Asa Bopp Farr Butterfieldnote (born Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield on 1 April 1997 in Islington, England), is an English actor best known for portraying Bruno in the film adaptation of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Hugo Cabret in Martin Scorsese's Hugo, Ender Wiggin in Ender's Game, and Otis Milburn in the Netflix series Sex Education.
He began acting at age 8 after he was spotted by a casting director at a local drama club, and soon secured a minor role in the Made-for-TV Movie After Thomas. From there, he had a supporting role in Son of Rambow before doing an episode of Ashes to Ashes (2008) in 2008. In the same year, he won the recurring role of the infamous Mordred in The BBC's Merlin — a role not dissimilar to his successful performance in Rambow, which is possibly why he was cast. Released around the same time was the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas film; his starring role in the film was his first to receive major recognition. At the same time that he auditioned for the film, he also successfully auditioned for a role in Mr. Nobody, but turned it down in order to do the film.
During this time, Butterfield was still attending regular school like any other boy; he would put his career on temporary hold beginning in fall 2008, when he began secondary school. He returned with a supporting role in The Wolfman followed by a lead role in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, both released in 2010. In these films, he played alongside respected actors like Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, and his own real stardom began. Following this, he won the titular roles in Hugo and Ender's Game, leading an All-Star Cast with veteran actors in each film.
After finishing up Ender's Game, Butterfield appeared in several other films, including Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Space Between Us, and Slaughterhouse Rulez. He most recently starred in the series Sex Education from 2019 to 2023.
Butterfield is known for several other public ventures. He is an eSports player, having played at the Nintendo World Championships in New York in 2017 and Genesis 6 in Oakland, California in 2019, and being to Team Liquid in October 2020 under the username "Stimpers." He also bridged the gap between acting and professional gaming further when he was signed onto Panda Global in 2018 as a brand ambassador to promote the eSports team to a wider audience. He also enjoys making and producing music (forming the group Mambo Fresh with his brother), co-designed a turn-based iPad game called Racing Blind with his father and brother, and has taught an annual acting masterclass since 2017 at the London-based acting school The Reel Scene.
Roles:
- Andrew in After Thomas (2006)
- Brethren Boy in Son of Rambow (2007)
- Donny in Ashes to Ashes (2008)
- Bruno in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
- Mordred in Merlin (2008)
- Younger Ben Talbot in The Wolfman (2010)
- Norman Green in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010)
- Hugo Cabret in Hugo (2011)
- Ender Wiggin in Ender's Game (2013)
- Nathan Ellis in X+Y (2014)
- Jude Keffy-Horn in Ten Thousand Saints (2015)
- Jacob Portman in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
- Sebastian Prendergast in The House of Tomorrow (2017)
- Jimmy Raleigh in Journey's End (2017)
- Gardner Elliot in The Space Between Us (2017)
- Calvin Lewis in Then Came You (2018)
- Stillman in Time Freak (2018)
- Willoughby Blake in Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018)
- Otis Milburn in Sex Education (2019)
- Brandon Boyd in 50 States of Fright (2020)
Tropes applied to his works:
- Dawson Casting: Throughout his acting career, Butterfield has primarily played characters younger than his age. He has played a 10 year old in Ender's Game while 14-15, a 16 year old when 18 in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and a 17 year old in Sex Education when 21 years old.
- Fake Nationality: Frequently. He has played a German in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a Frenchman in Hugo and an American in Ender's Game, all before his sixteenth birthday.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Especially in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Hugo, and Merlin, whereas in Ender's Game and later movies/TV shows, they're more like Icy Blue Eyes.
- Socially Awkward Hero: We see him play this type in Ender's Game, X+Y, The Space Between Us, Then Came You, Time Freak, and Sex Education.
- Tabloid Melodrama: Butterfield was a candidate for the role of Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When casting, there were rumors that he was about to receive the role but lost out because he felt that he couldn't keep the secrets. Although he later debunked the rumors, they persisted for a while.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: As a young adult, Butterfield stands at 6 feet tall, and has become quite popular with younger audiences.
- Teen Genius: Many of his roles involve this type. We see this in Ender's Game, X+Y, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and Time Freak.
- The Film of the Book: Most of his roles are within these. He has commented that he prefers such roles because "when you have a book as material as it is, it's a lot easier to create a character because you have so many resources to draw upon when acting."
- Typecasting: His filmography is made up of waifish, precocious boys in science fiction and fantasy.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: He played this type in many films from his younger years and seemed unusally mature as a child, giving inspirational and wise quotes in interviews.
Trivia
- Asa Butterfield wanted to quit acting at the age of 8 after The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas because he found it difficult to handle the intense themes of death and suffering.
- Butterfield attended a regular school until his graduation and refused homeschooling despite requests by staff to begin homeschooling. He believed that homeschooling would separate him from reality.
- He created a mobile app known as Racing Blind at the age of 16 and was the only app on the App Store at the time designed to be played blind.
- Butterfield auditioned for the role of Spider-Man in 2015, but lost to Tom Holland. Debunked rumors emerged that his Reddit post was what lost him the role.
- Butterfield's mother is a psychologist, much like Otis Milburn's mother.
- Butterfield likes electronic music, Dungeons and Dragons, DOTA 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and science.
