Tyler Sanders, a teen actor who received an Emmy nomination for his performance in the Prime Video series “Just Add Magic: Mystery City,” died Thursday in Los Angeles, his representative confirmed to Variety. He was 18.
A cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
Sanders started acting at 10 years old, starring in several short films. He booked his first major TV role in 2017, when he guest-starred as the young version of main character Sam Underwood in an episode of “Fear the Walking Dead” on AMC. Other guest spots on television include an episode of “The Rookie” in 2018 and an episode of “9-1-1: Lone Star” that aired on April 18, his final credit before his death.
In 2019, Sanders guest-starred in the final episode of the children’s fantasy series “Just Add Magic.” The series, based on the 2010 book by Cindy Callaghan, revolved around three friends who discover a mysterious cookbook filled with recipes for food with magical properties. The final episode saw the girls pass the cookbook to three new protectors: Leo (played by Sanders), Zoe (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and Ish (Jenna Qureshi).
The three actors would then go on to lead a spinoff series titled “Just Add Magic: Mystery City.” The show saw Sanders’ character use the cookbook to solve a mystery regarding his step-sister Zoe’s parentage and ultimately save the world. For his role as Leo, Sanders received a nomination for best principal performance in a children’s program at the Daytime Emmy Awards.
Outside of TV, Sanders also appeared in the 2019 movie “The Reliant” with Kevin Sorbo. Before he died, Sanders completed a role in the feature film “The Price We Play,” which stars Stephen Dorff and was directed by Ryûhei Kitamura.