Drake Bell
Drake Bell is an actor, born 1986.
Before Nickelodeon there was already a working child actor. Drake Bell, born in 1986, turns up as Jesse Remo in Jerry Maguire in 1996, as Rob Jr. High in High Fidelity in 2000, and in a run of television guest spots stretching back to Minor Adjustments in 1995 and taking in Gun, Over the Top and The Nightmare Room. That is a decade of ordinary jobbing work before anyone knew his name.
The name came from The Amanda Show, where he played Carter Klutz from 1999, and then from Drake & Josh, which ran from 2004 to 2007 and defined a generation's idea of what a Nickelodeon sitcom was. Drake Parker was a good fit rather than a stretch: the musician half of the double act, playing loose and charming against a straight man. Two feature length spinoffs followed, Drake & Josh Go Hollywood and Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh, and a studio lead in the parody Superhero Movie in 2008.
The most durable work is the voice acting. He was Peter Parker on Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man from 2012, and played the same character across The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Marvel's Avengers, Marvel's Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel and LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes: Maximum Overload. He also carried the live action Timmy Turner films, A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! and A Fairly Odd Summer.
He has worked as a musician throughout. Later screen credits include Damien in the rock band drama American Satan and an appearance as himself in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, the 2024 documentary series about the Nickelodeon of that period.
Movies (17)
- Jerry Maguire (1996)
- Superhero Movie (2008)
- Rags (2012)
- Yours, Mine & Ours (2005)
- High Fidelity (2000)
- Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel (2013)
- American Satan (2017)
- A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! (2011)
- The Jack Bull (1999)
- Drake & Josh Go Hollywood (2006)
- The Reef 2: High Tide (2012)
- Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008)
- College (2008)
- Space Warriors (2013)
- A Fairly Odd Summer (2014)
- Abominable Christmas (2012)
- The Naughty List (2013)
TV (18)
- Drake & Josh (2004)
- Ben 10 (2016)
- Marvel's Avengers (2013)
- Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man (2012)
- The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010)
- Marvel's Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. (2013)
- Men Behaving Badly (1996)
- The Amanda Show (1999)
- The Nightmare Room (2001)
- BlackBoxTV Presents (2010)
- Double Dare (2018)
- Grandfathered (2015)
- LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (2013)
- Gun (1997)
- Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (2024)
- Christy's Kitchen Throwback (2019)
- Minor Adjustments (1995)
- Over the Top (1997)
Where to start with Drake Bell
Drake & Josh is the whole argument. Watch two or three episodes and the appeal is immediate: he is loose, quick and completely comfortable being the less sensible half of a double act, and the show is far better constructed than its reputation suggests.
If the sitcom is not your speed, go to the voice work instead. Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man is the longest run he has had in any role, and Peter Parker suits him, all rhythm and deflection.
Superhero Movie is the studio lead, and it is a parody film from the era when those were made by the yard. The Amanda Show is where the comic timing was trained, and it holds up better than most sketch shows aimed at children.
For the adult pivot, American Satan is the interesting failure. Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is a serious documentary about that industry and should be approached as such.