Asa Butterfield was born in Islington, London, England, to Jacqueline Farr and Sam Butterfield. He began acting at the age of 8, after a talent spotting casting director saw him at his local after school drama club, The Young Actors Theatre in Islington. Following on from a couple of small roles in films, he was cast, at 10 as Bruno in Le garçon au pyjama rayé (2008). Since then, he has been acclaimed for his titular roles_Hugo (2011)_ and La stratégie Ender (2013) as well as other major roles as Nathan in Le monde de Nathan (2014), Jude in 10,000 Saints (2015), Jake in_Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children (2016)_, Daniel in_The Space Between Us (2016)__ Norman in Nanny McPhee et le Big Bang (2010) and Mordred in the BBC's Merlin (2008).
Asa was born Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield, but now uses the middle name "Bopp" on his passport instead (after Comet Hale-Bopp), and is known as Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield.
