The Umbrella Academy's "Number 5" is the adorable and endlessly talented Aidan Gallagher! His character can jump through space and time and his attitude and grumpiness are permanent. Meet the real man behind "Number 5"!
The Umbrella Academy's "Number 5"
Aidan Gallagher was born on September 18th, 2003, in Los Angeles, California. He began acting since he was 10 years old when he first landed a spot on an episode of Modern Family. He then went on to star in the Nickelodeon series Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn as the titular "Nicky". He was even nominated for Favorite Male TV Star at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in 2016!
Finally, he was cast in Netflix's The Umbrella Academy as "Number 5", one of the "Hargreeves" orphans with superpowers. "Number 5's" character was unfortunately never properly named because his callous father simply numbered the children from 1-7 and "Number 5" accidentally got stuck in the future during a rebellious time jump before his new cyborg mom gave the siblings fitting names.
"Number 5" returned to his original time when he was in his 60's with an unfortunate twist... He was back in his 13-year-old body! His impatience with his siblings makes him incredibly condescending and he gets frustrated because everyone treats him like a child, considering he looks like one...
The Umbrella Academy's "Number 5": Aidan Gallagher
Netflix's The Umbrella Academy's creator Steve Blackman was blown away by his professionalism, telling Entertainment Weekly, "Aidan was such a professional on set. You don't often see younger actors who can be around 5 30-year-olds and not flinch, but Aidan could. He'd come to set every day, sit in the room with these other actors, hit his mark, hit his lines, and never screw up. He just brought that brooding anger and gruffness that had to be Five."
Steve had been worrying about not being able to find someone to play such a complicated role of a full-grown man trapped in a child body, "I felt very blessed that we found Aidan because at one point we worried, 'Oh my God, we're not gonna find this kid.'"
"Number 5" could not have been portrayed better than by the lovely Aidan Gallagher! In real life, he is very kind and charming and is very active in fighting for environmental issues. Aidan is frequently bringing attention to the Waterkeeper Alliance, WildAid, the Oceanic Preservation Society, and the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Aidan is also an impressive musician! He has been releasing his own music playing the guitar and singing gorgeous self-written tunes that he has been sharing with fans on social media. He has even been performing live concerts online for fans stuck in quarantine during the pandemic!
Fun Facts About Aidan Gallagher
- Aidan is a full-blown vegan!
- Aidan is a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador for North America! When he was named he was one of the youngest ever ambassadors!
- Aidan is very supportive and very close with his much older castmates! He frequently promotes their work and always has nice and fun things to say to them on social media.