From Little Brother To Comeback Kid

As if global fame, millions in solo record sales, sold-out tours, and a role on a hit TV show weren’t enough, former Jonas Brother Nick Jonas had to go and become a movie star, too. How did he pull it off? Stepinto his gym to find out.

- Mickey Rapkin

It's late afternoon, and I’m at a public driving range watching Nick Jonas smash golf balls by the bucket. We’re outside Portland, OR, in the US, where tonight he’ll be playing for a sold-out crowd at the giant Moda Center alongside pop megastar Demi Lovato. But for now, gripping his driver in his hands, he’s all about golf and nothing else. Each time he tees up a ball, he squares up to it with steady, McIlroy-esque cool, then… ping! 230 metres. Seconds later: Ping! Another 230 metres. As time wears on, the titanium-to-Titleist collisions get louder, harder, pingier, but Jonas’ focus doesn’t waver. Which is all the more impressive when you notice the people crowding near him — mostly young females who have just discovered who that guy is, over there, wielding the sizable drive, and who are being held back by his security detail.

Of course, none of this is remotely surprising, given that Jonas, the 24-year-old actor, singer, and global celebrity phenomenon, makes noise pretty much everywhere he goes — and usually with far less effort. These days, when he’s not splashed across tabloids obsessively chronicling his dating life (no, he’s not seeing anyone), his abs (more on those later), and the meaning of his slightly mystifying new single, “Bacon” (it’s more or less an ode to the single life), Jonas is celebrating his thriving acting career.

In 2016 he wowed indie festival-goers with his brooding performance as a conflicted college student in the film Goat, a horrifying indictment of frat hazing. He’s also great as a tortured, gay brawler on Kingdom, a binge worthy series about a family of MMA fighters.

To top it off, he’s currently in sweltering Hawaii filming some decidedly more light-hearted fare: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, alongside Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, otherwise known as the biggest movie stars on earth.