Alexander Richard Pettyfer is an English actor. The son of an actor and former fashion model, he appeared on stage and in television before being cast as Alex Rider, the main character in the film version of Stormbreaker. The film was released worldwide in 2006. Alex Pettyfer was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, the son of actor Richard Pettyfer, and former model Lea Robinson (currently known as "Lee Ireland"); he has a younger half-brother, James Ireland, a junior tennis player, from his mother's re-marriage to Michael Ireland, a real-estate developer. Stormbreaker author Anthony Horowitz described Pettyfer as coming from "an astonishing gene pool". Pettyfer began his career as a child fashion model at the age of seven, modelling for labels such as GAP, after meeting Ralph Lauren in a toy store in New York City. He also did adverts for some yogurt brands.His first commercial was at age six. He attended Twickenham Preparatory School in Hampton and later the Mall, a small private school in Twickenham and as a schoolboy, performed in plays, including in the role of Willy Wonka in a production Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 2005, Alex Pettyfer, after ending his modelling career, made his professional acting debut in the British television production of Tom Brown's Schooldays, playing the lead character, Tom Brown; he received positive reviews for the role. In June 2005, he was cast in his most prominent role so far, that of teenage MI6 spy Alex Rider in the film Stormbreaker, based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz. He was one of 500 who auditioned for the role. Pettyfer chose to appear in the film over a role in the upcoming film Eragon, noting that he preferred Stormbreaker because it would be filmed in Britain, in the Isle of Man, while Eragon would film in the Czech Republic, and Pettyfer is afraid of flying. Stormbreaker was released on July 21, 2006 in the United Kingdom, on October 6, 2006 in the United States and on September 21, 2006 in Australia. As Tom Brown in 2005.One review of Pettyfer's performance described him as playing the role with an "earnest intensity", although another noted that he "isn't quite at ease as an actor". Media reports have specified that the film is expected to make Pettyfer a "teen idol". Pettyfer will not reprise the role in the next Alex Rider film because he is already too old for the role.