From Child Star to Comedy King: Iain Armitage’s Reign as Young Sheldon

The Transformation Of Young Sheldon Star Iain Armitage

 

Iain Armitage is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the wildly popular series “Young Sheldon,” a role he auditioned for when he was just 8 years old. But Armitage’s career began even before his “Young Sheldon” success. The actor, whose parents are in the entertainment industry, began making a name for himself at the age of 3 with his adorable theater reviews. “Iain Loves Theatre” became a viable YouTube channel, which got the precocious Armitage noticed. Before long, he was appearing in hit series like “Big Little Lies” and films such as “The Glass Castle” while practicing martial arts and maintaining straight As in school.

 

When “Young Sheldon” became a hit, it not only rocketed Armitage to a new level of stardom, but it also secured him as one of the highest-paid child actors in the world. But Armitage seemed to keep a good head on his shoulders, making time to learn new languages, bring attention to important social issues, and of course, play with his two pet hamsters.

Iain Armitage smiling at the Pantages Theatre

By all accounts, fame did not change Iain Armitage, even as he worked alongside his hero Meryl Streep and became close with Jane Fonda, whom he affectionately called Grandma Jane. He even enlisted Sir Ian McKellen to help him name his pets, all while remaining humble and kind. If his work thus far is any indication, the actor has a long and successful career ahead of him, and his journey from mini YouTuber to megastar has been nothing short of impressive. Read on to learn more about the transformation of Iain Armitage.

He was born into a showbiz family

 

Iain Armitage was born on July 15, 2008, in Georgia and was raised in Arlington, Virginia. Armitage got his start in the entertainment industry at a very young age, which may be due in part to the fact that both of his parents worked in show business. His mother, Lee Armitage, has worked as a stage producer, and his father, Euan Morton, has had a very successful career on Broadway.

Morton, a native of Scotland, performed in big theater hits such as “Taboo,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” and starred as King George III in the Broadway smash “Hamilton” from 2017 until 2023. Lee Armitage, the daughter of former Deputy Secretary of Defense Richard Armitage, worked in theater behind the scenes but put her career on pause in order to support Iain’s pursuit of his acting dreams. Her sacrifice did not go unnoticed by her son, who has expressed a deep appreciation for his mother. “Mom is just so cool and so kind and always so grounding,” Iain shared in an interview with Northern Virginia Magazine.

 

Before he was an actor, Iain Armitage became involved with martial arts, enrolling in classes when he was just 4 years old. He continued to practice tae kwon do as he got older, finding that it was a way to calm his busy mind. “I’m actually by nature an overthinker, and I tend to second-guess myself a lot,” Armitage revealed to Northern Virginia Magazine. But his martial arts practice worked to ground his thoughts, focusing solely on the activity at hand. “[I]t’s really tough, but you go to this place where you are completely zenned out, and you’re not thinking about anything,” the actor explained.

Armitage took his tae kwon do practice seriously and earned a black belt as a young teen, which was no small feat. According to Francis Pineda, one of Armitage’s instructors, only 10% of students achieve that distinction. And part of the requirements for a black belt are scholastic because students must maintain good grades in order to progress. This was no problem because Armitage earned straight As while being homeschooled. And Armitage’s ability to excel in martial arts has proved helpful in other aspects of his life as well, namely his acting career. “He has found ways to translate all the best parts of martial arts into his professional career,” Pineda said of Armitage.

 

Iain Armitage has won audiences over with appearances in both TV and film, but his first love was the theater. So much so that he began making videos of himself reviewing theater productions when most other children were in preschool. After seeing his first play, a production of “Hairspray” that his babysitter appeared in, Armitage made his first video. “I was just saying, ‘I really liked this show,'” the actor told Northern Virginia Magazine. “It was honestly 30 seconds long, and you can hear our dog barking really loud in the background.”

Armitage recorded that video when he was only 3 years old, but he kept at it, doing more in-depth reviews that appeared on his YouTube channel Iain Loves Theatre. “[E]ventually I did my first review for ‘Waiting for Godot,’ which was kind of my first real review review,” he shared with W. The videos caught the eye of blogger Perez Hilton who reached out to Armitage and hired him as a red carpet correspondent for the Tony Awards. The gig was a dream come true for Armitage, who got to interview Glenn Close, Lin Manuel Miranda, and many others. The actor told W, “I still have a diary from when I was like 4, and I wrote in it ‘I wish that I was on the red carpet with my mama.’ And then a couple of years later I was reporting to Mr. Perez Hilton on the red carpet.”

 

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