What You Don't Know About Aidan Gallagher

Aidan Gallagher became an overnight success and created an army of fans when he burst onto screens as Number Five in the trippy sci-fi series "The Umbrella Academy" on Netflix. He also became famous for his tireless online activism on the topic of climate change, as well as writing and performing his own music.

But like many child stars, he had already been working for years when he first got his big break. Gallagher was raised by a creative family, since his dad Rob Gallagher is also involved in the entertainment industry (according to his IMDb page.) Rob's professional credits include being Executive Vice President of Gaga, a leading independent film finance and distribution company in Japan. Aidan didn't grow up overseas, however: per TV Guide, the actor is a Los Angeles native.

Keep reading to find out more about this precocious star and how he became one of Netflix's biggest names.

Many child stars make a name for themselves in a TV show for younger audiences, as a Disney star or a Nickelodeon kid, and Aidan Gallagher is no different.

The series "Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn," which was about four very different quadruplets, lasted four seasons on Nickelodeon. Gallagher played the youngest sibling, Nicky, and was nominated for a Kids' Choice Award for the role in 2016, per The Hollywood Reporter. The actor became a runner-up for Favorite Male TV Star again in 2017, according to The Hollywood Reporter, when he was beaten out by Jace Norman. He also lent his musical skills to a song featured on the show, "Lemonade Stand," in which the siblings rap about their summer job.

After Mace Coronel, the actor who played fellow quadruplet Dicky, decided to leave the show, Nickelodeon pulled the plug in 2017 after four seasons, as Deadline reported. The network confirmed that they were ending "Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn" in an official statement, adding that they were still "extremely proud" of the show and grateful for everyone's work on it.

Acting and activism might be close to Aidan Gallagher's heart, but he has also been committed to his music since a young age.

"I started out with piano at age 10 and later began guitar, vocal, and recording lessons," he recalled in an interview with The Lowdown, emphasizing that it's always been a part of his life. "Music is something I work on every day like a normal kid would play video games," he added. Gallagher especially enjoys writing his own music, which has "become very personal and therapeutic."

He described his process in an interview with the Alternative Press, reflecting that sometimes a song "rips your heart out" while you write it. "I find I have to work my way into it," Gallagher admitted. "I warm up my voice and start playing for exercise, and then sometimes a new riff happens that's cool, and I work to see what comes from it." He also revealed that he likes to play around with ideas by taking his guitar into the bathroom, since the acoustics are better in there.

Gallagher spoke about his taste in artists: the child star's earliest music memory was seeing U2 with his parents, and he's still influenced by classic rock bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

Aidan Gallagher's breakout role on "The Umbrella Academy" was an unusual challenge: his character Number Five is an older man who has ended up looking like his 13-year-old self through a time travel accident. But according to show writer Steve Blackman, Gallagher was the only one who could have played that part. "When he read the sides (the scenes we write for auditions), I was blown away," Blackman wrote in a Q&A on Reddit. "You need a certain gravitas to play a 58-year-old man trapped inside a 13-year-old's body. Aidan had that ... and then some."

Gallagher himself told Collider that his character's age was "always an interesting dynamic to play with the siblings," adding that the "incredible" writing helped him to discover "the experience that comes with a few more decades of life" in his performance. "I wanted to do justice to the graphic novels, so one of the first things that I looked at was his posture," the actor revealed. He also wanted to focus on his character's mental condition. "One of the things that interested me about Five was the trauma that was contributed via the apocalypse," Gallagher continued. "I wanted to make sure that I got his PTSD correct."

As a young singer-songwriter, Aiden Gallagher isn't afraid to geek out over his personal heroes. His interview with Diplo, who Gallagher describes as "one of the most dynamic forces in music today," saw the pair bond over their diverse genre-spanning tastes and their constant need to find new songs. Gallagher reflected that it makes "life feel bigger."

And in his talk with Finneas, the child star dove into questions about technical aspects of producing. "You're one of my favorite producers ever," Gallagher frankly told the hitmaker behind songs like "Ocean Eyes" and "Bad Guy," praising his studio expertise. "I don't see the construction at all," he continued. "I just see, like, all this sound but everything is working perfectly together." Later, he thanked Finneas for agreeing to the call, adding: "If I seem weird, this means a lot to me."

Gerard Way also appeared on Gallagher's YouTube series, answering questions from his studio. "I definitely see you as an incredible creative force and I love the paintbrush you use to create things," the "Umbrella Diaries" star confessed, before Way praised Gallagher's own song "Fourth of July" and shared the songwriting process behind the My Chemical Romance album "The Black Parade."

In another part, Gallagher confessed that his favorite song off the seminal rock album was "Sleep," which made Way laugh. "I've never heard anything more intense than that," the child star continued, admitting that he has tried to copy My Chemical Romance's sound before. "Whenever I'll occasionally write a song that requires any kind of rock guitar, that's my favorite tone."

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across the globe in 2020, Aidan Gallagher decided to use his fame to raise awareness. The actor posted the latest news about the pandemic on his social media and urged his young fans to follow public health guidelines. "A mask is only as good as the mask all parties are wearing," Gallagher wrote on his Instagram, explaining that if people stopped wearing masks, ICUs would be overwhelmed. "If you're just using a thin layer of cloth expect similar results." In another post, he argued that social distancing was "the only way to stop the spread," alongside a diagram that pointed out how one individual could spread the virus to many different bubbles.

"A lot of people my age think that they're invulnerable and that this pandemic is something that doesn't pertain to them," Gallagher reflected in an interview with Vanity Teen. "We must remember how deadly and contagious this virus is and we must think beyond just ourselves in our chosen level of caution." He also pointed out that being able to self-quarantine was a "privileged position," stating that he had "a moral and communal obligation" to stay at home. "Millions of people have died and will continue to die of COVID until there is widespread distribution of a vaccine," the actor argued. "We all can do our part to ensure the safety of others. United we stand, divided we fall."

Long before Aidan Gallagher burst onto screens as Five in "The Umbrella Academy," the teen actor loved the original comics. As he told Collider, Gallagher was always interested in the world of graphic novels as a child.

"I grew up a fan of comics and hanging out in local comic book stores," he revealed, adding that "The Umbrella Academy" in particular had made a real impact on him. "I got turned onto these two graphic novels, and it was unlike anything that I had read before, so I was instantly hooked. You can imagine how excited I was when I realized I would get to audition."

Despite his love for the series, Gallagher admitted in an interview with Teen Vogue that he didn't know the author was also the frontman of My Chemical Romance. Without realizing, the child star had become a fan of both Gerard Way projects without connecting the dots. "I thought Umbrella Academy was this really interesting and unique world," Gallagher recalled. "And I thought that MCR was probably the best manifestation of all the coolest elements of rock music. I see Gerard as this godlike creative force, who never ceases to amaze [with] whatever he puts out."