Who Is Tanner Buchanan? Facts About the He's All That Actor

1 He Has Long Been a Rising TV Star

Buchanan started his career as a child and teen actor, appearing in shows including The Fosters, Designated Survivor, and Fuller House. His big breakout role, however, came in 2018, when he was cast as Robby Keene, the estranged son of Johnny Lawrence, on Cobra Kai.

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2 He's a Talented Musician

Buchanan has some not-so-hidden musical talents, too! In this behind-the-scenes clip from 2017, he plays guitar alongside his Designated Survivor onscreen sibling McKenna Grace.

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3 He's Been Honest About Body Image and the Industry

Image Source: Getty / Amy Sussman

Buchanan's work in the martial arts-centric Cobra Kai is very physical. He's doing his best to stay level-headed about body image, even in an industry that can make it tough at times. "For me when I work out, I'm just doing it to stay healthy. I just want to stay healthy. That's it. As long as I'm healthy, I don't care," Buchanan told Glamour UK in early 2021.

Even with that healthy attitude, though, he admits to having some tough moments. "Body image-wise, it's really hard to be in this industry because I have caught myself a few times looking at other actors and thinking, 'Whoa, they're jacked. They feel like they're so big. They got all these muscles that I definitely don't have,'" he said. "But I feel like, over the years, I've just switched my mind to really just be like, 'Look, if you're working out consistently and you're staying healthy, that's all you need to do.'"

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4 He's Acted Alongside One He's All That Costar Before

Image Source: Getty / Matt Winkelmeyer

In He's All That, Buchanan plays one part of a teenage love triangle, opposite Peyton Meyer as the standard-issue "bad boyfriend." Meyer and Buchanan have played romantic rivals before: both competed for the affections of Rowan Blanchard's Riley Matthews on the Disney Channel sitcom Girl Meets World.

"We hadn't really seen each other since then. I don't know how long ago it was, years, but we talked about all that and it was fun to see him again and hang out with him," Buchanan told ComingSoon. He joked: "It was also really fun to fight him."

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5 He Has a Knack For Tap Dancing

Turns out, one of Buchanan's hidden talents is something you might not expect: tap dancing! He appeared on Anna Faris's Unqualified podcast in August 2021, where he revealed, among other things, that he actually entered — and won! — tap dance competitions as a kid.

"All my cousins were women and they danced . . . Coming from a small town [in the] Midwest, it's all sports. If you're a guy, you're a manly man. It's that whole thing, but that's not what I wanted to do. I wanted to perform, and I was different. I was the only and first boy to dance in our town for years," Buchanan told Faris. "I actually got into competitive dance . . . I would travel around Ohio and go to dance competitions. I'd have my solo piece and then I would have a dance with girls."

Buchanan even shared this clip of him tapping away in a rehearsal studio in 2017. He dances, he plays guitar . . . maybe a musical project might be in his future?

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