Career
1999–2004: Beginnings and Finding Neverland[edit]
Highmore began his acting career with small roles on television at the age of 7. He made his film debut in Coky Giedroyc's comedy Women Talking Dirty (1999), playing the son of a woman (Helena Bonham Carter) who has recently become estranged from her commitment-phobic French lover.In 2001, Highmore played a young King Arthur in the TNT miniseries The Mists of Avalon, a revisionist take on the Arthurian legends that depicted the women of Camelot as the real power behind the throne.In 2001, in the BBC miniseries Happy Birthday Shakespeare, he portrayed the son of a tour bus driver (Neil Morrissey) who dreams of moving his family to Stratford-upon-Avon, while his mum (Dervla Kirwan) becomes sick and tired of her husband's money making schemes. Highmore has acted alongside members of his family in two separate films; his brother Bertie played his brother in Women Talking Dirty, and his father Edward played his father in Hallmark Entertainment's television film Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (2001).
In 2004, Highmore returned to the big screen for the family adventure film Two Brothers, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. He played the son of a French administrator who refuses to believe that his new friend, a tiger cub, might be dangerous after having tasted blood. He next had a major role alongside Kenneth Branagh, Zoë Wanamaker, and Eddie Izzard in the straight-to-video fantasy film Five Children and It (2004). That same year, Highmore made his breakthrough with a critically acclaimed performance as troubled Peter Llewelyn Davies in Marc Forster's semi-biographical film Finding Neverland. He received several awards and nominations for the role, including a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer, and nominations for the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.