Date of Birth

7 December 1990, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name

Liam Padraic Aiken

Height

5' 11" (1.8 m)

Mini Biography

Liam Pádraic Aiken was born January 7, 1990 in New York City, to Moya and Bill Aiken, an MTV producer. His mother was born in Ireland, while his father was an American of Irish descent. It was apparent from the beginning that Liam was a natural actor. After securing a small part on Broadway in the award-winning production of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House," Liam's big break came in 1997, when he played Ned in the movie Henry Fool (1997). From there he has created a snowball of films that has yet to stop rolling through Hollywood. With his eyes and facial moves, he has been compared to Jim Carrey, but when it comes to character portrayals, Liam is his own person, with his own unique style. When on the set, he had a tutor who gave him homework.

Trivia

• He enjoys doing magic tricks.
• First job in acting was starring in a Ford Windstar commercial.
• Tried out for the part of Harry Potter but lost to Daniel Radcliffe.
• Started acting at age 6 shortly after his father died and at the urging of his mother.
• His father, Bill Aiken, was a producer for MTV and Nickelodeon television programs, who died of cancer when Liam was two and a half years old.
• Attended the 76th annual Academy Awards with his good friend Miles Robbins (son of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon). (February 29, 2004)
• Plays the guitar.
• Fan of punk music, and aspires to play the guitar like Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello.
• Turned down the role in The Sixth Sense (1999), which then went to Haley Joel Osment.
• While out promoting the movie A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)--a movie in which he plays a child who is orphaned when his parents are killed in a fire--his house burned down.
• Has appeared in two films alongside Jude Law (Road to Perdition (2002) and A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)) yet the two have never shared a scene.
• Instead of getting tutored separately from his class, his on-set tutor actually brings him his school homework.
• Has a Miniature Italian Greyhound named Kes, the dog was given to him as a gift by the crew of Good Boy (2003) (2003).
• Freshman in High School, part of the class of 2008. [September 2004]
• Currently attends high school in Englewood, New Jersey. He is part of the class of 2008. [December 2005]
• Freshman at New York University's Kanbar Institute of Film & Television. [September 2008]
• Filming Airborn, due May 2006. The film was never completed or released. [June 2005]

Quotes

• I think I had this feeling that it wouldn't work out, but it was fine. I would have just been Harry Potter from then on. [about losing the Harry Potter role]
• Shortly after my dad died, my mom figured that if I could do a few commercials, I'd get a college fund.
• [want to start a band] "But everybody at my new school's already got their own bands."
• More like me than any role I've played. [about his role in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events]
• [on not getting Harry Potter] I flew to England, and a week later I had the role. Then the next day, I didn't. But I understood; like James Bond, Harry has to be British.
• I've never really tried to copy anyone, I like to have my own style.
• "It's actually kind of interesting to see one book transferred to another book, because they basically...where one book ends, they glue them together. So, but it's fun to see all of these characters that have been created from Lemony Snicket. From his mind, that they're just so incredible and deep and interesting. Klaus he's an avid reader. He reads many books. And he basically remembers everything he reads. And he uses that in the struggle to survive through all of these terrible things that happened." - talking about the Lemony Snicket books and talking about his character, Klaus, in the movie.
• I hang out with the 'nerdy' people -- they have a different sense of humor than most kids.