Robert Kay is a British actor whose credits include '' Fugitive Pieces'', '' 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 ...

'', '' 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 "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in t ...

'' 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. The ...

, 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 ...

'' 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 '' Fugitive Pieces'' 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 '' Fugitive Pieces'' 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 theatre schools. Kay appeared in the 2008 miniseries ''

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

in ''

''. 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 Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

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

, England, to Ivan and Stephanie Kay. He moved to Brussels, Belgium, 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 List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

in the

, where he attended the International School of Prague. He has been living in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, since 2011.

Select filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Robbie Kay
at

Flixster Flixster is an American social-networking movie website for discovering new movies, learning about movies, and meeting others with similar tastes in movies, currently owned by parent company Fandango. The formerly independent site, allows users ...

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