The up-and-coming star also appeared on Broadway 

Braden Allen King grew up in Fairfax County and watched as his dad and brother took part in local theater productions, and his mom taught dance, with his sister dancing at her studio.

So, it wasn’t much of a shock to anyone in his family when he decided he wanted to pursue a career as an actor. 

“I just always had the arts around me,” he said. “I found a lot of my childhood took place at my mom’s studio, so my introduction to performing was dance. I probably danced there for 10 years, and we performed all over Northern Virginia.” 

King went to two high schools in the area—Lake Braddock and Robinson and performed at each, seeing his love for theater and acting grow.

“My first acting was at Lake Braddock, and I played Chip in ‘Beauty & The Beast,’” King said. 

He set his sights on working professionally and has dedicated the last 10 years to working in the entertainment industry. Right out of high school, he booked the national tour of “The Prom.”

“It was kind of a shock of going from always being at home in Northern Virginia to going on tour all around the country for a year,” King said. “I was so amazed that I was being paid to do my dream job and travel. It was very cool, and I was overwhelmed with excitement.” 

Over his career, King has also played the titular character in several theater productions of “Billy Elliot” and worked on Broadway opposite Hugh Jackman in “The Music Man.”

“Working on ‘The Music Man’ was probably one of the most fortunate things I have been able to do,” King said. “That was my first time ever working on a Broadway project, and the level of talent in that room was crazy. It was really cool to learn from those people.”

King recently shot a pilot for a new TV show, “Loopers.” Described as a cross between “Caddyshack” and “30 Rock,” in the comedy, he plays Tommy, a recent high school graduate who takes a summer job as a caddy at a local country club. 

“It was created by two brothers—Patrick and Jack Fitzsimmons, about a recent high school graduate who is looking for a simple summer job at a local country club,” King said. “He quickly realizes he might be over his head after meeting some of his coworkers.” 

The pilot was shot over seven days in Connecticut, and King noted it was a busy week making sure everything was finished. 

“This is an indie pilot, so it doesn’t have a major network backing it,” King said. “Now that the first episode has been filmed, the creators are going to show it at film festivals to get reactions and create buzz.”

The hope is that a network or streaming service will see potential in it and turn it into an entire series. 

“For now, we just need to wait and see, but I’m hoping that happens,” King said. “This was my first time being in a principal role on any film set, and I am very thankful the creators trusted me with this role.” 

As he waits for word, King stays busy with two film projects being shot. One is about three childhood friends who are exploring their old elementary school.

“It’s a nostalgic piece about growing up and sometimes growing apart,” he said. “The other film is called ‘Over on Athens Street,’ which is a young adult dystopian film about what society could look like in 150 years.”

His ultimate goal would be someday to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a film, but he’s enjoying working on as many TV and film projects as possible.

“I would like to urge other young performers in Fairfax County to utilize their location,” King said. “There are a lot of programs and opportunities here and a lot of amazing stages where you can see some great stuff.”