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Asa Butterfield (born 1 April 1997 in Islington, London)^[1] is an English child actor best known for his role in the Holocaust film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008).

Career

Butterfield first started acting at the age of 7 on Friday afternoons after school at the Young Actors Theatre in his hometown. A little later he first secured minor roles in the 2006 television drama After Thomas and the 2007 film Son of Rambow.^[1][2] In 2008 he also had a guest role playing Donny in Ashes to Ashes.^[3][4]

In that same year he became known to the general public for his lead role in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Director Mark Herman said that they came across Butterfield early on in the audition process. He was on the first audition tape he received and he was the third hopeful he met in person. Herman thought Butterfield's performance was amazing, but only decided to cast him after auditioning hundreds of other boys, "so no stone was left unturned".^[5]

Producer David Heyman and director Mark Herman were looking for someone who was able to portray the main character's innocence, so they asked each of the children what they knew about the Holocaust. Butterfield's knowledge was slim and it was purposely kept that way throughout filming so it would be easier for him to convey his character's innocence. Contrary to common practice, the final scenes of the film were shot at the end of the production period to prepare both him and Jack Scanlon for the dramatic ending of the film.^{[6 ][7]} He beat hundreds of boys to the role and also successfully passed the auditions for a role in Mr. Nobody for which he auditioned at the same time. He chose not to pursue the latter role.^[2]

In the 2008 Merlin episode "The Beginning of the End", he plays a young druid boy who is hunted by Uther Pendragon who wants to sentence him to death because he feels threatened by the boy's magic. Despite the Great Dragon's advice and the warning that Arthur cannot survive if the boy does, Merlin, with the help of Morgana, helps the boy escape Camelot and returns him to the druids. When they are about to disappear into the forest Arthur asks him for his name. The druid boy identifies himself as Mordred.^[8]

In 2009, he will appear alongside Anthony Hopkins in The Wolfman.^[9]

A picture of a younger Butterfield seated behind a desk is on the cover of Patrick Skene Catling's autobiography Better Than Working.^[1]

He has already been nominated for 2 awards. He was nominated in the category "Most Promising Newcomer" of the British Independent Film Awards,^[10][11] but he was beaten by Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire.^[12] He was also nominated for the NSPCC Award (Young British Performer of the Year) in the London Critics Circle Film Awards,^[13][14] but he missed out on this award too. It was won by Thomas Turgoose for his roles in Eden Lake and Somers Town.^[15]

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

• Asa Butterfield at the Internet Movie Database
• "Teenage Dirtbag vs Making Plans For Nigel" - Remix by Asa Butterfield, entry to the 2003 Xfm Rock School competition.