Ronen Rubinstein

Ronen Rubinstein
Born	Ronen Rubinstein (1993-11-07) November 7, 1993 Rehovot, Israel
Nationality	American
Alma mater	New York Film Academy
Occupation(s)	Actor, director, environmentalist
Years active	2011–present
Height	6 ft (1.83 m)

Ronen Rubinstein (/ˈruːbɪnstaɪn/, ROO-bin-stahyn; born November 7, 1993 in Rehovot, Israel) is an American actor, environmentalist, and activist, best known for his roles as Nathan in Netflix series Orange Is The New Black and as T.K. Strand in Fox series 9-1-1: Lone Star created by Ryan Murphy.

Early life and education

Rubinstein was born in Rehovot, Israel, the son of Russian emigrants from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union.

At age 5, he moved with his parents and older sister to the United States. He grew up in Staten Island, New York City.

After attending New Dorp High School, he decided to pursue an acting career and graduated from the New York Film Academy in 2013.

Career

At age 16, Rubinstein wrote his first short film Something In the Way he later directed.

He made his screen debut as a teenage rebel named Gangsta in the 2011 drama film Detachment, starring Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, and James Caan.

In his senior year of high school, Rubinstein landed a leading role in It Felt Like Love, a 2013 Sundance Film Festival coming of age film shot in intimate close-ups with minimal dialogue. He portrayed a tough misogynistic college boy Sammy, described by the New York Times as "a weed-smoking, pornography-watching bad boy whose contempt for women is as potent as his pheromones." The film received numerous nominations for best cinematography.

In 2015, Rubinstein guest starred in episode 10, season 3 of Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, portraying Nathan, Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett's love interest, which gained him mainstream attention.

In 2016, he was a series regular as Alex Powell in Freeform's Dead of Summer.

9-1-1: Lone Star

It all starts with the king, it starts with Ryan Murphy. He single-handedly has put inclusivity on the top of his priority list with this industry. Because I can’t name anyone that has been doing it before him at the magnitude that he does it. From Pose to even really crazy characters in American Horror Story to Glee and even in 9-1-1, he shows the world an honest and bright light without it being like you said, tragic. We have a lot of these tragic coming out stories and it’s really really depressing and sad. It’s just nice to see it normalized because it is! This is the world. People need to get over it.

Rubinstein in Flaunt Magazine, February 2020

In 2020, he starrs as an openly gay firefighter and recovering addict Tyler Kennedy “T.K.” Strand in Ryan Murphy's Fox series 9-1-1: Lone Star, alongside Rob Lowe, who plays Captain Owen Strand, T.K.’s father, and Liv Tyler.

The show has has become Fox's most watched new series of 2020 and has been praised for its diverse cast and characters that includes a black transgender actor portraying a transgender firefigher, as well as a hijab wearing Muslim female firefigher, and for not shying away from gay love scenes.

Rubinstein praised Ryan Murphy and the writers for being "willing to show this on primetime television" and for not including a stereotypical sad gay tragedy or coming out story and instead making a gay couple a normal thing.

“It’s a special moment for television. I am beyond honoured to be part of it.”

"I think people for the first time, at least on network television, are seeing themselves on screen, and they feel represented, and they feel represented in a really positive, lovely, good way," he said for A BOOK OF. . The star said 9-1-1: Lone Star is groundbreaking because it’s rare for television shows to not include a major “coming out story” for their queer characters, and that he loves how the “writers made it a normal thing”. “A lot of times you’d see a gay couple on television there’s something really dramatic and usually sad involved with it,” he added. “And this is just like, “Yeah, this is just normal. This is just how it is”. It’s as if it was a straight couple on television."

"Being in the universe that's created by the king of television, Ryan Murphy, it is such an honor and I am beyond grateful that makes me enjoy the work even more, knowing that this is the person that's looking over us."

Other work

Rubinstein starrs in CeCe's music video for "Broke AF" (2017).

In 2018, he appeared as himself in the documentary Tyler Shields: Provocateur.

Personal life

Rubinstein's first language is Russian.

The actor is a multi-instrumentalist and can play the guitar, drums, piano, bongo and ukelele.

In March 2020, he officially endorsed Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential race.

In his Q&A live streaming on social media in May 2020, in response to what inspired him to become a climate activist, Rubinstein spoke about how his family lost their house to Hurricane Sandy in 2012 in New York City and his neighbors lost their lives.

He is an outdoor enthusiast and a Los Angeles Lakers fan. He calls Kobe Bryant his idol and role model and the first American thing he knew after moving to the States at a young age.

He switched from pescaterianism to veganism in 2020.

Activism, advocacy and philanthropy

The actor has lent his support to numerous non-profit organizations and charities, such as:

In a 2020 interview with A BOOK OF, Rubinstein told the publication: "My career will coincide with trying to save the planet."

He’s an ambassador for Project Zero, alongside Cara Delevingne, Princess Beatrice of York, Rita Ora, Liv Tyler and others.

Rubinstein donates to several fundraisers, such as those organized by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the Stand Up for Pits Foundation, the #KoalaComeback Campaign and Feeding America.

External links

• Ronen Rubinstein at IMDb 

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2011	Detachment	Gangsta
2011	Katya	?