Alex Pettyfer: how an English shy kid became an onscreen spy kid

If you happen to live in London, you already will have seen Alex Pettyfer. Everywhere. In fact, the 16-year-old lead in the new teen spy movie Stormbreaker might be the only soul in the city who hasn't caught sight of himself. "I get all these phone calls: 'I just saw you on the side of a bus, on a billboard.... ' And I never get to see it. I don't know how I've missed it."

A native of Windsor, just outside of London, Pettyfer actually was discovered in New York City. "We were there on holiday. I was in this lift and Ralph Lauren leans over and says, 'I really think you should do some modeling.'" After a stint of ad campaigns in the U.K., Pettyfer instead was drawn to the lights-camera-action of acting.

Based on Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider novels, Stormbreaker--unlike the Spy Kids or Agent Cody Banks films that preceded it--opts for the unusual approach of taking its subject seriously. Despite his age, 14-year-old Alex Rider is a genuine spy, full stop. And despite his age, Pettyfer has a solid grasp on the pressures of adapting a beloved book character. "From Harry Potter to Stormbreaker, no film can beat the world a kid invents in his head when he reads and imagines himself as the main character," he says. "But we did a jolly good job of translating it here."

Jarret McNeill wrote about David Wright for the September issue.

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