Tyler Sanders, a former child actor who earned an Emmy nomination for his starring role on Amazon’s kids fantasy series Just Add Magic: Mystery City, has died. Sanders—whose other recent credits include single-episode appearances on The Rookie and Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star City—was 18; his death has been confirmed by his agent, per Deadline, with no cause of death confirmed.
Per Sanders’ bio on IMDB, he’d been acting regularly since he was 10; an early credit saw him appear in an episode of Fear The Walking Dead as the younger version of Sam Underwood’s character, Jake. In 2018, he booked a part on The Rookie, playing the son of a man on the run from the law; that same year, he appeared in The Reliant, a faith-based film starring Kevin Sorbo.
On his Facebook fan page, Sanders was effusive about the projects he worked on, thanking The Rookie’s Nathan Fillion and the producers of The Reliant, in between posts about bungie jumping and clips of him doing stand-up at the Hollywood Improv. He was especially positive about the cast of Just Add Magic: Mystery City, his most prominent starring role, which saw him (with Jolie Hoang-Rappaport and Jenna Qureshi) play a kid who becomes one of the protectors of a magical cookbook, in a spin-off of the previous Amazon series Just Add Magic. The series was nominated for two Daytime Emmys in 2021, one for Outstanding Writing Team for a kids show, and the other for Sanders, for Outstanding Performance.
Sanders’ most recent appearance was on 9-1-1: Lone Star, playing Brian in this April’s episode “Impulse Control.” He posted a picture of himself with the show’s cast—including Rob Lowe, Gina Torres, and more—on his Instagram eight weeks ago.
Sanders’ agent, Pedro Tapia, made a statement about his client today, saying, “Tyler was a talented actor with a bright future. He comes from a wonderful family, and we ask that you respect their privacy at this time.” Tapia also said Sanders’ cause of death is currently being investigated.