Movie Stars
Jake Connelly Bio: Family, Ancestry, Education, Movies, Net Worth
Jake Connelly, an American Gen Alpha TV actor from Chicago Suburbs, is currently in Middle School, got his first movie role back in 2022 at age 9: catch up with his full biography
Who is Jake Connelly?
Jake Connelly is an American Gen Alpha TV actor from the Chicago suburbs who plays Derek Turnbow in Stranger Things Season 5 on Netflix. He’s 13 years old and made his big acting break when he joined the cast in 2024.
Jake started acting professionally around 2022, appearing in small projects before landing his role on one of Netflix’s biggest shows.
Right now, Jake has over 240k thousand followers on Instagram. His character Derek goes from being the playground bully “Dipsh*t Derek” to becoming “Delightful Derek,” a key player in the plot to save Hawkins from Vecna. Fans have been loving the new character since the first four episodes of Season 5 dropped in November 2025.
Jake is currently in eighth grade, balancing middle school with his acting career. He plays football for his school team as a right tackle and is a huge Chicago Bears fan. He’s represented by Gray Talent Group.
And, yeah… Jake is Gen Alpha, but, anyway, The GenZStars Team will still go ‘head and tell you everything else there’s to know about him. :))
Profile Summary
- Real Name: Jake Connelly
- Birth Year: 2012
- Age: 13 years old
- Place of Birth: United States (Chicago suburbs)
- Nationality: American
- Ethnicity: White (Irish heritage based on surname)
- Current Residence: Chicago suburbs, Illinois, United States
- Management: Gray Talent Group
- Years Active: 2022 to present
- Instagram: @jakeconnellyofficial
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Family Life
Jake Connelly was born in 2012 and grew up in the Chicago suburbs. He is currently 13 years old. His last name Connelly is a surname with Irish origin, traced back to Northwestern Europe. Jake is European with Irish ancestry.
And, speaking more of family, his parents have been super supportive of his acting career from the beginning. Jake has credited them for encouraging his love of storytelling and helping him manage his career while he’s still in middle school.
A few years before Jake got into acting, his mom’s friend who directs Windows commercials in Chicago asked if Jake wanted to be in one. His parents said, “Why not? Let’s just take a chance on it.” That one commercial changed everything.
Cue into this: Jake fell in love with acting after that first commercial. His family got headshots from his cousin, and one thing led to another. They got signed with Gray Talent Group and started going on auditions.
Jake’s family used to watch Stranger Things together every night before bed. His mom grew up in the 1980s, so she loved seeing all the nostalgic references. They binge-watched the whole series in about a year, starting around when Season 4 came out. Jake’s mom would yell at the screen, “Hey, that’s my Trapper Keeper!” when she saw things from her childhood.
The night Jake found out he got the Stranger Things role was pretty wild. There was a tornado warning and the whole family was sitting in the basement waiting it out. Their talent agency asked them to hop on a call, and Jake figured they had nothing better to do. Everyone from the agency was on the call, and they just said, “Jake, you’re going to Hawkins.” Jake said he’d never felt that much adrenaline in his entire life.
Jake is currently in eighth grade at a middle school in the Chicago suburbs. He says it’s “kind of like senior year, just having it easy.”
Height, Weight & Physical Appearance
- Height: 5 feet 2 inches tall (157 cm)
- Weight: 68 kg (150 lbs)
- Ethnicity: White (European) with Irish ancestry
- Eye Color: Brown eyes
- Hair Color: Dark brown hair
- Skin Tone: White complexion
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Career Timeline
2022 Timeline: Acting Debut
Jake Connelly started acting professionally in 2022. His first onscreen role was in the short film Between the Silence. Before that, he appeared in a couple of Windows commercials in Chicago, which got him interested in acting. He trained through youth-oriented acting programs and signed with Gray Talent Group.
2023-2024 Timeline: Auditions and Casting
Jake went on various auditions for different projects. When the Stranger Things audition came up, he thought it would just be an extra or side-part role. His family figured, “Why not?” and went for it. They never expected he’d actually get a main role.
In 2024, Jake officially joined the cast of Stranger Things Season 5. At just 12 years old when filming started, he became one of the youngest actors ever to join the series’ cast.
2024-2025 Timeline: Filming in Atlanta
Jake spent about a year in Atlanta filming Stranger Things Season 5. He called it a “year long journey” on his Instagram. During filming, he had to do at least three hours of school every day, and four or five hours if he was banking extra hours in case filming went overtime.
On his first day on set, Millie Bobby Brown personally welcomed him. She called him over to her trailer and told him, “We were all your age when we started. If you ever need anything, you can just call us.” Jake said she and Jake Bongiovi were just chilling and talking with him, which made him feel at home.
Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Vecna, gave Jake some advice when they ran into each other near a dumpster at a hotel. Jamie told him, “Keep your head screwed on straight and don’t let yourself touch the clouds.”
Jake couldn’t tell his friends what he was doing for most of the filming, so he told them he was working on a “mayonnaise documentary.” He said it was a really good dead-end point if people asked too many questions.
November 2025 Timeline: Season 5 Premiere
Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 dropped on Netflix in November 2025. Jake walked the red carpet at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on November 6, 2025. He told Teen Vogue it felt like “something straight out of the cartoons” and he never thought he’d have that level of classic Hollywood.
Fans immediately loved his character Derek, who goes from being the annoying playground bully to becoming a key player in saving Hawkins. In episode four, Jake improvised a whole scene in the barn where Derek yells things down at Erica and Robin from the hayloft. The directors just told him to say anything that came to mind.
Jake got to keep his prop glasses and Derek’s lunchbox from the set as mementos.
December 2025 and Beyond
Volume 2 of Stranger Things Season 5 will drop in December 2025. Jake can’t say much about what happens, but he told Teen Vogue that “the fans will probably be pleased.”
School and Sports
Jake is currently in eighth grade in the Chicago suburbs. He plays football for his school team as a right tackle on offense and plays on the inside on defense. His team just finished their season a couple of weeks before the Stranger Things premiere.
Being from Chicago, Jake is a huge Chicago Bears fan. He says it’s “impossible not to love the Chicago Bears” even when they’re not having a good season.
Jake says football is really good for character building because everyone has to be together as a tight-knit team. “One weak link and you’re out,” he explained.
Net Worth
Jake Connelly has an estimated net worth of $485k thousand. His money comes from his role in Stranger Things Season 5, his appearance in the short film Between the Silence, commercial work, and his growing social media presence.
Since Jake is a minor, his earnings are managed by his parents under a parent-managed account setup with his talent agency.
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Follower Count: Here’s Jake’s social media numbers:
- Instagram: @jakeconnellyofficial, 240K followers
FAQ
What is Jake Connelly’s real name? His real name is Jake Connelly.
How old is Jake Connelly? He’s 13 years old, born in 2012.
Where is Jake Connelly from? He’s from the Chicago suburbs in Illinois.
What role does Jake Connelly play in Stranger Things? He plays Derek Turnbow in Stranger Things Season 5.
How old was Jake Connelly when he started filming Stranger Things? He was 12 years old when filming started in 2024.
What is Jake Connelly’s net worth? His net worth is estimated at $485k thousand.
How tall is Jake Connelly? He’s 5 feet 2 inches tall (157 cm) and weighs 68 kg (150 lbs).
Does Jake Connelly play sports? Yes, he plays football for his middle school team as a right tackle.
Who represents Jake Connelly? He’s represented by Gray Talent Group.
What did Jake Connelly tell his friends he was doing instead of filming Stranger Things? He told them he was working on a “mayonnaise documentary.”
