At the age of 5, all Tanner Buchanan wanted to do was dance. “I was always into tap dancing,” the 18-year-old Lima, Ohio, native recently told to The Blade.
These days, he stars in the ABC’s hit drama Designated Survivor, a show about what happens when the president of the United States is killed by an explosion and the low-level cabinet member is sworn-in to replace him.
Designated Survivor returns from its winter hiatus at 10 p.m. on Wednesday on ABC.
Besides to his acting career, Buchanan enjoys to visit his hometown of Ottawa, Ohio, for downtime.
Born in the Lima, Buchanan attended Glandorf Elementary from kindergarten until the October of his fourth-grade year. While involved in with soccer, baseball and basketball, he became interested in tap dancing at the Center Stage Academy in Ottawa between the ages 5 and 8.
His mother, Marlona, said that, “he’s always been very outgoing. He was really good at soccer, and I think it was based on his dancing. He had a lot of coordination.” Buchanan is still remembered at his former school.
Buchanan’s tap dancing prowess enabled him to compete in the New York on a national level, where he placed second in the competition. That attracted the managers and agents asking if he was interested in moving to New York or California for acting.
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He also worked on his dancing with Wendi Davis at the Starbound Talent in Toledo.
After talking it over with her husband, Steve, who often travels for the business, Marlona quit her job and moved with her son to the Burbank, Calif.
After the landing several national commercials within weeks, one specifically for the Pam cooking spray, that initial six months eventually turned into a permanent stay in California.
Marlona enrolled her son in online schooling as soon as they moved to the Burbank. The subsequent television shows and also movie jobs allowed the two to meet more people to further his acting career.
Still at a young age, doing homework between the scenes and working long days never led the actor to change his mind and return to the normal life in northwest Ohio.
Buchanan plays the role of Leo Kirkman, the son of U.S. President Tom Kirkman, played by the Kiefer Sutherland, and his wife, Alex, played by Natascha McElhone.
He said Leo is a rebel who loves his parents, yet sometimes they get on his nerves.
He said that he relates to his character on the show because he too feels the need to be adventurous. While he said that Leo is the type of person to go out, Buchanan tends to stay at home, usually to play his guitar. He also said that studying his surroundings has helped him bring Leo’s character to life.
He was given the script of show’s pilot episode and knew the right away how he wanted to portray Leo. When it comes the time to get into character, he has noticed that music helps with the transition.
Buchanan said that his character enjoys electronic dance music, indie music, and even the Pink Floyd.
Buchanan still makes several trips a year to visit the relatives in Ottawa. Although Ohio is a much quieter environment than the California, the trips are something which he looks forward every time.
While his mother is a firm believer in having a back-up plan in the case his Hollywood career stalls, for the time being Buchanan continues to draw inspiration from the lights and also the cameras.
Mrudula Duddempudi.
