Asa Butterfield

Early life

Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield was born on 1 April 1997 in Islington, London, and is the son of Jacqueline "Jake" Farr, a psychologist, and Sam Butterfield, an advertising copywriter. He is named after comet Hale-Bopp. He was educated at Stoke Newington School.

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 and the 2007 film Son of Rambow.

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. 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 outstanding, but only decided to cast him after auditioning hundreds of other boys, "so no stone was left unturned". Herman and producer David Heyman 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 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 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 (2010). The film, and his performance, both received positive reviews.

At age 13, Butterfield played the main and titular character in Martin Scorsese's Hugo, adapted from the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Hugo was released on 23 November 2011, and achieved critical success. Butterfield played the title role of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin in the film adaptation of the Orson Scott Card novel Ender's Game. 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. Butterfield's performance received widespread critical acclaim and saw him nominated for the BIFA for Best Actor.[[File:Asa Butterfield 2014.jpg|alt=|thumb|Butterfield at the 2014 Moet BIFA British Independent Film Awards]] In 2015, Butterfield appeared in a film adaptation of Ten Thousand Saints. In 2016, he portrayed Jacob Portman in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. 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 comedy-drama series Sex Education. The series was released on 11 January 2019 to critical acclaim. The second season was released on 17 January 2020, the third on 17 September 2021, and the fourth and final season on 21 September 2023.

In July 2024, he was cast as Adam in the upcoming comedy film Carnival: At the End of Days.

Other ventures

Butterfield enjoys making and producing music, and released a mashup of the songs "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus and "Making Plans for Nigel" by XTC. Along with his brother, he is part of a music group called Mambo Fresh. In late 2012, Butterfield co-designed a turn-based video game for iPad 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, 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. In October 2020, he was signed by Team Liquid.

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.

In 2023, Butterfield played in the annual Soccer Aid charity football match, raising money for UNICEF. Butterfield, a lifelong Arsenal fan, scored England's opening goal assisted by former Arsenal player Jack Wilshere.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Wells, Jonathan. "Asa Butterfield has learnt his lessons".
2. (2 May 2013). "Ender's Game – Trailer Announcement & Preview".
3. (9 June 2013). "Asa Butterfield Talks Hugo – Young Hollywood Awards 2012".
4. (2008). "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Production Notes". [[Miramax Films]].
5. Clarke, Cath. (22 July 2010). "Act your age: the new wave of high-powered child stars". The Guardian.
6. Lamont, Tom. (28 December 2019). "Sex Education's Asa Butterfield: 'I feel more confident talking about sex'". [[The Guardian]].
7. "Star Interview: Asa Butterfield". TVhits.co.uk.
8. Davies, Janet. (23 October 2008). "Janet's Spotlight: "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas"". ABC 7 News.
9. "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – Casting the characters". Last Broadcast.
10. Carnevale, Rob. "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – Mark Herman and David Heyman interview". Indie London.
11. Maher, Kevin. (30 August 2008). "Meet the child stars of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". The Times.
12. Wiseman, Andreas. (6 March 2013). "Asa Butterfield and Rafe Spall circle Origin Pictures' X + Y". Screen Daily.
13. "Festival – What's On – September 5". Toronto International Film Festival.
14. Bailey, Cameron. "X+Y (programme note)". TIFF.net.
15. "Profile: ''X+Y'' (film)". Rotten Tomatoes.
16. McNary, Dave. (10 January 2014). "Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield Join 'Ten Thousand Saints'". Variety.
17. Fleming, Mike Jr.. (6 February 2015). "Samuel L. Jackson To Star in Tim Burton's 'Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children'".
18. "The House of Tomorrow". San Francisco Film Society.
19. White, Peter. (17 May 2018). "Gillian Anderson & Asa Butterfield Join Netflix Dramedy 'Sex Education'". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
20. "Sex Education: Season 1". [[Fandango Media.
21. Pasquini, Mattia. (July 15, 2024). "Asa Butterfield in Terry Gilliam's 'Saudi' Carnival".
22. Kraemer, Kristen. (23 November 2011). "8 Things To Know About Hugo's Asa Butterfield!". Alloy Media, LLC.
23. (2012). "Racing Blind – find out all about it". Sam Butterfield.
24. "The Nintendo World Championships 2017 winner has been crowned!".
25. (2 February 2019). "Sex Education star Asa Butterfield joins Panda Global to compete in Genesis 6". Dot Esports.
26. Linhares, Nádia. (7 October 2020). "Asa Butterfield from Netflix's Sex Education signs with Team Liquid". Dot Esports.
27. "Asa Butterfield 2020 3 Day Acting Masterclass in London". The Reel Scene.
28. DeFore, John. (8 September 2019). "'Greed': Film Review {{!}} TIFF 2019".
29. "Greed".
30. Stolworthy, Jacob. (12 June 2023). "Sex Education star Asa Butterfield reacts after scoring unexpected Soccer Aid goal".
31. Bloom, Adi. (23 August 2013). "Film – Inside the secret world of teenage maths prodigies". Times Educational Supplement.
32. (18 July 2013). "X Plus Y announces cast". BBC.
33. "Toronto International Film Festival 2013". Bankside Films.
34. Barraclough, Leo. (8 July 2021). "Netflix Picks Up Worldwide Rights to Horror Film ''Curs>r'', Starring Asa Butterfield".
35. Navarro, Meagan. (3 February 2022). "Netflix Asks You to 'Choose or Die' With Robert Englund This April".
36. Lang, Brent. (8 July 2021). "IFC Films, Bankside Films Backing Peter Strickland's ''Flux Gourmet'' Starring Asa Butterfield, Gwendoline Christie (Exclusive)".
37. "News".
38. Yossman, K. J.. (Aug 27, 2024). "Asa Butterfield, Molly Windsor, Fra Fee, Siobhan Finneran and Christopher Eccleston Set for Netflix Series ''Out of the Dust''".
39. (4 February 2025). "Second Best review – Asa Butterfield is first-class as Harry Potter runner-up". The Guardian.
40. Nelson, Will. (2024-05-06). "Hades 2 has a surprise Hollywood star appear as a new character".
41. (28 October 2008). "Hunger dominates nominations for British Independent Film Awards". [[Metro (British newspaper)]].
42. Foley, Jack. "British Independent Film Awards 2008: Nominations in full". Indie London.
43. (18 December 2008). "London critics pick ''Slumdog''". Variety.
44. "Tom Hiddlestone (Thor) | Best Male Newcomer | Jameson Empire Awards 2012". Empire (film magazine).
45. Goldberg, Matt. (29 February 2012). "Saturn Award Nominations Announced; Hugo and Harry Potter Lead with 10 Nominations Each". Collider.
46. "33rd Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards.
47. (15 June 2012). "2012 Young Hollywood Awards Winners". PopSugar.
48. (16 December 2013). "Critic's Choice Awards 2014:Complete List of Nominations". E!.
49. "The Moet British Independent Film Awards Asa Butterfield BIFA Nominations and Awards". BIFA.
50. Goldberg, Matt. (26 February 2014). "Saturn Award Nominations Announced; Gravity and The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Lead with 8 Nominations Each".
51. (12 January 2015). "Nominations announced for the National Film Awards UK 2015". [[National Film Academy]].
52. Ceron, Ella. (19 June 2017). "Teen Choice Awards 2017: See the First Wave of Nominations". [[Teen Vogue]].
53. Lupo, Marc. (13 August 2017). "Teen Choice Awards 2017: All the Nominees and Winners". [[American Media, Inc.]].
54. Trendell, Andrew. (20 January 2020). "NME Awards 2020:Full list of nominations revealed". [[NME]].