How ‘Walter Boys’ Star Noah LaLonde Went From Hockey Player to Heartthrob

Long before hockey’s current pop-culture renaissance, the sport was already a second home for Noah LaLonde , having played competitively for most of his childhood.

Now, as LaLonde works to establish his new home in Hollywood, he can’t help but laugh at the coincidence of it all. “It’s just funny to me that this would happen at this time in my life when I just got people to stop asking me about hockey,” the 28-year-old quips during a recent chat with The Hollywood Reporter .

Growing up on the ice in Michigan, LaLonde says it initially felt like hockey “was kind of my definitive path.” That was until he started to question things and his “interests started to shift more and more,” eventually coming to the realization that “the only place that I really found I could understand myself a little bit more was watching movies and watching TV shows and getting invested into these journeys that other people were on.” Related Stories Movies Zurich Film Fest Galas Set for Award Contenders 'I Play Rocky,' 'Possible Love,' 'Josephine' Movies Netflix's 'Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory' Lands Wide Theatrical Release

That’s when he finally decided to answer “this thing that’s been calling my name for a long time,” which was acting. He eventually landed his starring role on Netflix ‘s teen drama My Life With the Walter Boys in 2023, playing the charismatic but complex heartthrob Cole Walter.

It’s safe to say LaLonde didn’t anticipate going from hockey player to onscreen heartthrob, playfully stating to THR , “I can’t say I actively wake up, put on my heartthrob hat and brush my heartthrob teeth. I don’t do that.”

But he’s happy to embrace the label if it means he gets to continue working on projects that connect “with a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds and different perspectives,” such as Walter Boys , which just released its third season and has a fourth season on the way.

Below, LaLonde opens up about what he’s learned from playing Cole for three seasons, the on-screen romance with Nikki Rodriguez’s Jackie, whether he would be open to starring in a hockey-centered show, those Leonardo DiCaprio comparisons and more.