Asa Butterfield’s new film, the animated movie Stitch Head, is out now in theaters. The British is arguably best known for his roles in the Netflix hit Sex Education, playing the title roles in Martin Scorsese’s adventure film Hugo and the 2008 Holocaust drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and starring in one of the lead roles in Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. Acting on screen since the age of eight, he has starred in numerous notable films, including Son of Rambow, A Brilliant Young Mind, The House Of Tomorrow, The Space Between Us, 10,000 Saints, Ender’s Game, The Wolfman and Nanny McPhee Returns. (Photograph by Pip.)
Three Great Things is Talkhouse’s series in which artists tell us about three things they absolutely love. To mark the current theatrical release of the new animated movie Stitch Head, voiced by Asa Butterfield, Joel Fry, Alison Steadman and Rob Brydon, acclaimed British actor Butterfield – best known for his roles in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Sex Education and Hugo – shared some of the things he cares most about in life. — N.D.
My Garden
My first thing is my garden, which is very peaceful and made me fall in love with cultivating things and watching them grow. I bought a house a couple of years ago, and at the start of last summer, I redid the garden. I tore a lot of stuff out, laid some stones in and then planted a lot of small trees, shrubs and bushes. I worked with a landscaper, and we talked about where we were going to put things, where we wanted the color to be, where we wanted the evergreen versus the deciduous plants, where we wanted to create shapes within the garden, where to draw people’s eyes, and also the smells that I wanted in the garden.
To begin with, the garden looked really bare, but over the course of the year, from last winter into this summer, everything exploded. It was really cool to see things come to life, and I spent a lot of time out there in the mornings, especially in the summer, watering the plants, pruning them, creating the shapes and colors I like. It’s nice to mold plants and trees, but it’s also cool for them to become their own thing, for me to let go and see what they do on their own.
I’ve always liked plants. Before I bought my house, I had an apartment with a balcony which was full of plants, and lots of plants inside as well. I think greenery brings a lot to a living space. When I was a kid, I was always out in nature. I think it all stems from really wanting to be in touch with the environment, which is something I’m passionate about. I’ve got a lot of wood in my house. An earthy, natural feeling really connects me to nature and the things I value.
My garden is really quiet, and I have two cats who like to lie down in the shade of the trees. All you can hear is the sound of birds, the trees blowing in the wind, or my cats trying to scramble up the side of the fence, because they’ve seen a squirrel! It’s also fun to simply observe the world outside, whether that’s wildlife or the plants or bees or birds just doing their thing. There are tons of beautiful green Rose-ringed Parakeets all over London, and there’s a group of maybe 10 of them in my neighborhood. A few times a year, I will be on my terrace and I’ll hear the parakeets chasing each other through the gardens on my road. They’ll do a few loops and come around every five minutes, like a swarm of fighter jets. It’s so cool. They always put a smile on my face when I see them.
Playing Music
I love music. I have jam sessions at my house semi-regularly and invite musician friends over so that we have a space to play whatever we want and find a common musical vibe with people who we might not have met otherwise. My brother started hosting them sessions about a year ago, and we do them every couple of weeks. People all play different instruments, bringing music from different parts of the world, whether that’s Morocco or Latin America. It’s really fun to make music with other people; whether it’s good or bad, the point is just to play, enjoy ourselves and connect.
Being able to find a rhythm with a group of people without saying anything, you sometimes reach a kind of flow state. The beauty of it is, you don’t know whether you’re going to find that golden nugget within all the noise you’re making. But when you do, everyone knows it’s there and locks in for 10 minutes – or however long it is. In most creative, collaborative spaces, across theater, writing, music, art and design, it’s a really exciting thing when you reach a common place where you all know what you’re trying to make, and you’re in a really great place to make it possible in that moment.
I am one of the less experienced musicians in the group, but thankfully I play bass, so I can get away with just playing the root notes most of the time. We try to make a space where anyone can add something to the jam, whether it’s big or small. You just bring a shaker if you want, or have a little tambourine, or just use your voice. It can be daunting when you’re in a group of talented musicians, because you don’t want to mess up whatever they’ve got going on. But at the same time, you’ve got to put yourself out there, otherwise you’ll never know if you can do it!
Video Games
When I was growing up, my dad had a PS1, but my love of video games goes back to when I had a GameCube. That’s where it really started for me. I must have been four or five years old, playing Mario Kart: Double Dash, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect on my big CRT TV. And then as I got older, I played on the Wii, had social events around video games and got better at them. In my teenage years, I started learning about competitive video games and played in tournaments. I learned about the world outside of casual play and the communities that have been built from these grassroots games that are now worth millions of dollars, solely because of the passion of the people who started these tournaments in their mom’s basement. It’s such a fascinating world, and one that is massive now, but I think a lot of people still don’t understand why it’s so big, or understand the sweat and tears that went into it back when no one cared.
My oldest friends all grew up around video games, so we all share a love and passion for them. Currently, I love to bring people over and hang out playing video games, playing something like TrackMania or Super Smash Bros. I also have an online community of friends, who I can have such a stupid, goofy, hilarious, fun time with in the comfort of my own house. Talking with those people over the years, and playing games we both really enjoy, has been great. I’ve met some of my best friends through video games. I have another group of friends who, for a long time, I only ever heard their voices, but then we finally got together at a tournament. It was like, Oh my God, there’s a person behind the voice! These are the communities and friends I’ve had for a long time and really care about, and it goes well beyond the screen at this point.
