Butterfield had his first major film role in the 2008 drama "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." Based on the novel of the same name by John Boyne, the film follows two 8-year-old boys living in Nazi Germany during World War II. Bruno (Butterfield) is the son of a Nazi solider, while Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) is a Jewish prisoner. Bruno befriends Shmuel after he stumbles upon a nearby concentration camp. The film has a tragic ending, and Butterfield's performance is just one of his many brilliant ones.