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Jack Scanlon

English former child actor

Jack Charles Scanlon (born 6 August 1998) is an English former child actor who is best known for his role in the 2008 Holocaust film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

01Background

Jack Charles Scanlon was born in Canterbury, Kent then moved to Deal, also in Kent, with his parents and younger brother. He went to Sir Roger Manwood's School in Sandwich, northwest of Deal. He also attended Bath Spa University in Bath where he studied Commercial Music.

02Career

He auditioned for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas through his drama club and was eventually cast as Shmuel after director Mark Herman narrowed his choice down to about three possible candidates pairing each with Asa Butterfield for a last audition. According to Herman, "Jack and Asa played very well against one another."

Although The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was Scanlon's feature film debut, he had acted before. He appeared in a 10-minute short film titled The Eye of the Butterfly (leading to him being suggested to the casting director of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) and in a 2007 episode of the Peter Serafinowicz Show. Scanlon also played the younger brother of main character Sean (William Miller) in the 2009 British children's miniseries Runaway, broadcast on BBC One, which was part of the CBBC season about homelessness.

03Filmography

Film

Year Title Roles Notes
2008 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Shmuel

Television

Year Programme Role Notes
2007 Peter Serafinowicz Show Various roles 1 episode
2009 Runaway Dean 3 episodes
2010 Married Single Other Joe 6 episodes

04Accolades

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result
2008 Young Artist Awards Best Leading Performance (International Feature Film) Asa Butterfield & Jack Scanlon Nominated
Watch videos about Jack ScanlonExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Jack Scanlon, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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