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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Freddie-Highmore.org © 2002 - 2007
Celebrity Just a Schoolboy
The Courier Mail
Des Partridge, 2007
FREDDIE Highmore, at 14, has chalked up an impressive list of directors and co-stars in the few years he's been a movie celebrity.
But the teenager insists that underneath it all, he's a normal North London schoolboy who loves nothing more than supporting his favourite football club, Arsenal.
"I went to last night's home game and they won 4-nil (against Charlton Athletic)," Highmore says, sounding pleased, via a telephone hook-up that includes the London offices of his agent, and those of the Weinstein Company – which has produced his latest film, Arthur and the Invisibles.
Freddie may be a normal kid with an older brother who is more passionate about cricket than football, a mother who is a talent agent, and a father who is also an actor, but how many normal kids are counting the days to their next trip to New York to attend the American premiere of their latest film and to submit to interviews with international press?
The New York jaunt – "I'm really looking forward to that" – will soon be followed by another flight across the Atlantic to Los Angeles, where Highmore, who turns 15 on February 14, has to complete scenes for The Spiderwick Chronicles, likely to be released at the end of the year.
"I play twins in The Spiderwick Chronicles and that's been a lot of fun," Highmore says.
He has been acting professionally since he was seven.
It was successive roles in 2005 with Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland as the inspiration for J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and as Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, based on Roald Dahl's classic, that Highmore achieved stardom.
Depp – "very nice" and Russell Crowe (A Good Year) – also "a nice guy" – are among the big-name actors the youngster has worked with, but he says it's not the celebrity which he enjoys about his work as much as the opportunity to travel that comes with film roles.
"I did like working in London (on Finding Neverland) and being able to go home at night, but it was fun to be in France for Arthur and the Invisibles and A Good Year and America for The Spiderwick Chronicles," he said.
He admits to being excited by the idea of rainforests, and says yes, he'd love to come to Australia for a rainforest experience if the opportunity came.
He prepared for Arthur and the Invisibles by reading the books that were the inspiration for the live action and animated film made by versatile French director Luc Besson.
Besson, whose credits include The Fifth Element and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, spent eight years preparing for the film about the adventures of 10-year-old Arthur (Highmore) when he discovers an invisible world peopled by fairies under the ground at the home of his grandmother (Mia Farrow) in Connecticut.
Highmore has a passion for languages and is studying French, Spanish, and Latin along with two English subjects, maths, science and geography.
He read the Arthur books in their original French.
He says apart from the experience of filming in Normandy with Besson, he enjoyed working with Mia Farrow, best known still for her 1968 role in Rosemary's Baby.
"She's just how you want your favourite granny to be, the one all children dream of," he says.
He says Farrow was charming to everyone, and enjoyed talking about her life.
She also took time to knit cast members woollen hats, and Highmore says the red and blue hat she gave him is now among his treasures.
"She had so many stories to tell; she was married to Frank Sinatra and she was around when the Beatles were recording their songs," he says.
His only disappointment from Arthur and the Invisibles was never meeting legendary pop star-actor Madonna.
She voices the boy's love interest, elf princess Selenia, in the movie.
"I suppose it might seem a bit odd, me and Madonna," he said with the hint of a laugh.
Not yet decided whether he wants to become a full-time actor when he finishes his education, Highmore says he's accompanied by a tutor when he has film commitments.
He is confident young audiences will like the idea that the elves in Besson's film are so small and are invisible to human eyes.
