Jordan Nagai (born February 5, 2000) is an American retired child voice actor. He is best known for his voice role as Russell in Up.
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Career
Nagai's older brother, Hunter, originally auditioned for Russell in Up. Director Pete Docter has said, "As soon as Jordan's voice came on we started smiling because he is appealing and innocent and cute and different from what I was initially thinking." About 400 children had shown up for the auditions, but Nagai stood out because he would not stop talking the whole time. Nevertheless, Nagai was sometimes very shy, and Docter found it difficult getting him to recite all of his lines. Nagai's character in Up is the first Asian American figure in a movie by Pixar. Other than the 2009 movie, Nagai also voiced Russell in the 2009 video game Up, the miniseries Up: Upisodes, and the short film Dug's Special Mission. In 2021, previously unused recordings from Nagai's earlier sessions were used for Russell in an episode of the television series Dug Days.
Nagai also lent his voice to an episode of The Simpsons called "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?" as the voice of Charlie, an orphan who befriends Bart in his quest for a baby brother. The program aired on December 13, 2009. Since retiring from acting, Nagai has opted to pursue a career in biology and healthcare management.
Awards and nominations
2010 Breakout Performance Award, from the East West Players