Jacob Andres Batalon (born October 9, 1996) is an American actor. Batalon achieved international recognition playing Ned Leeds in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero films, appearing as a supporting role in the MCU Spider-Man film series (2017–present). He also played the titular character in the Syfy television series Reginald the Vampire (2022–2024) and Roscoe Dixon in the action comedy film Novocaine (2025).
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Early life
Jacob Batalon was born on October 9, 1996, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to overseas Filipino parents, Nestor Batalon and Vangie Andres from Pangasinan. Batalon has seven half-siblings: a brother and a sister from his mother, and three brothers and two sisters from his father. His mother regularly accompanied him at auditions. In an episode of Reginald the Vampire, Batalon spoke Ilocano language to trace his real life heritage, even using 'Andres' as Reginald’s surname to honor his mother, Vangie.
Upon graduating from the private Catholic school St. Anthony's School, he went to Damien Memorial School, then Batalon attended Kapiʻolani Community College to study music theory, but later dropped out. He then took a two-year program to study acting at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.
Career
Batalon made his acting debut in the 2016 film North Woods. As part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he first appeared as Peter Parker's best friend Ned Leeds in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). It was Batalon's first major role. He reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home (both 2019), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026).
In 2018, Batalon played one of the bodies inhabited by spirit A in the young-adult film Every Day. In 2020, he lost 102 pounds (46 kg) for his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home. In 2021, Batalon was cast as the titular Reginald in Syfy's dramedy series Reginald the Vampire. In 2025, Batalon was featured in the film Novocaine, playing as Roscoe Dixon, Nathan "Novocaine" Caine's online gaming friend.
Personal life
In March 2025, Batalon got engaged to architectural designer Veronica Leahov. They married in 2026.
An internet meme based on an image of Batalon at the Spider-Man: Homecoming premiere, dubbing him the "CEO of sex", began spreading in 2019. In a 2025 interview with Screen Rant, Batalon described the meme as "an honor".
Batalon was diagnosed with alopecia in seventh grade.
