Current Projects
Arthur & the Two Worlds
As: Arthur
Release: 2010
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Beautiful Miscellaneous
As: Nathan Nelson
Release: 2009
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Astro Boy
As: Astro Boy (Voice)
Release: 2009
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Arthur & the Revenge...
As: Arthur
Release: 2009
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Spiderwick Chronicles
As: Jared & Simon Grace
Release: Out Now
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♥ Jamia Simone Nash
♥ Bailee Madison
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Freddie Highmore Finding Fame
Unknown Resource, 2004
LOS ANGELES (Back Stage) - At age 12, Freddie Highmore, who plays one of the youngsters in “Finding Neverland,” is no stranger to the screen.
He made his debut at age 7 opposite Helena Bonham Carter in “Women Talking Dirty” and was seen earlier last year in the Guy Pearce film “Two Brothers.” But it’s his work opposite Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet in “Finding Neverland,” the imagining of how Scottish playwright Sir J.M. Barrie (Depp) came to compose the classic Peter Pan after meeting a widow and her four sons, that has audiences noticing Highmore.
Highmore has big shoes to fill as Peter Llewelyn Davies, the real-life child who inspired the beloved character. He also has several emotionally wrenching scenes in the film that he carries off with the experience of an actor twice his age.
He admits these moments could be difficult to shoot, but not for the reasons you’d think.
“There was a funeral scene and it was hard, but only because there were planes going overhead,” Highmore says. “We shot near Heathrow Airport, and every half-minute we’d have to stop and wait for the planes.”
Another tough time came when he and his onscreen brothers grew concerned because Winslet, playing Peter’s mother, began to look ill.
“When Kate didn’t look well because of the makeup, we were all so worried,” he recalls. “We kept asking and checking to make sure she was okay. She had to keep telling us she was fine, it was only makeup.”
Other than that, he had a great time working with the cast and Swiss director Marc Forster (”Monster’s Ball”). But that doesn’t mean he’s decided on acting as a career.
“I’m not really sure,” he says when asked. “I really think I’d like to travel the world, see the rainforests. We’ll see how it goes.”
Right now he’s more concerned with upcoming exams and his favorite football team (Arsenal). He also likes to play the clarinet; he says he picked the instrument because “I had a choice and didn’t want to carry around a big cello.” He is, in other words, like most 12-year-old boys.
Highmore first became involved in acting through his mother, who happens to be a talent agent.
“I thought it would be a fun thing to do,” he says. “I started off doing small parts on TV, and then the movies came along.”
It’s fortunate for audiences that they did; Highmore’s performance in Neverland is in many ways the make-or-break part of the film. Peter is the only one of the four Llewelyn Davies boys who doesn’t instantly warm to Barrie and who questions the writer’s motives in several scenes. Wary without being a brat, Highmore makes us feel the pain of this young child’s loss and also the joy at first discovering the world of the theater.
“He is quite something else,” Winslet has said of Highmore. “I would literally get hairs up on the back of my neck watching this kid act.”
Highmore has just tackled another adored children’s role, that of the title character in director Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” And he’s already a pro when it comes to keeping studio secrets.
“I can’t really say too much,” he warns. “But basically it’s not a remake of the old film. It’s not a musical.”
He will say that Burton is “a really energetic guy” and that he hasn’t ever seen the aforementioned 1971 musical version. The film also reteams him with Bonham Carter, who plays Charlie’s mother, and Depp, who stars as Willy Wonka. Rumor has it Depp recommended him for the role after working with him on Neverland, though it was never confirmed to Highmore.
“He’s fantastic,” he says of Depp. “Every scene you do with him is a special scene; he’s a fantastic man. It’s neat because, in the film, Charlie has a dream to visit the chocolate factory, and it comes true. My dream was to work with Johnny again, and it also came true.”
