BIOGRAPHY


Name: Asa Butterfield
Date of Birth: April 1st 1997
Age: 13 years old
Lives: Islington, UK
Siblings: Older Brother, Morgan & Little Sister, Loxie
Pets: Two Cats, Leo & Missy
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dark Brown
Height: 4'4
Resume: Click here



The story so far...
Asa Butterfield first started acting at the age of 7, attending the Young Actors Theatre in his hometown on Friday's after school. Asa was a natural and went on to secure his first role in the 2006 television drama After Thomas where he played a young Boy with Autism. Soon after that he booked a role in the highly acclaimed 2007 film Son of Rambow. In 2008 he also had a guest role playing Donny in the BBC Drama Ashes to Ashes.

In that same year Asa became known to the general public for his lead role in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Director Mark Herman said that Asa's tape was one of the first that he saw and was the third hopeful he met in person. Herman thought Asa's performance was amazing, but only decided to cast him after auditioning hundreds of other boys, "so no stone was left unturned".

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. He beat hundreds of boys for 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. Asa's knowledge was slim but 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 Asa and Jack Scanlon (Schmul) for the dramatic ending of the film.

At the beginning of 2008 Asa booked yet again for BBC! This time it was for a Merlin episode called "The Beginning of the End". Asa played a young druid boy who is hunted for being druid, however Merlin helps him to escape and returns him to his people. The druid boy then identifies himself as Mordred. Asa's experience on Merlin did not stop here. Early in March 2009 he filmed another episode for Series to where he will return as Mordred!

That same year Asa also booked and shot for the 2009 film The Wolfman. He will appear alongside Anthony Hopkins in a short flashback scene playing a younger version of the main characters brother.

Asa's talents do not stop here, he can also be seen at age 5 seated behind a desk on the cover of Patrick Skene Catling's autobiography Better Than Working. In his spare time he enjoys singing and he can play both the piano and the guitar. He prefers jazz and funk over rock, but despite that he entered the XFM Rock School competition in 2004 where he created a remix from the hits "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus and "Making Plans For Nigel" by XTC. For this he won a Fender guitar and radio airplay for the song.

Twelve he may be but he has already been nominated for 2 awards, one was for the "Most Promising Newcomer" at the British Independent Film Awards (Unfortunately he was beaten by Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire) and the other was a nomination for the NSPCC Award (Young British Performer of the Year) in the London Critics Circle Film Awards, but he missed out on this award too. It was won by Thomas Turgoose for his roles in Eden Lake and Somers Town.

In 2009 Asa was seen in the Second Nanny Mcphee film called Nanny Mcphee and The Big Bang. The film is set in the second world war where Nanny McPhee appears at the door of a harried young mother who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war. But once she's arrived, Nanny McPhee discovers that Mrs. Green's children are fighting a war of their own against two nasty, snobby cousins who have just moved in and refuse to leave. Asa plays Mrs. Green's eldest son, Norman. The film was released on 26th March 2010 in the UK.

Asa has a very bright and promising future ahead! He has recently been cast as the main character in Martin Scorsese's new 3D film The Invention of Hugo Cabret which began shooting in late June of 2010 and is planned for release in November of 2011. Asa plays Hugo, a 12 year old orphan living in the walls of a Paris train station in 1930. The movie also stars Chloe Grace Moretz of kick-ass fame and Jude Law. Stay tuned as 2011 promises to be a big year for Asa with great things to come!

© Asa-Butterfield.com
Last updated October 2010.

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