Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield (; born Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield on 1 April 1997) is an English actor. He has received nominations for three
British Independent Film Awards
The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...
, two
Critics' Choice Awards
The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writ ...
, two
Saturn Awards
The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
, and three
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
s.
Beginning his career as a child actor, Butterfield first achieved recognition as the lead of the historical drama film ''
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Much like the process he undertakes when writing most of his novels, Boyne has said that he wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, without ...
'' (2008). He continued to headline films during the 2010s, starring in the adventure drama ''
Hugo
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...
'' (2011), the war science fiction film ''
Ender's Game
''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub ...
'' (2013), the drama ''
X+Y'' (2014), and the fantasy ''
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
''Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' is a contemporary fantasy debut novel by American author Ransom Riggs. The story is told through a combination of narrative and a mix of vernacular and found photography from the personal archives ...
'' (2016). In 2019, Butterfield began portraying the lead of the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
comedy-drama series ''
Sex Education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...
''.
Early life
Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield was born on 1 April 1997, in
Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England, and is the son of Jacqueline Farr, a psychologist, and Sam Butterfield, an advertising copywriter. He was educated at
Stoke Newington School
Stoke Newington School (SNS) is a secondary school situated in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney.
History
The school is an amalgamation of Clissold School and Woodberry Down School, with the new school founded in 1982 in the ...
.
Career
Butterfield started acting at age seven at the
Young Actors Theatre Islington. Later, he secured minor roles in the 2006 television drama ''
After Thomas
''After Thomas'' is a television drama film, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 26 December 2006, on ITV. It was produced by Beryl Vertue and Elaine Cameron, directed by Simon Shore, and written by Lindsey Hill.
The plot is about the sev ...
'' and the 2007 film ''
Son of Rambow
''Son of Rambow'' is a 2007 comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings and inspired by '' First Blood''. The film premiered on 22 January 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Sea ...
''.
In 2008, he had a guest role playing Donny in the television series ''
Ashes to Ashes''.
In that same year, aged ten, Butterfield played the lead role in ''
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Much like the process he undertakes when writing most of his novels, Boyne has said that he wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, without ...
''. Director
Mark Herman
Mark Herman (born 1954) is an English film director and screenwriter, best known for writing and directing the 2008 film ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas''.
Life and career
Herman was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. He ...
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 outstanding, but only decided to cast him after auditioning hundreds of other boys, "so no stone was left unturned".
Herman and producer
David Heyman
David Jonathan Heyman (born 26 July 1961) is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. Heyman secured the rights to the ''Harry Potter'' film series in 1999 and went on to produce all eight installments of the franchise. He als ...
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. The final scenes of the film were shot at the end of the production period to prepare both him and
Jack Scanlon
Jack Charles Scanlon (born 6 August 1998) is an English former child actor who is best known for his role in the 2008 Holocaust film ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas''.
Early and personal life
Jack Charles Scanlon was born in Canterbury, Kent, ...
for the dramatic ending of the film.
Butterfield 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 elected not to pursue the latter role.
In 2008, he portrayed Mordred in the ''
Merlin
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
'' episode "
The Beginning of the End"; Butterfield appeared as Mordred in a number of subsequent episodes. In 2010, he had a small part in ''
The Wolfman''.
He starred as Norman Green in ''
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
''Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'' (released in the United States and Canada as ''Nanny McPhee Returns'') is a 2010 period fantasy comedy film directed by Susanna White, produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Lindsay Doran with music by Jam ...
'' (2010). The film, and his performance, both received positive reviews.
At age 13, Butterfield played the main and title character in
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
's ''
Hugo
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...
'', adapted from the novel ''
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
''The Invention of Hugo Cabret'' is a historical fiction book written and illustrated by Brian Selznick and published by Scholastic. It takes place in France as a young boy finds his purpose. The hardcover edition was released on January 30, ...
''. ''Hugo'' was released on 23 November 2011, and achieved critical success. Butterfield played the title role of
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin in the
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
of the
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...
novel ''
Ender's Game
''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub ...
''. The film was released in 2013.
After the shooting of ''Ender's Game'', Butterfield was cast in coming of age British drama ''
X+Y'' as Nathan Ellis, a mathematical savant on the autism spectrum selected to compete in an internationally renowned mathematics competition. The film premiered on 5 September 2014 at the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
. Butterfield's performance received widespread critical acclaim and saw him nominated for the
BIFA Award for Best Actor.
![Asa Butterfield 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Asa_Butterfield_2014.jpg)
In 2015, Butterfield appeared in a film adaptation of ''
Ten Thousand Saints
''Ten Thousand Saints'' is a 2015 American drama film written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. It is based on the novel of the same name by Eleanor Henderson. The film stars Asa Butterfield as Jude Keffy-Horn, the protagon ...
.'' In 2016, he portrayed Jacob Portman in ''
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
''Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' is a contemporary fantasy debut novel by American author Ransom Riggs. The story is told through a combination of narrative and a mix of vernacular and found photography from the personal archives ...
.'' He also starred as Gardner Elliot in the film ''
The Space Between Us'' and as Sebastian in ''
The House of Tomorrow'' in 2017. In 2018, Butterfield was cast in the main role of Otis Milburn on the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
comedy-drama series ''
Sex Education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...
''.
The series was released on 11 January 2019 to critical acclaim. The second season was released on 17 January 2020 and the third on 17 September 2021.
Other ventures
Butterfield enjoys making and producing music, and released a
mashup of the songs "
Teenage Dirtbag
"Teenage Dirtbag" is a song by American rock band Wheatus. It was released on June 20, 2000, as the lead single from their eponymous debut album (2000). The song was written by guitarist and vocalist Brendan B. Brown and was inspired by a chil ...
" by
Wheatus
Wheatus are an American rock band from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are known principally for their 2000 single " Teenage Dirtbag", which appeared in the films '' Loser'' and ''Bully'', as well as the HBO miniseries '' Generation ...
and "
Making Plans for Nigel
"Making Plans for Nigel" is a song by the English rock band XTC that was released as the opening track and lead single from their 1979 album ''Drums and Wires'', by Virgin Records. It was written by Colin Moulding, the band's bassist. The lyrics a ...
" by
XTC
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...
.
Along with his brother, he is part of a music group called Mambo Fresh. In late 2012, Butterfield co-designed a
turn-based
In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based.
Real-time
Real-time games have game time progress cont ...
video game for
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
with his father and brother called ''Racing Blind''.
The game was released to the App Store on 7 April 2013.
Butterfield is involved in competitive Nintendo gaming. In 2017, he competed in the
Nintendo World Championships
The Nintendo World Championships (NWC) is a nationwide video game competition series, organized by Nintendo of America at no particular interval.
The first Nintendo World Championships was in 1990, touring 29 American cities, being hosted in L ...
, where he was eliminated early in the invitational. He is an enthusiastic player of
competitive ''Super Smash Bros.'' and has signed with esports team Panda Global under the tag "Stimpy". His first appearance with the organisation was at
Genesis 6
Noach, Noiach, Nauach, Nauah, or Noah (, Hebrew language, Hebrew for the name "Noah", the third word, and incipit, first distinctive word, of the parashah) is the second weekly Torah portion (, ''parashah'') in the annual Judaism, Jewish cycle of T ...
. In October 2020, he was signed by
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. With the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'', Team Liquid signed their first professional players.
In 2012, Team Liq ...
.
Since 2017, Butterfield has taught an annual acting masterclass at The Reel Scene acting school in London. The three-day "Asa Butterfield Masterclass" course covers improvisation techniques and students work on scenes from Butterfield's films, which are then filmed on the last day. In 2018, students appeared as extras in the film
''Greed'' in which Butterfield appeared.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfield, Asa
1997 births
Living people
21st-century English male actors
English male child actors
English male film actors
English male television actors
English video game designers
Male actors from London
People from Islington (district)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players