In 2023, Casper Knopf made his professional theatre debut playing Macduff’s Son / Fleance / Young Siward in Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse alongside David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, and he transferred with the show last year when it opened at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End, with the show being filmed for a cinema release. It has been announced that Casper has reunited with David Tennant for the ITV crime drama series The Hack, and this year, Casper played Billy Darcy in the new release of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy alongside Renée Zellweger as his mother Bridget, Hugh Grant (Daniel Cleaver), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Mr. Walliker), Leo Woodall (Roxster) and Mila Janković as his sister Mabel. Casper attended the Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy World Premiere at Leicester Square in London, and with his co-star Mila, he was a guest on This Morning, which was hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond. In the Amazon Prime feature film How to Date Billy Walsh, Casper played 9 Year Old Archie (Sebastian Croft), which starred Tanner Buchanan and Charithra Chandran, and his further credits include the 2023 Netflix Belgian drama series Rough Diamonds – playing Tommy McCabe, Halo for Paramount+ – playing Young John, and he played Harry Lawson in the ITV series Our House with Tuppence Middleton and Martin Compton as his on-screen parents and Tommy Finnegan as his brother. We found out from Casper about his time in Macbeth at Donmar Warehouse and Harold Pinter Theatre, being announced for the upcoming crime drama series The Hack, playing Billy Darcy in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and working on How to Date Billy Walsh and Rough Diamonds.

As a theatre actor, you made your professional stage debut in 2023 as Macduff’s Son / Fleance / Young Siward in Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse, how did you find the experience performing in the production and working with David Tennant and Cush Jumbo?

I really enjoyed my time in Macbeth at the Donmar. The whole cast and crew were so lovely. It was great to work with Cush and David. I learnt so much watching them. It’s very different being on stage compared to being on set, all the work is done in rehearsals and being live means you can’t make a mistake or, if you do, being able to cover it up.

I remember on my first night Cush telling me that she had started in theatre at the same age as me and she had got to the theatre and home all by herself, which was crazy to me.

How was it transferring the show to the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End last year and do you have any stand-out memories from the run that you can share?

It was quite different performing at the Harold Pinter. The Donmar is a very intimate theatre, and the audience is close to the stage. The Harold was a much bigger audience which I found quite exhilarating.

One of my best memories was Halloween: the crew played spooky sounds through the coms to call us down to stage, and we had a fun party after the show.

How familiar were you with Macbeth and William Shakespeare’s plays in general before reading the script, and was there anything that drew you to the production?

I had no idea what Macbeth was about, but I do now! At first, I found it hard to understand but watching rehearsals it soon started to make sense. The cast really helped me understand the text with their delivery. The more I started to understand the more I began to realise how clever the writing was, and I found it really interesting.

What was it like filming the show for a cinema release, which was released in February, and how was it watching the filmed version?

It was fun doing the film version. They filmed over two performances, and it was just pretty much like doing a normal performance. You just had cameras in the room. It was great to see it on the screen because obviously I had never seen myself on stage before.

You have been announced to be in the upcoming ITV true crime drama series The Hack, is there anything you can say about this?

Yeah, it was cool to go from being on stage with David Tennant to being on set with him, we took a photo together and he put it on the Macbeth group chat. I can’t say much about the series now as it’s still under wraps, but it’s going to be very good!

Earlier this year, you were seen as Billy Darcy in the new release of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, what was it like joining the Bridget Jones franchise and how was it finding out you’d booked the role?

It was incredible being part of the Bridget Jones story, I didn’t know much about it until I got through a few rounds of auditions (because it’s a 15), but then my mum thought maybe I should see what my possible screen mum was like, and I loved it, all the films are so funny. All I wanted was for Bridget to end up with Mark.

The casting process was so long, I had a few recalls with Lucy Bevan and Olivia Grant and then with Michael Morris (the director) and Jo Wallett, one of the producers. But then the strikes happened, so it got put on hold. We were told it was scheduled to start filming the following October, so I thought I would be too old. But then, just after Christmas, we were told it had been pushed to May and they wanted to see me again, so we started the process again.

It was when I met Mila (my sister Mabel) that we had an instant connection, and I had a really good feeling. When I found out I got the role, I was over the moon. The only problem was I was just about to go on a skiing holiday with my family, so it meant I had to be a very careful snowboarder.

How would you describe Billy and what was he like to play?

I would say Billy is quite like me – he is quite thoughtful, a little bit serious, but also has a laugh. Me and Michael, the director, talked a lot about who Mark Darcy (Billy’s Dad) was, and how Billy is very much like him. He keeps his feelings close to his chest, but it’s out of protection rather than not caring. I think I do that too.

I loved Billy’s journey and his relationship with his mum Bridget, his sister Mabel, Uncle Daniel and Mr. Walliker. There were a couple of really fun scenes that were cut where you see a different side to Billy. For one of them, I was harnessed and hanging upside down on my bunk bed, drinking from a can of Coke and playing on my Switch.

The thing Michael really wanted to show with Billy’s journey is that he never properly smiles until the end of the movie, which was actually quite hard to do when most of your scenes are with Bridget Jones and Mabel.

What was it like filming with Renée Zellweger as your on-screen mother Bridget Jones and with the rest of the cast members?

Renée was so, so lovely to everyone. She knew the whole crew by name and was always making sure everyone was okay. She worked so hard, and I never saw her down – she really is an incredible person and an inspiration. She is also very kind, she bought me two massive LEGO cars for my birthday, and she gave me an engraved chest set for my wrap gift. Her laugh is contagious, and she makes everyone feel special.

The whole cast were lovely. I was a bit nervous meeting Hugh Grant, but he was funny – he’s exactly as you think he will be: no messing, says it how it is. He said some very kind words to me when we were leaving the premiere, which meant a lot because he’s not the kind of person to say anything he doesn’t mean.

Leo (Woodall) and Chiwetel (Ejiofor) were great to work with – both very warm and kind. Everyone was just so nice. I had worked with Josette Simon before – she was the detective interviewing me when I worked on Silent Witness, which was a nice coincidence.

What did you enjoy most about your time on set and what are some of your favourite highlights from filming?

I loved every day on set of Mad About The Boy. There were so many highlights, it’s hard to mention just one.

Our first day on set was the tree scene, which was really great fun. I loved being in the Lake District – it’s such a beautiful part of the country.

The scene where I’m sat around the fire with Mr. Walliker was a night shoot, and because there were bats in the barn, we had to move away during the times they were leaving and coming back, which was around 10pm and then again at 5am. This obviously slowed everything down, and we actually shot the scene with me and Mr. Walliker at 4am. I had never stayed up past 12am before, so that was a fun experience. Watching the sun come up just before you go to bed is mad.

The scene at the beginning of the film with the cat was a bit of a disaster because the cat would not stay still.

The New Year scene at the end of the film was great fun – it was like having a real party over and over again.

How was it attending the World Premiere at Leicester Square in London, and how was it being a guest with your co-star Mila Janković on This Morning?

Attending the World Premiere at Leicester Square was mad – one of the best experiences of my life so far. I got to wear a cool suit and have my hair done, I felt very special. At first, I was a little bit scared with all the cameras and people calling my name.

I always love spending time with Mila. She’s so spontaneous and bonkers – you never quite know what’s going to happen, but it’s always fun.

Being on This Morning was fun too. Dermot (O’Leary) and Alison (Hammond) made us feel comfortable. I really enjoyed answering the questions they asked, you definitely have to think on the spot.

How was your time filming as 9 Year Old Archie (Sebastian Croft) in the Amazon Prime feature film How to Date Billy Walsh?

It was a bit weird because my character’s scenes were set in the late ‘70s, so my wardrobe was interesting. They also had to create an old-fashioned set, including a car and billboards. It’s quite incredible seeing the detail that goes into making film.

I was very excited because I got to meet one of my favourite characters from the Cobra Kai series – Tanner Buchanan. He was very cool. It was also great to meet Charithra (Chandran) and Sebastian.

Can you tell us about filming for the Effective Range episodes of Silent Witness as Young Lee Dunn?

I enjoyed it because it wasn’t really the kind of character I had ever really played before. It was quite nice playing a darker role for a change. It was also cool to see around the set of such an iconic production.

In 2023, you were in the cast of the Netflix Belgian drama series Rough Diamonds as Tommy McCabe, how was it getting into character and what was the series like to be part of?

I loved being part of that series. My dad is Jewish, and a lot of my friends, so I had a rough idea about some of the religious festivals and rules – but this was a whole different level.

I loved living in Antwerp while we were filming. We had a really cool apartment, and it was a very different way of life, which was interesting.

It was a bit hard to begin with because I was the only English actor in the show, and everyone was speaking Flemish or Yiddish unless there was dialogue with Tommy. But everyone was so nice to me, and I made lots of friends with the other kids in the series.

Rotem Shamir and Cecilia Verheyden are brilliant directors and really helped me understand who Tommy was.

How was it taking on the role of Young John in Series 1 of Halo for Paramount+?

I mean, how cool for any young boy to be the young Master Chief!

We didn’t know what the audition was for when we first went as it was kept secret. When my mum got the email asking me to audition, we couldn’t make it, and the second option was actually on my seventh birthday. We weren’t going to go but our agent at Sylvia Young said the casting director (Verity Naughton) really wanted to see me, so we went, and we were obviously very glad that we did.

We filmed it all in Budapest, which is a beautiful country.

I met Pablo Schreiber and Natascha McElhone on my first day on set, and they were both so nice. My costumes were incredible, and I got to do some really fun stunts like climbing down into a cave and fighting on a rope bridge.

I also had a pet dog in the show – she was called Anima and she was so well-trained. I had to learn some Hungarian words so I could get her to do things during the scenes we were in together. She was retiring straight after working on Halo, so I felt very honoured to be the last person on screen with her.

And I got to ride in the Warthog, which was amazing.

What do you remember most from working on the ITV series Our House as Harry Lawson and filming with your on-screen family Tuppence Middleton, Martin Compston and Tommy Finnegan?

I don’t remember loads about working on Our House. Tuppence and Martin were very nice to me, and I got on really well with Tommy. We had a fun few months on set.

For your first screen role, you played Leo in the 2019 horror film The Small Hand, how was this?

I was only six when I worked on The Small Hand, and my role was quite small. All I really remember is being allowed to wave a sword around.

It was a real coincidence because the actor playing my dad in A Small Hand was Cal MacAninch, who was then my dad again in Macbeth as he played Banquo. Cal is a kind and caring person, so it was great to work with him. I hope our paths cross on something again.

Where does your love of acting come from and how did you get into it?

My brother Jaxon – I remember going to watch him in Big Fish at The Other Palace. I was only five, but I remember thinking, I want to do that. He was just having so much fun, and so many of our family and friends got joy from watching him. I wanted to be able to do the same.

My brother Jaxon was represented by Sylvia Young Agency, I went along to one of his headshot sessions. Julie asked my mum if I would like to join them too. I am very lucky to be represented by them.

What are some of your favourite films, TV and theatre shows to watch, and how do you like to spend your free time?

At the moment, I am watching all the Star Wars films with my dad. We are watching them all in order and are about halfway through – I am loving them. We make a real point of watching TV together as a family. We have just finished The Last of Us, which was brilliant. I also love Stranger Things and can’t wait for the last season.

In my free time, I go skateboarding, I do Shotokan karate, which I really enjoy, and gymnastics.

What do you find most enjoyable about having an acting career and what do you feel you’ve learnt from being in the industry so far?

The best thing about acting is that you get to be a whole different person. I do like who I am, but it’s fun being someone else for a while. I also love being able to travel to different countries and meet lots of interesting people. I also love missing school.

I think it’s made me more independent. I have definitely learnt how to behave around and talk to adults. I have learnt that listening is the best thing you can do when on set. Being able to watch and learn from such accomplished actors is a real privilege.

Do you have any projects coming up that you can talk about and what are you hoping the rest of the year brings?

Not at the moment, I am back auditioning again.

I would love to take on an action role or another science-fiction project, and would definitely be up for a Bridget Jones 5!