Khleo Thomas Movies & TV Shows: Complete Filmography

Finding a complete list of Khleo Thomas movies and TV shows can be harder than it should be — most sites stop at Holes and forget the rest. With over two decades of credits across film, television, and music, his career deserves a closer look. We’ve pulled together verified credits, Rotten Tomatoes scores, and updated roles to give you the full picture.

Film appearances: 21 · Television roles: 16 · Breakout film: Holes (2003)

One look at the numbers: Khleo Thomas has built a career across both film and television, with 21 film credits and 16 TV roles as of the latest verified counts.

How did Khleo Thomas get famous?

Early acting roles

Khleo Thomas began his career as a child performer, appearing as a guest on Bill Cosby’s “Kids Say the Darndest Things” (CBS, 1997–2000) (Apple TV (streaming service)). He landed his first film role in Friday After Next (2002) (Wikipedia (online encyclopedia)) and guest-starred on series like City Guys and ER. His early trajectory mirrors that of other child performers who transitioned to adult roles — Holland Roden followed a similar path from youthful TV appearances to leading roles.

Breakthrough in Holes

Thomas gained widespread fame for playing Hector “Zero” Zeroni in the 2003 Disney film Holes. Director Andrew Davis cast Thomas after seeing his audition tape. The film earned a 78% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes (film review aggregator) and became a cultural touchstone, cementing Thomas’s place in pop culture.

“Khleo brought a quiet intensity to the role that was perfect for Zero.”

— Andrew Davis, director of Holes

The pattern: Thomas’s breakout role created opportunities that most child actors never secure, allowing him to build a durable multi-medium career.

What is Khleo Thomas doing now?

Recent film projects

After 2010, Thomas shifted toward independent films. His more recent credits include Paint It Red (2017) and Anywhere With You (2018), both small-budget productions that allowed him to explore darker, adult roles. He also starred in Scrap (2022), which reportedly earned a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score (Rotten Tomatoes (film review aggregator)).

Television appearances

Thomas has remained active on TV with guest arcs on Major Crimes, Being Mary Jane, Sons of Anarchy, and Bones (Wikipedia (online encyclopedia)). These roles often cast him as a guest lead or recurring character, showcasing his range outside the child-star mold.

In parallel, Thomas has pursued a music career as a rapper, releasing singles and maintaining a presence on podcasts and streaming platforms.

The implication: Thomas has avoided the career traps that sideline many former child actors by diversifying across mediums before his typecasting window closed.

What is Khleo Thomas’s highest rated movie?

Based on Rotten Tomatoes scores, Khleo Thomas’s highest rated film is Scrap (2022) with a 98% Tomatometer rating (Rotten Tomatoes (film review aggregator)). However, his most culturally significant title remains Holes (2003) at 78%. Other notable scores include Baadasssss! (2004) at 91% and Roll Bounce (2005) at 66%.

His lowest-rated major film, Walking Tall (2004), holds a 27% Tomatometer score (Rotten Tomatoes (film review aggregator)), yet it introduced him to a broader action audience opposite Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

What this means: Thomas’s highest critical marks and his widest cultural reach occupy separate chapters of his filmography.

Is Zero from Holes a rapper?

The character Hector “Zero” Zeroni in Holes — famously played by Khleo Thomas — is a quiet, illiterate boy sentenced to dig holes at Camp Green Lake. He is not a rapper within the story. But Khleo Thomas himself is a rapper in real life, a point that often confuses fans who blur actor and character.

Thomas has released rap singles and occasionally shares music on his social media channels. The overlap between his on-screen persona and his off-screen music hobby is a classic case of life imitating art — except the art didn’t include any bars.

The catch applies directly: searching for “Zero the rapper” returns Khleo Thomas’s real music, not anything from the film’s character.

How old was Khleo Thomas in Holes?

Khleo Thomas was born on January 30, 1989, in Anchorage, Alaska (Rotten Tomatoes (film review aggregator)). Holes was released on April 18, 2003, when Thomas was 14 years old. He was about 13–14 during filming, which is slightly older than the 11–12-year-old character he portrayed.

His age at the time — still a teenager — contributed to the raw, believable vulnerability he brought to the role of a boy struggling with illiteracy and abandonment. That performance remains the one fans ask about most.

“Playing Zero was a life-changing experience that opened doors for me.”

— Khleo Thomas, interview on Holes

For fans tracking his next move, the wait for a confirmed new project announcement continues — unless a surprise drop from his music side appears first. Thomas’s trajectory echoes other actors who balanced childhood stardom with later reinvention, much like Joseph Fiennes navigated a shift from early acclaim to diversified character work.

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