Freddie Highmore
Freddie Highmore
Alfred Thomas "Freddie" Highmoreis an English actor, known for his leading movie and television roles, beginning during his childhood. He made his debut in the comedy film Women Talking Dirty. He has since starred in the films Finding Neverland, Five Children and It, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, August Rush, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Toast, and The Art of Getting By. For his performances in Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he won the Critics'...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth14 February 1992
CityLondon, England
As always, with acting, you can't be too self-conscious. You shouldn't care about what people are thinking about you at the time because they're not caring about you, they're caring about the character.
I think a lot of the time having someone who you, not base yourself on, but can see yourself being after a few years, you can get quite blinded by that, in the same way love can be.
It seemed really easy waving your hands around, it wouldn't make any difference if you were moving it left or right, but I wanted to do it realistically. I think you can tell if someone doesn't know what they're doing.
Don't get too set on becoming an actor at an early age. I think that's where some people get into trouble. Acting becomes their life. I don't want that.
I think I've always been kept grounded. I've never been too involved with the movie business apart from just doing the film. I've never moved out to LA like a lot of people or been too drawn in by that.
I like hot weather. I think it might be a bit better if England was a bit hotter.
Robin Williams is great; it's just like having a conversation when you're doing a scene with him really. It's just so relaxed on the set whenever he's around. Also he's just always telling jokes; he's always on. It must be funny for him though because he must think everyone's brain goes so much slower than his. He's working overtime on all these different ideas that pop into his head. Everyone else must feel miles behind!
I think in some ways I'm quite lucky to be living in London, there's this certain separation from the movie business. In that way, it's been quite easy to separate acting and going back to a normal life.
People have different expectations when you're younger - it's less about changing yourself into a character; they want a more natural thing. And they just want you to be able to turn up every day and carry on working. They have a horrible fear of 10- or 11-year-olds, that they're going to say 'I don't want to play today.'
I had been practicing guitar about six months beforehand; I concentrated mostly on the songs I had to play. I got those down pretty well so they could use me actually playing.
Today the sort of thing for a guy in England growing up is that you have to suppress all your emotions. It's almost like you have to sit back and be cool.
Also "Catcher in the Rye", which happens to be one of my favorite books, I just found that kind of useful. It helps you get into the American accent.
I've got a good family to support me, so I'm grounded in that way.
I don't go home and pretend I'm August rather than just the actual lines I'm saying in the film. If you do it that way, it makes it more natural and second nature. After awhile you get used to it and there's so much, especially being in New York to film; you're always surrounded by American people.