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.
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Background
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.
Career
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.