Liam Aiken

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title: "Liam Aiken" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1990-births", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "21st-century-american-male-actors", "american-male-child-actors", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "american-male-video-game-actors", "american-male-voice-actors", "american-people-of-irish-descent", "american-people-of-scotch-irish-descent", "audiobook-narrators", "dwight-englewood-school-alumni", "living-people", "tisch-school-of-the-arts-alumni"] description: "American actor (born 1990)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Aiken" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor (born 1990) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Liam Aiken
image	Liam Aiken on RealTVfilms.jpg
caption	Aiken in 2014
birth_date
birth_place	New York City, New York, U.S.
education	Dwight-Englewood School
alma_mater	New York University
occupation	Actor
years_active	1997–present
::

| name = Liam Aiken | image = Liam Aiken on RealTVfilms.jpg | image_size = | caption = Aiken in 2014 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | education = Dwight-Englewood School | alma_mater = New York University | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1997–present Liam Pádraic Aiken (born January 7, 1990) 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; and Bill Aiken, an American, MTV producer, who was of Scots-Irish descent. Bill died of esophageal cancer in September 1992, at age 34, when Liam was two years old. 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.{{cite journal |last = Ja |first = Irene |title = Famous faces join campus |journal = Washington Square News |date = September 2, 2008 |url = http://www.nyunews.com/news/university/1.616460 |access-date = October 22, 2008 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081203091039/http://www.nyunews.com/news/university/1.616460 |archive-date = December 3, 2008 |df = mdy-all

Career

Aiken appeared in a segment on Night After Night with Allan Havey when he was an infant. He would make his professional acting debut in a Ford Motor Company commercial by Ford Aerostar. 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. 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,{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jul/20/harrypotter.news |title= Rumours raging over American Harry Potter|date= July 20, 2000 |website= The Guardian |access-date= December 22, 2020

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Liamaiken.jpg" caption="Aiken at the 2006 [[Toronto International Film Festival"] ::

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). In September 2011, he appeared in the CBS series A Gifted Man. From 2012 to 2015, he narrated the audiobook versions of All the Wrong Questions, a prequel series to A Series of Unfortunate Events.

In 2012, he portrayed a boy who returns home after being missing for years in Nor'easter, directed by Andrew Brotzman. 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). 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."

In 2021, he portrayed an electronic musician who suffering a series of nightmares with bizarre and mysterious appearances in Bashira, directed by Nickson Fong.{{cite news |url=https://users.molinsfilmfestival.com/en/movies/124 |title=Bashira |last= |first= |date= |website=Terror Mollins Festival |access-date=October 28, 2021 |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028162022/https://users.molinsfilmfestival.com/en/movies/124 |url-status=dead

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

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

Television

::data[format=table]

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
2002, 2009	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Robbie Bishop/Jason	2 episodes
2011	**	Milo
2013	Mad Men	Rolo	Episode: "The Quality of Mercy"
2018	I'm Dying Up Here	Howard	Episode: "Plus One"
::

Stage

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	**	Bobby Helmer	Belasco Theatre
::

Video games

::data[format=table]

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

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table]

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

References

References

1. Rose, Mike. (January 7, 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 7, 2023 includes celebrities Nicolas Cage, Kenny Loggins".
2. Christopher, Rita. (May 31, 2017). "Moya Aiken: Finding the Inner Artist". Zip06.com.
3. Hill, Logan. (December 2, 2004). "Unfortunate Son". [[New York (magazine).
4. "Liam Aiken".
5. (27 October 2000). "Python joins Potter cast".
6. (February 22, 2012). "Electrick Children' Stars Rory Culkin & Liam Aiken On Their Roles In The Film & Growing Up Onscreen".
7. (May 20, 2011). "A Look at the CBS Series "A Gifted Man" With Patrick Wilson and Jennifer Ehle (Video)".
8. "When Did You See Her Last?: All the Wrong Questions, Book 2 (Unabridged)".
9. Toro, Gabe. (April 17, 2013). "Sarasota Film Festival Review: Regret And Doubt Darken Intimate, Haunting Drama 'Nor'easter'".
10. (September 3, 2014). "TIFF Review: Hal Hartley's 'Ned Rifle' Starring Liam Aiken, Aubrey Plaza, Martin Donovan, Parker Posey & More".
11. (November 10, 2020). "Arrow Buys Mystery-Thriller 'The Bloodhound' For English-Speaking Territories – AFM".
12. "Montauk (2021)".
13. "Liam Aiken". [[Fandango Media]].
14. (October 21, 2012). "Nor'easter".
15. "7/27 6TH SCREENING @ SECOND HOUSE MUSEUM".
16. "The 20th Annual Youth in Film Awards".
17. "24th Annual Young Artist Awards".
18. "25th Annual Young Artist Awards".
19. "26th Annual Young Artist Awards".
20. "The 10th Critics' Choice Movie Awards Winners And Nominees".

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