Asa Butterfield facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Asa Butterfield
Butterfield in 2019
Born	Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield (1997-04-01) 1 April 1997 (age 28) London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2006–present

Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield (pronounced AY-sə; born April 1, 1997) is an English actor. He started acting when he was a child. Asa first became famous for his main role in the historical drama film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008).

He continued to star in many films during the 2010s. These included the adventure drama Hugo (2011), the science fiction film Ender's Game (2013), the drama X+Y (2014), and the fantasy movie Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016). From 2019 to 2023, Butterfield played the main character in the Netflix comedy-drama series ... Education.

Asa Butterfield's Early Life

Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield was born on April 1, 1997, in Islington, London. His mother, Jacqueline "Jake" Farr, is a psychologist. His father, Sam Butterfield, writes advertisements. Asa was named after the comet Hale-Bopp. He went to Stoke Newington School.

Asa Butterfield's Acting Career

Asa Butterfield began acting at age seven. He joined the Young Actors Theatre Islington. He later got small roles in the 2006 TV drama After Thomas and the 2007 film Son of Rambow.

Breakthrough Role in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

In 2008, Asa had a guest role as Donny in the TV series Ashes to Ashes. That same year, when he was ten, Butterfield played the main character in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The director, Mark Herman, said they found Asa early in the auditions. He was one of the first actors they saw.

Herman thought Asa's acting was amazing. He decided to cast him after auditioning many other boys. Herman and producer David Heyman wanted someone who could show the main character's innocence. They asked the children what they knew about the Holocaust. Asa knew little, and they kept it that way during filming. This helped him show his character's innocence. The last scenes of the film were shot at the end to prepare Asa and Jack Scanlon for the dramatic ending.

Asa also auditioned for a role in Mr. Nobody at the same time. He chose not to take that role. In 2008, he played Mordred in the Merlin episode "The Beginning of the End". He appeared as Mordred in more episodes later.

Roles in Nanny McPhee and Hugo

In 2010, Asa had a small part in The Wolfman. He then starred as Norman Green in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010). Both the film and his acting received good reviews.

When he was 13, Butterfield played the main character in Martin Scorsese's Hugo. This movie was based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Hugo was released on November 23, 2011. It was very successful with critics.

Starring in Ender's Game and X+Y

Asa Butterfield played the main role of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin in the film Ender's Game. This movie was based on the Orson Scott Card novel Ender's Game. The film came out in 2013.

After filming Ender's Game, Asa was cast in the British drama X+Y. He played Nathan Ellis, a math genius with autism. Nathan competes in a famous international math competition. The film first showed on September 5, 2014, at the Toronto International Film Festival. Asa's acting was highly praised. He was nominated for the BIFA for Best Actor award.

Butterfield at the 2014 Moet BIFA British Independent Film Awards

Recent Film and TV Projects

In 2015, Butterfield was in a film based on Ten Thousand Saints. In 2016, he played Jacob Portman in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. He also starred as Gardner Elliot in The Space Between Us and as Sebastian in The House of Tomorrow in 2017.

In 2018, Butterfield was chosen for the main role of Otis Milburn in the Netflix comedy-drama series ... Education. The series was released on January 11, 2019, and was very popular. The second season came out on January 17, 2020. The third season was released on September 17, 2021. The fourth and final season came out on September 21, 2023.

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

Other Activities and Hobbies

Asa Butterfield enjoys making music. He has released a mashup of songs like "Teenage Dirtbag" and "Making Plans for Nigel". He is also part of a music group called Mambo Fresh with his brother. In late 2012, Asa helped design a turn-based video game for iPad called Racing Blind. He created it with his father and brother. The game was released on April 7, 2013.

Butterfield also likes competitive Nintendo gaming. In 2017, he played in the Nintendo World Championships. He is a big fan of competitive Super Smash Bros. and has joined the esports team Panda Global. His player name is "Stimpy". He first played with them at Genesis 6. In October 2020, he signed with Team Liquid.

Since 2017, Asa Butterfield has taught an acting class every year. It is held at The Reel Scene acting school in London. The three-day "Asa Butterfield Masterclass" teaches acting skills. Students practice scenes from Asa's films. In 2018, students from his class appeared as extras in the film Greed, which Asa was also in.

In 2023, Butterfield played in the yearly Soccer Aid charity football match. This event raises money for UNICEF. Asa is a lifelong fan of Arsenal football club. He scored England's first goal in the match.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Son of Rambow	Brethren Boy
2008	The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas	Bruno
2010	Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang	Norman Green
	The Wolfman	Younger Ben Talbot
2011	Hugo	Hugo Cabret
2013	Ender's Game	Ender Wiggin
2014	X+Y	Nathan Ellis	Also known as A Brilliant Young Mind
2015	Ten Thousand Saints	Jude Keffy-Horn
2016	Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children	Jacob "Jake" Portman
2017	The House of Tomorrow	Sebastian Prendergast
	Journey's End	Jimmy Raleigh
	The Space Between Us	Gardner Elliot
2018	Then Came You	Calvin Lewis
	Time Freak	Stillman
	Slaughterhouse Rulez	Willoughby Blake
2019	Greed	Finn McCreadie
2022	Choose or Die	Isaac
	Flux Gourmet	Billy Rubin
	Your Christmas or Mine?	James
2023	All Fun and Games	Marcus Fletcher
	Your Christmas or Mine 2	James
2025	Our Hero, Balthazar	Solomon
	Rogue Trooper		Post-production

Television Shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	After Thomas	Andrew	Television film
2008	Ashes to Ashes	Donny	1 episode (season 1)
2008–2009	Merlin	Mordred	3 episodes
2017	Thunderbirds Are Go	Space Controller Conrad (voice)	1 episode
2019–2023	... Education	Otis Milburn	Main role
2020	50 States of Fright	Brandon Boyd	3 episodes
TBA	Out of the Dust	Adam	Filming

Theatre Performances

Video Games

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Asa Butterfield para niños