Robert Kay is a British actor whose credits include ''

Fugitive Pieces ''Fugitive Pieces'' is a novel by Canadian poet and novelist Anne Michaels. The story is divided into two sections. The first centers around Jakob Beer, a Polish Holocaust survivor while the second involves a man named Ben, the son of two H ...

'', '' Heroes Reborn'', ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'', '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', and

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

in the '' Once Upon a Time'' television series.

Career

Kay's family moved to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

, where he saw a note for English-speaking children to be extras in a film on a school noticeboard. Despite a lack of previous acting experience, this led to him getting a speaking part in '' The Illusionist'', but his scenes were eventually cut from the film. After small roles in ''

Hannibal Rising ''Hannibal Rising'' is a psychological horror novel by American author Thomas Harris, published in 2006. It is a prequel to his three previous books featuring his most famous character, the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The n ...

'' and '' My Boy Jack'', the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

production company making ''

'' asked him to play the part of young Jakob, which involved a 9-week shooting schedule, three of which were on

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

islands. The people who made ''

'' had auditioned more than 150 boys before finding 10-year-old Robbie, who had been living in Prague for two years. He spent a year studying acting, singing, and dancing at one of Britain's

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

theatre schools. Kay appeared in the 2008

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

'', playing the title character. After finishing Pinocchio, he went on to play Sam, a boy diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in ''

Ways To Live Forever ''Ways to Live Forever'' is a 2008 children's novel by Sally Nicholls, first published in 2008. The author's debut novel, it was written when Nicholls was 23 years old. It won the 2008 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize, 2008 Glen Dimplex ( ...

'' screening in late 2010. He appeared in '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', playing the Cabin Boy. More recently, he portrayed

in '' Once Upon a Time''. In March 2015, Kay was cast as a high school student named Tommy Clark in the TV series '' Heroes Reborn''.

Reception

Kay's work has been generally well received by the critics. Alicia Cox of '' Chatelaine'' wrote on his work in ''Fugitive Pieces'': "Robbie Kay, who plays the young Jakob, gives a remarkable performance with little words and a lot of emotion. When he smiles (which isn't often) you can't help but be affected."

Personal life

Kay was born in Lymington,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England, to Ivan and Stephanie Kay. He moved to

Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, at an early age. He has two older sisters, Camilla and Fiona. In 2006, Kay and his family moved to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in the

, where he attended the

International School of Prague The International School of Prague (ISP) is an independent, English-speaking, non-profit, international school in Prague, Czech Republic. Established in 1948, ISP is both the oldest and largest international school in the Czech Republic, with ov ...

. He has been living in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, since 2011.

Select filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Robbie Kay
at

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Ways to live forever- The movie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Robbie Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English male actors English male child actors English male film actors English male television actors Living people English expatriates in the United States People from Lymington Male actors from Hampshire