Ronen Rubinstein (/ˈruːbɪnstaɪn/ ROO-bin-stine,[1] Hebrew: רונן רובינשטיין [ʁoˈnen ʁubinˈʃtejn];[2] born (1993-11-07)November 7, 1993) is an Israeli-born American actor, environmental activist and lead singer of the rock band Nights in Stereo.
[5] When Rubinstein was five years old, he moved with his parents and older sister to the United States, where he grew up in the Staten Island borough of New York City.
[4] In an interview, Rubinstein said he felt like an outsider growing up as an immigrant, taking English as a Second Language classes and having difficulty adapting to the American culture.
[6] He was introduced to acting in his second year of high school when his guidance counselor suggested he try theater as a form of therapy and escape from the opioid epidemic in his neighborhood.
[16][17] He made his screen debut at the age of 17 as a teenage rebel named Gangsta in the 2011 psychological drama film Detachment, starring Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, and James Caan.
[24] In 2015, Rubinstein guest starred in episode 10, season 3 of Netflix's most-watched[25] original series Orange Is the New Black, portraying the respectful and caring Nathan, Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett's love interest, which brought him to mainstream attention.
[47] Rubinstein is the lead in Bret Easton Ellis's Smiley Face Killers,[48] a thriller film based on true events that support the smiley face murder theory about an organized gang of serial killers committing murders of young, handsome athletic men throughout the United States.
[49][50] In 2021, Rubinstein joined the cast of Ryan Murphy's American Horror Stories for the fifth episode, starring alongside Billie Lourd.
[53][54] In January 2022, Rubinstein announced the release of the first single "Open Door" by his band Nights in Stereo that he formed with Rodrigo R. Rodarte and Jon Shoer.
[61] He has played basketball since he was a child[62] and has named Kobe Bryant as his biggest idol, role model, and "the first American thing" he knew after moving to the United States from Israel.
[63] He is a devout fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings of Leon, and has expressed his admiration for Harry Styles' work and his "own identity and the way he presents himself.
[65][63] Rubinstein explained his family's heritage: "We didn't grow up religious but my parents instilled pride in us in the traditions, the history and the culture of the Jewish people," he said.
"[5] On August 14, 2022, he married Canadian actress Jessica Parker Kennedy in a small Jewish ceremony on a farm in Calgary Alberta, Canada, two months after their engagement in Portofino, Italy.
[5] In April 2020, he was one of the environmental activists who participated in Earth Day Live, a three-day climate mobilization that was streamed online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
[84][85] In addition to sustainability advocacy, Rubinstein has lent his support to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation,[86] the No Kid Hungry campaign,[64] the Black Lives Matter movement,[87] Marsha P. Johnson Institute protecting the human rights of black transgender people, Feeding America,[88] Mercy for Animals,[89] the Humane Society, as well as Rebecca Corry's Stand Up for Pits Foundation, working on rescuing and ending the abuse of pit bull dogs.
[92][93] In August 2020, Rubinstein teamed up with When We All Vote, Michelle Obama's non-partisan voter registration organization which aims to increase participation in elections.