Interview: Asa Butterfield
Ender’s Game young star Asa Butterfield talks to Holly Cozens about A-Levels, zero gravity and working with science fiction icon Harrison Ford
Had you read the book Ender’s Game before you signed on?
“Yeah. I’m a huge fan of science fiction, I’d read the book. I loved it.”
Did you find it hard to get into the mindset of Ender?
“In a way, because it’s set 50-odd years in the future there isn’t really any way of knowing what these children have been through, one thing I have got going for me is that, being a young actor, there is a sense of pressure on my shoulders to be this… star, in a way. But it’s the same essence in that, even though it’s a much larger scale, Ender has the planet’s fate on his shoulders, in comparison, I have my career on my shoulders.”
I imagine Gavin Hood was a great director to go to for notes?
“Definitely. I haven’t worked with a director like Gavin since or before then. He wrote the screenplay and so he knows it inside and out.
He knows every single scene, he knows exactly what he wants, he knew exactly what he was going for, and because of that, it allowed us to experiment more because we knew what he wanted.”
Gavin put you through your paces by making you guys do boot camp…
“Yes, it was needed, because prior to that, we had it pretty easy. We had to learn how to march, how to salute, the correct cadences. And then we had the boot camp for wire work where we learnt how to simulate zero gravity and make it look realistic. Then I had the accent to worry about, I had my lines and my dialogue. I had to make sure my arms were always floating, my legs were always floating, I wasn’t allowed to bend at the waist, which is where we were attached, it was a nightmare. But we had a lot of fun up there. It was hard, but we did it.”
How did you feel seeing the outcome after so much green screen?
“It was amazing. When you’re there you can never really know what it’s gonna look like in the end with any film, especially when there is so much CGI and so much green screen. We saw what they call ‘pre-vis’ so we had an idea of what they wanted it to look like but it can never compare to the final product.”
What was your favourite scene to film?
“The battle room scenes were a lot of fun. I’d never done anything like it, and I’m sure I’ll never do anything like it again. It’s definitely up there.
I think the whole experience was so amazing and life-changing – the things I learnt, the people I met… it’s so hard to pick one thing.”
You’ve had some incredible opportunities so early in your career with the people you’ve worked with: Sir Ben Kingsley twice now, Martin Scorsese… do you ever stop and think about those opportunities?
“Yeah. I do. I often find myself pinching myself. Even now it’s surreal how fortunate I’ve been. At such a young age to have had the opportunities I’ve had. I’m so lucky, and I love it. When I was little I never wanted to be an actor, it wasn’t something I strove towards. I think I always wanted to be an archaeologist, dig up some dinosaurs and name one after myself. In the last few years I have had amazing experiences and it really makes you appreciate the things you do and, especially Hugo, it made me appreciate cinema and acting, its roots. It wasn’t until Hugo that I realised this was something I could do for the rest of my life.”
When did you know Harrison Ford was onboard?
“I remember them talking about it and saying they were talking to him, but I can’t remember the first time I heard he was onboard. I can remember the first time I met him, which was at the read-through for the script in New Orleans. As anyone would be, I was a bit nervous before meeting him, but… yeah, once I got to know him, it was amazing.
He’s such a great guy and such an amazing actor. He really brought the best out of us, especially the young actors. Once you get over the fact that he’s Han Solo [laughs].”
Have you got any favourite sci-fi films?
“Um, Star Wars is definitely up there. That’s half the reason I was so amazed I was working with Harrison Ford. I love science fiction films and books. The Matrix, the original one, is probably
my favourite science fiction film of all time.”
Did you speak to Harrison about Star Wars?
“No, I don’t think anyone had the balls to talk to him about anything other than Ender’s Game, really. [laughs] Because I mean, we’re professionals, we were all having so much fun, but at the same time, you’ve got to be professional on set.”
Have you chosen your next project?
“I’ve got a few things in the pipe-line. Fingers crossed they’ll kick off either at the end of this year or the start of next year. I’m doing my A-Levels at the moment so pretty much all my focus is on that.”
What do you study?
“I’m doing Biology, Geography, Film Studies and Photography. It’s quite a wide range.”
It must be quite intimidating to be your Film Studies teacher…
“He did say that [laughs], not quite in those words, but, he did. He pre-hinted that I was
gonna be doing a lot of teaching. And I was like: [mock-arrogant tone] ‘Yeah cool…I can share my knowledge, I don’t know why I wouldn’t’. Yeah, I’m looking forward to that, it’ll give me a different view into it. Because I find as actors, you look on the film industry and it’s hard not to look at it from one angle. So doing Film Studies has made me look all the way around it, really.”
Is there any other profession that, other than acting, you would choose?
“If I wasn’t acting, if there were an area I would go into, it would be something to do with the environment. Maybe some sort of geography.
I haven’t really thought about it that hard, if I’m honest. We’ll see… fingers crossed I can carry on acting.”
Ender’s Game is out on Friday 25 October nationwide. Don’t forget to follow @latestholly
