Unchosen: 9 Asa Butterfield Roles You'd Probably Forgotten All About

The Sex Education star recently reunited with Netflix on a very different kind of TV series.

From his early beginnings as a child actor to his stand-out performance in Netflix’s Sex Education, Asa Butterfield has become one of the most recognisable British actors of his generation.

Asa recently reunited with the streaming service for the British drama Unchosen, in which he plays a lead role opposite Molly Windsor and Fra Fee.

In the dark psychological thriller, he plays one half of a young couple living in a religious sect, whose lives are turned upside down thanks to the arrival of a new face in their community, who poses questions for both of them.

But aside from the roles you might associate with Asa, there are plenty more you’ve likely forgotten all about.

Here are nine more of Asa’s past shows and films from long before Unchosen that might have totally slipped your mind…

While people generally think of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, Hugo or the Nanny McPhee sequel when it comes to Asa Butterfield’s early work as a child performer, he actually started acting before any of that.

In 2007, he had a minor role in the British comedy Son Of Rambow, appearing alongside a number of other future stars of his generation, most notably Will Poulter.

Asa had a small role in the film, playing a young member of the Plymouth Brethren.

Ashes To Ashes (2008)

A year after his big-screen debut, Asa appeared in the first season of the period drama Ashes To Ashes, itself a spin-off of Life On Mars.

Then just 11 years old, Asa played a small role in the show’s sixth episode, appearing as schoolboy Donny, in an episode which also guest starred Phil Davis.

That same year, Asa landed the role of Mordred in Merlin, a young Druid who quickly forms a bond with Morgana in season one.

Asa went on to appear in three episodes of the BBC fantasy series, which featured Colin Morgan as the titular wizard in his younger years.

Mordred was reintroduced later in the series, but had been recast, with Alexander Vlahos taking over the role from season five.

Based on the novel series of the same name by Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game was one of Asa’s first leading roles.

In the sci-fi adventure, he played Ender Wiggin, a young man in a dystopian future who is sent to an advanced military academy where he is trained to prepare for an alien invasion.

Abigail Breslin starred as Asa’s sister Valentine, with the all-star cast also including Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, Sir Ben Kingsley and Hailee Steinfeld.

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2016)

One of celebrated director Tim Burton’s most overlooked offerings came in 2016, when Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children arrived in cinemas.

Asa played teenager Jake Portman, one of the central “peculiar children”, in the family movie, which also featured Eva Green, Dame Judi Dench and Samuel L Jackson.

While the film itself was met with a somewhat lukewarm reception, Asa’s performance was well-received, even sparking comparisons with another former Tim Burton collaborator, Johnny Depp and earning him a Teen Choice Award nomination.

Asa played a romantic hypochondriac working as an airport baggage handler, who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a terminally-ill teenager, played by Game Of Thrones star Maisie Williams, in Then Came You.

When the two friends become close, Maisie’s character enlists her new pal to help her carry out her eccentric bucket list in the time she has list, helping him learn life lessons, come out of his shell and face life-long fears along the way.

Then Came You was met with a muted response upon its release in 2018, with the cast also including Nina Dobrev as Asa’s love interest, Peyton List and Tituss Burgess.

The same year he was sharing the screen with Maisie Williams in Then Came You, he was cast as fellow Game Of Thrones star Sophie Turner’s love interest in another film.

In Time Freak, Asa played a Physics prodigy going through a break-up, who decides to go back to the beginning of his relationship in an attempt to try and work out where things went wrong.

However, through this process, he – naturally – stumbles upon the art of time travel, which he uses to try and fix the situation. You won’t believe this… but it has complicated results.

The black comedy Greed featured Steve Coogan in the lead role of a billionaire high-street fashion tycoon, loosely inspired by Philip Green, who employs a meek and mild-mannered journalist (played by comedian David Mitchell) to help him pen his memoirs.

Greed, a satire on the fashion industry and super-wealthy elite, featured a sprawling cast that included everyone from Isla Fisher and Shirley Henderson to reality star Ollie Locke and Doctor Who’s Pearl Mackie (with cameo appearances from Stephen Fry, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, James Blunt, Keith Richards, the late Caroline Flack and, for some reason, Louis Walsh).

Asa played Steve’s character’s son, who had an unhealthy obsession with usurping his father’s position and status.

The Netflix original horror Choose Or Die centred around a fictitious video game platform that forces its users to make split decisions (putting is in mind slightly of the now-removed Black Mirror special Bandersnatch) with potentially fatal results.

Asa played one half of a pair of friends who become obsessed with the game, alongside an eclectic cast that included everyone from former Coronation Street star Angela Griffin and Eddie Marson to Nightmare On Elm Street’s own Robert Englund, playing a demented version of himself.

Unchosen is now streaming on Netflix.

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