Liam Aiken

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Liam Pádraic Aiken (born January 7, 1990)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is an American actor. He has starred in films such as Stepmom (1998), Road to Perdition (2002), and Good Boy! (2003), and played Klaus Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), based on the series of books. He also starred in the films Nor'easter (2012), Ned Rifle (2014), The Bloodhound (2020), Bashira (2021), and V13 (2025).

Personal life

Aiken is the only child of Moya Aiken, an Irish-born artist;<ref name = Zip06>Template:Cite news</ref> and Bill Aiken, an American, MTV producer,<ref name = NYMag>Template:Cite web</ref> who was of Scots-Irish descent.Template:Fact Bill died of esophageal cancer in September 1992, at age 34, when Liam was two years old.<ref name = Zip06/> Aiken grew up in New Jersey and attended Dwight-Englewood School, graduating in 2008. He then went on to major in film at New York University.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:As of, Aiken resides in Los Angeles.<ref name = Zip06/>

Career

Aiken appeared in a segment on Night After Night with Allan Havey when he was an infant.<ref name="Liam's Aiken first media appearance">Template:Cite web</ref> He would make his professional acting debut in a Ford Motor Company commercial by Ford Aerostar.<ref name = NYMag /> He made his stage debut in the Broadway play A Doll's House at the age of seven,<ref name=Playbill>Template:Cite web</ref> and his film debut in Henry Fool (1997). His first major film role came when he starred in Stepmom (1998). He appeared in Road to Perdition (2002) and the family film Good Boy! (2003). He was considered to play Cole Sear in The Sixth Sense (1999), but the role went to Haley Joel Osment.<ref name = NYMag/> The following year, he was also considered for the role of Harry Potter due to his Irish heritage and Scottish ancestry, as well as his previous work with director Chris Columbus on Stepmom,<ref name="liam_aiken_harry_potter">Template:Cite web</ref> but Daniel Radcliffe ultimately won the role, due to J. K. Rowling's insistence that the part should go to a British actor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Aiken went on to play intelligent 12-year-old orphan Klaus Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). He also appeared in The Killer Inside Me (2010).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2011, he appeared in the CBS series A Gifted Man.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 2012 to 2015, he narrated the audiobook versions of All the Wrong Questions, a prequel series to A Series of Unfortunate Events.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2012, he portrayed a boy who returns home after being missing for years in Nor'easter, directed by Andrew Brotzman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, he played the title role in Ned Rifle, the third film in a trilogy that began with Henry Fool and continued with Fay Grim (2006).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020, he co-starred The Bloodhound, a mystery film inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe short story "The Fall of the House of Usher."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2021, he portrayed an electronic musician who suffering a series of nightmares with bizarre and mysterious appearances in Bashira, directed by Nickson Fong.<ref name="Terror Mollins">Template:Cite news</ref> He also played J.R. in Montauk, directed by Sean Nalaboff.<ref name=SSS>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Henry Fool	Ned	<ref name = RT>Template:Cite web</ref>
1998	Montana	Kid
	Template:Sortname	Nathan
	Stepmom	Ben Harrison	<ref name = RT/>
2000	I Dreamed of Africa	Emanuele Gallmann (age 7)	<ref name = RT/>
2001	Sweet November	Abner	<ref name = RT/>
	The Rising Place	Emmett Wilder
2002	Road to Perdition	Peter Sullivan	<ref name = RT/>
2003	Good Boy!	Owen Baker	<ref name = RT/>
2004	Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events	Klaus Baudelaire	<ref name = RT/>
2006	Fay Grim	Ned Grim	<ref name = RT/>
2010	Template:Sortname	Johnnie Pappas	<ref name = RT/>
2012	Electrick Children	Mr. Will	<ref name = RT/>
	Girls Against Boys	Tyler	<ref name = RT/>
	Nor'easter	Boy/Josh Green	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2013	Munchausen	Son	Short film
	How to Be a Man	Bryan
2014	Ned Rifle	Ned	<ref name = RT/>
2015	The Frontier	Eddie	<ref name = RT/>
	Weepah Way for Now	Reed
	Let Me Down Easy	Hezekiah	Short film
2016	Like Lambs	Charlie Masters	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2017	The Emoji Movie	Ronnie Ram Tech	Voice<ref name = RT/>
	The Honor Farm	Sinclair	<ref name = RT/>
2020	The Bloodhound	Francis	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2021	Bashira	Andy	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2022	A Soldiers Heart		Short film<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2025	Montauk	J.R.	previously called Kingfish;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2025	V13	Hugo	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Night After Night with Allan Havey	Himself
1998, 2007, 2024	Law & Order	Jack Ericson/Tory Quinlann/Thomas Norton	3 episodes<ref name = RT/>
2002, 2009	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Robbie Bishop/Jason	2 episodes<ref name = RT/>
2011	Template:Sortname	Milo
2013	Mad Men	Rolo	Episode: "The Quality of Mercy"<ref name = RT/>
2018	I'm Dying Up Here	Howard	Episode: "Plus One"

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Template:Sortname	Bobby Helmer	Belasco Theatre<ref name = Playbill/>

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events	Klaus Baudelaire	Voice

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result	Work	Notes
1999	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actor Age Ten or Younger	Template:Won	Stepmom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2003	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor	Template:Nom	Road to Perdition	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2004	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor	Template:Nom	Good Boy!	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2005	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor	Template:Nom	Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Critics Choice Award	Best Young Actor	Template:Nom		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

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