Rob Pinkston: Where Coconut Head From Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide Is Now

Summary Coconut Head from Ned's Declassified is played by Rob Pinkston, who has since moved on to a career in graphics production at Riot Games.

The trio from the show has started a podcast discussing past episodes, following the trend of actors creating podcasts based on their shows.

Pinkston's unique appearance as Coconut Head made him easily recognizable on screen, but now he looks very different in his grown-up life.

Coconut Head is a memorable schoolmate of Ned's (Devon Werkheiser) on the Nickelodeon sitcom Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and the actor, Rob Pinkston, has gone on to an interesting post-Nick career. A classic of 2000s Nickelodeon programming, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide premiered in 2004 and lasted for three seasons. Following the trio of Ned, Moze (Lindsey Shaw), and Cookie (Daniel Curtis Lee), the series depicts the daily life of middle school students, each episode based around one of Ned's tips for surviving the perilous school day.

In February 2023, the three stars of the show began Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide. They join a litany of 2010s and 2020s podcasts made by actors, focusing on their shows. The Office Ladies, Pod Meets World, The Always Sunny Podcast, and Talking Sopranos have all been very successful and Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide follows their molds by talking about past episodes. The chemistry between the trio will make fans wish for a grown-up reboot of the show and their chats with former cast members and crew offer some interesting insights.

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Rob Pinkston Played Coconut Head On Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide

Coconut Head Was A Nerdy Friend Of The Main Trio, Famous For His Signature Haircut

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Coconut Head is one of the many zany students at James K. Polk Middle School. A friend of Ned, Moze, and Cookie's, Coconut Head is a cheerful but quiet and nerdy student. He finds himself the frequent target of bullies and frequently gets himself into wild and weird situations between classes. Coconut Head's most notable characteristic is also the reason for his nickname: his Prince Valiant-like bowl cut that looks like someone hollowed out a coconut and stuffed the character's head in.

It's a funny and goofy performance, and Rob Pinkston always seems totally game for whatever storyline his character has, no matter how off-the-wall.

It's a funny and goofy performance, and Rob Pinkston always seems totally game for whatever storyline his character has, no matter how off-the-wall. Perhaps part of that comfort came from the fact that when Pinkston removed his wig, nobody recognized him, and he could separate his personal and professional lives. Pinkston said in an interview on YouTube,

"I barely get recognized because I wear the wig. So whenever I don't have the wig on, nobody knows who I am."

There's probably even less of a chance of people recognizing Pinkston as Coconut Head now. One look at Pinkston's Instagram, @pinkypinkston, shows that he's grown up since his Ned's Declassified days. With a styled beard, matured face, and close-cut fade, Pinkston looks little like the diminutive, childlike Coconut Head, particularly when the difference in haircuts are compared.

Coconut Head Actor Pinkston Is Now A Producer For Riot Games, Inc.

Pinkston went on the Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide for episode 16 on May 31, 2023, and according to Werkheiser, he was the most requested guest up until that point. Pinkston discusses what he's been doing since he stopped acting, which includes DJing as a hobby but primarily working as a broadcast graphics producer for Riot Games (via LinkedIn). On the podcast, he describes his job,

"So I'm a producer, specifically in the graphics department. So whenever you see in sports talk, like if you see the scoreboard at the bottom of a basketball game or the full screen that shows stats, any of those things are considered graphics. They're not video. So I manage all that, and I also make all the memes and stuff that we see on the show. So there's a lot of ridiculous photoshops that happen in Valorant and that's all me making them."

After Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Pinkston only appeared in a handful of roles and now seems to be having a career he's more interested in. A graphics producer job allows him to remain in the production world in which he grew up, and his DJing gives him the chance to still perform in front of people, something he's clearly never stopped enjoying.

Watch/Listen to Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide on YouTube

Watch Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide on Netflix