Razzlekhan, based on the2016 Bitfinex hack.^[27]

• Gabriel LaBelle atIMDb

• 2002 births
• Living people
• 21st-century Canadian Jews
• 21st-century Canadian male actors
• Canadian male child actors
• Canadian male film actors
• Canadian male television actors
• Concordia University alumni
• Jewish Canadian male actors
• Male actors from Vancouver

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2024
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2024
• Date of birth missing (living people)