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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
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About the Cast Release Date: November 7, 2008
Director: Mark Herman
Screenwriter: Mark Herman
Starring: David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Movie Copyright © Miramax Films
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CAST
ASA BUTTERFIELD (BRUNO)
JACK SCANLON (SHMUEL)
AMBER BEATTIE (GRETEL)
DAVID THEWLIS (FATHER)
VERA FARMIGA (MOTHER)
RICHARD JOHNSON (GRANDPA)
SHEILA HANCOCK (GRANDMA)


CAST INFO

ASA BUTTERFIELD (BRUNO) was born on 1 April 1997 in Islington, London. He attends a local after-school drama class once a week called the Young Actors Theatre. Butterfield is also a keen musician and plays the piano (pretty well) and the guitar (not so well). He enjoys singing and recorded a song in 2003 which he entered in XFM’s Rock School. He won a Fender guitar and his track was played out on the radio. He has two cats and one older brother, Morgan, with whom he plays lots of games – he likes the fighting ones best. During the long summer break his favourite holidays are those spent with his cousins and brother when he can spend all day swimming. Prior to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, Butterfield had small parts in two films: “Son of Rambow” and “After Thomas”. A young Butterfield can be seen on the cover of “Better than Working,” an autobiography by Patrick Skene Catling.
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JACK SCANLON (SHMUEL) was born on 6 August 1998 in Canterbury. He is the eldest of two boys and lives in the seaside town of Deal, Kent. Scanlon attends Warden House Primary School where his favorite subject is games. A keen follower of Conference League Aldershot Town FC, Scanlon enjoys watching matches. He is a Cub Scout and says that he would like to be an actor when he grows up. Scanlon has always been keen on drama and singing and is part of the ‘Talented Singers’ group at his school. He attends The Bigfoot Drama Academy, Deal on Saturdays and has just finished a short film with Film students at Christchurch University, Canterbury. THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS is Jack’s first feature film.
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AMBER BEATTIE (GRETEL) was born in London, the middle child in her family. She attends Stoke Newington Arts and Media College where she is on the school council and last year she won a ‘Jack Petchey’ Award for her involvement in a school council community project. Beattie is very athletic; she swims with a local club, is a member of her school cross-country running team, recently first in her year in an interschool event. Beattie is very keen on climbing, often getting to the very top of tall trees before her parents realize where she is! She also loves riding her pony. Drama and English are Beattie’s favorite subjects and she has won school awards for imaginative writing. She plays the flute in the school orchestra and sings in the choir.

Beattie’s first professional engagement was as a Tiddlypeep in “The Hoobs,” a Jim Henson production for Channel 4. Since then she has taken part in a Weetabix commercial, starred in a short film by the Film and Television school in Beaconsfield and had a main supporting role in a recent television mini series for the BBC called “Empathy."
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DAVID THEWLIS (FATHER) is undoubtedly one of the most versatile of British actors. He first shot to critical and public acclaim for his powerful performance in Mike Leigh’s Naked. His other most recent credits include, Veronika Decides to Die directed by Emily Young, Thewlis's reprisal of the role of Professor Lupin in David Yates's Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Paul Auster’s The Inner Life of Martin Frost, John Moore’s The Omen, Jordan Scott’s All the Invisible Children, Terrence Malick’s The New World, Ridley Scott’s The Kingdom of Heaven, Alfonso Cuaron’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Richard Donner’s Timeline, Paul McGuigan’s Gangster No. 1, Peter Hewitt’s Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?, Bernardo Bertolucci’s Besieged, the Cohen Brother’s The Big Lebowski, Jean Jaques Annaud’s Seven Years in Tibet and John Frankenheimer’s The Island of Dr Moreau. Other film credits include: Agnieszka Holland’s Total Eclipse, Rob Cohen’s Dragonheart, Mike Hoffman’s Restoration, Caroline Thompson’s Black Beauty, David Jones’ The Trial, Paul Greengrass’ Resurrected, Beeban Kidron’s Vroom, David Caffrey’s Divorcing Jack, and Short and Curlies and Life is Sweet, both for Mike Leigh. .

Thewlis’s many television credits include: the roles of Joe and Harry in The Street (for which he has been nominated as Outstanding Actor TV Series Drama Category at the 2008 Monte Carlo TV Festival) Dinotopia, Endgame, Dandelion Dead, the award-winning Prime Suspect III, Frank Stubbs, Journey to Knock, Filipino Dreamgirls, Skulduggery, A Bit of a Do, Road, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and The Singing Detective opposite Michael Gambon.

In addition to his film and television work, Thewlis has also starred in Sam Mendes’ The Sea at the Royal National Theatre, Max Stafford-Clark’s Ice Cream at the Royal Court, Buddy Holly at the Regal in Greenwich, Ruffian on the Stairs/The Woolley at Farnham and Lady and the Clarinet at the Kings Head.

Thewlis is also known for his work as a director; in 2007 his feature film Cheeky, which he also wrote and starred in was released by Guerilla Pictures, and in 1996 his short film Hello, Hello, Hello which he wrote and directed, was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short Film. David’s first novel “The Late Hector Kipling” was published in 2007 to great critical acclaim.
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VERA FARMIGA (MOTHER). After a string of accolades for her performances in the gritty indie “Down to the Bone,” and the equally show-stopping role of Oana in “Breaking and Entering,” Farmiga was most recently seen in Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning police drama, “The Departed” starring opposite Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson, independent thriller “Joshua,” and “In Tranzit” opposite John Malkovich. Farmiga has recently filmed the love story “Never Forever”, Wayne Kramer’s “Running Scared” and starred in “Quid Pro Quo." She won the “Best Actress” award from the Los Angeles Film Critics’ Association for her performance in the independent film “Down to the Bone,” a revelatory drama about a weary working-class mother trapped by drug addiction. Farmiga also won “Best Actress” awards from the Sundance Film Festival and the Marrakech Film Festival, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination. She played Liev Schreiber’s ex-girlfriend in “The Manchurian Candidate” opposite Meryl Streep. Additional film credits include: “Dummy”, “Love in the Time of Money,” “Fifteen Minutes”, “Autumn in New York” and “The Opportunists”. A New Jersey native, Farmiga currently resides in upstate New York.
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RICHARD JOHNSON (GRANDPA) was born in Upminster, Essex, and is a distinguished actor, writer and producer. Johnson trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London and made his first professional appearance on stage with Sir John Gielgud’s company. During the Second World War he served in the navy, and made his film debut in 1951. Johnson’s biggest successes as a film actor came with “The Haunting” and as Bulldog Drummond in the 1966's “Deadlier Than the Male” and 1969's “Some Girls Do It.” He also appeared in several Italian films, including Lucio Fulci’s cult classic “Zombie 2.” During the 1970's he starred with the Royal Shakespeare Company and played Marc Anthony in “Anthony and Cleopatra” and the title role in “Cymbeline” in 1982. Johnson continues to appear on film and television, often in historical dramas, as well as acting on stage in the West End and lecturing on Shakespeare. Johnson’s second wife was the Hollywood actress Kim Novak, with whom he appeared in the 1965 film, “The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders.” Some of Johnson’s notable film credits include: “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Scoop,” “Diving In,” “Lady Jane,” “Zombie,” “Screamers,” “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” and “Julius Caesar.” For television, Johnson’s credits include: “The Raven,” “Waking the Dead,” “Midsomer Murders,” “Doc Martin,” “The Robinsons,” The Royal,” “Happy Days,” “Tales from the Crypt,” “A Man for All Seasons,” “Murder She Wrote” and “Pride and Prejudice.”
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SHEILA HANCOCK (GRANDMA) was born on the Isle of Wight, Hancock attended Dartford County Grammar School and The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London. She joined Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop, and has since appeared in over forty films and television shows. Feature film credits include: “Cary on Leo” (1964), and “Three Men and a Little Lady.” In 1978 she appeared on the West End stage as Miss Hannigan in the original London cast of the musical hit “Annie” (1990). Since October 2006, she had been playing the role of Fraulein Schneider in the West End revival of the hit musical “Cabaret” at the Lyric Theatre. In 2007, Hancock won an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for “Cabaret”. She was awarded an OBE in 1974.

Hancock’s television credits include: “Have I Got News For You,” “Room 101,” “Doctor Who,” “Call My Bluff” and “EastEnders,” in which she played Barbara Owen. In 2006 she played the character of Junie Taylor, who was the sister of the well known character ‘Joannie “Nan” Taylor, from “The Catherine Tate Show.” On radio, she has also made numerous appearances in “Just a Minute” from the 1960's onward. Hancock was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2002 for her stellar performance in “The Russian Bride,” and again in 2003 for her role in the TV series “Bedtime.”

Hancock was married to actor Alec Ross from 1954 until his death in 1971. In 1973 she married actor John Thaw, who died in 2002. Her bestselling biography “The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw,” was published in 2004.
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Studio photos, notes and videos © 2008 Miramax Films