Asa Butterfield offers insight to aspiring student actors
Photos by Katherine Rountree
District got the chance to sit down with actor Asa Butterfield while he was in town for the Savannah Film Festival, where he will receive a Rising Star Award tonight. The 17-year-old actor has achieved international fame since he began film acting in 2006, starring in “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,” “Hugo” and, most recently, “Ender’s Game.” His newest film, “X+Y,” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival Sept. 5, and his next, “Ten Thousand Saints,” will be released in 2015.
Do you have any tips for young actors who are trying to juggle going to school and having an acting career at the same time?
It’s difficult. It’s no easy feat. I’ve had to do it ever since I’ve been an actor and I’m still doing it. I’m in my last year at school and it’s hard work, trying to get the best out of both worlds. You’ve got to put all of your focus when you’re on set into the character, trying to get the most out of it, and then when they say ‘cut’ you’ve got to go and do math or whatever it is that you’re doing.
For me, my schoolwork has taken a priority. It’s definitely something me and my family have talked about and we’ve always wanted to make sure I get through my education and get the grades before I can let go of that and really focus on my acting work.
The “Ender’s Game” actor will accept the Savannah Film Festival’s Rising Star Award Saturday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m.
Because you can’t be an amazing actor without having a sort of understanding of the world. Everything you learn you can take into your craft as an actor. So I advise them to stay in school. Don’t drop out. I wouldn’t advise getting homeschooled, either. Obviously it’s down to personal preference, but I find learning with peers and with other students a lot more beneficial because you can learn from not just your teachers, but other people. The experiences you learn in school and in college are invaluable. They stick with you for the rest of your life.
Do you have any plans to go to university?
Maybe in a few years. I’m not going to go straight away. If I did, I’d probably study some sort of filmmaking course. That’s what I’m most interested in. But after this year, I’m going to take some time out of school and be able to focus on my acting career without having to do schoolwork at the same time, which’ll be a nice break. But at the same time, I want to keep learning and adapting, specifically about filmmaking and filmmaking courses. I want to find out what’s going on and keep with it.
Since you’ve already tackled sci-fi, action, a little bit of horror, are there any other genres you’re interested in going into in the future?
I find with actors, you never want to try and be typecast as being a comedic actor, or just science fiction-action. You want to try and get the best out of everything. All the roles I’ve done so far have been pretty different and I’ve been pretty lucky with that, because it allows me to experience so many different types of films and filmmaking styles that I’ve learnt a lot more than if I’d just done comedy, for example. So there’s no one particular genre that I want to try and get into. I’m just seeing what scripts come in and try and make it an even distribution.
Now that you’ve pretty well established yourself as an actor, is there anything you wish you’d done differently when you were a kid and just getting into the industry?
I think I have been pretty lucky with the roles I’ve been able to be a part of. Of course, there are roles which don’t go your way and there are roles which do go your way, and I think whenever I’ve had a role which hasn’t gone my way, something else has come through that’s possibly even better. You never know. I’ve been lucky. And I don’t think I would’ve done anything differently. No regrets. I’ve been able to get the best out of everything.
Butterfield’s most notable film credits include “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,” “Merlin,” “The Wolfman,” “Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang,” “Hugo” and “Ender’s Game.”
You’ve portrayed a lot of characters in book-to-movie adaptations. When you take a character that was first conceived in a book, how far do you feel you have to stay true to the author’s vision of that character before you take over and give it your own interpretation?
I know a lot of actors, a lot of directors don’t like to take information from the book and just take it from the screenplay and the script. But I think the information from the book is invaluable when you’re developing a character. It gives you so much information and so many clues as to what’s going on inside the head of this person in any particular scenario, that I couldn’t see why you wouldn’t want to use all of that information. It’s so useful, I find.
The majority of my films have been adaptations from books and I do try and stay as true to them as possible and try and capture an essence of the book to take it through to the film. Because when adapting a book into a script, for logistical reasons you do lose some of what’s in the book. It’s pretty much impossible to make a direct adaptation. So it’s my job to try and keep as much of it intact as possible. All I can do is bring through the character from the book into the script. That’s definitely something I strive toward.
Can you talk a little bit about who and what inspires you?
There are actors who inspire me in terms of my career and who I look up to. Leonardo DiCaprio is the one who comes to mind. He’s an amazing actor, but outside of the acting world, he does so much for the planet and he’s such a good person and he’s so generous with his wisdom. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet him a few times and he’s always been very helpful and has kind words to say. I think he’s definitely someone we can look up to.
Do you have any other tips for aspiring actors?
I know a lot of actors in theater or film who, for one reason or another, they can’t give all of their attention to their work, because they’ve got other things to think about, other jobs, other schoolwork, other courses, whatever it is. But I definitely think keeping one foot inside of the acting world is really important and being able to always be flexing your acting muscles and always be sticking with it. Because you’re always learning something and you’re always developing your craft as an actor.
