Potter was born in Portland, Oregon on September 12, 1995. His mother, Jordanna Potter-Lew, is Jewish American and his father is Japanese. He uses his mother's maiden name. He was raised in Tokyo, Japan, until returning to the United States when he was seven. He was raised by his single mother. Potter's first language was Japanese, however, he no longer speaks or knows the Japanese language fluently. At the age of eight, he began studying White Tiger kung fu, a discipline which he would continue to pursue throughout his teenage years. Other childhood interests reportedly included baseball, skateboarding, and playing the drums.
Career
In 2010, Potter began his acting career at the age of 15 when he received a leaflet in his kung fu class announcing Nickelodeon was looking for teenagers to star in a new martial-arts themed program entitled Supah Ninjas. After a few days of considering an acting career, Potter decided to audition, eventually landing the series' lead role of Mike Fukanaga, a typical American teen who discovers he is a descendant from a long line of ninjas. In March 2012, Nickelodeon announced it had renewed Supah Ninjas for a second season. Following the premiere of Supah Ninjas in January 2011, he became one of Nickelodeon's popular young stars, featured in numerous teen magazines and making personal appearances in the network's special Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play and its reboot of Figure It Out, as well as an appearance on its sister network's broadcast of the 2011 TeenNick HALO Awards. In March 2012, Potter began a recurring role on , portraying Fred's best friend. Potter later voiced Big Hero 6 protagonist Hiro Hamada and reprised his role in the and Kingdom Hearts III. Potter was also lobbying for the role of Tim Drake and created a concept fight scene using the character's signature bō staff as an audition. He ended the video with a plea to Ben Affleck to cast him as Robin. He was then cast as Beast Boy in Warner Bros.'s live-action Titans series.
Philanthropy
In 2011, Potter founded the organization Toy Box of Hope, a charity which holds an annual holiday collection drive for children in homeless shelters and transitional living facilities in the Los Angeles area. During the second annual event in 2012, Potter spoke of the focus of the organization, stating "hat we want to do is provide bedsheets, jackets and toys to , so these kids are like, 'Wow, someone cares, there's hope.'" In 2012, Potter was reportedly planning to expand Toy Box of Hope to include a "Birthday Party Box" program.
Advocacy
In June 2012, Potter became one of the youngest celebrities to lend his voice to California's No H8 Campaign in support of same-sex marriage. When explaining his involvement, 16-year-old Potter stated, "I know what it feels like to be bullied. And I will not tolerate the thought of anyone, for any reason, being bullied. It starts with young people, and it can end with young people. As we learn to embrace our diversity, we become stronger, more tolerant. The differences are beautiful. The differences matter. It's what makes life an adventure."
