Atticus Shaffer

Atticus Shaffer (born June 19, 1998) is an American actor and YouTuber. He is known for playing Brick Heck on the ABC sitcom The Middle (2009–2018), as well for voicing Edgar in the movie Frankenweenie (2012) and Ono on the Disney Junior series The Lion Guard (2016–2019), and for his brief appearance in Hancock (2008).^[1]

Atticus Shaffer
Shaffer attending the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012
Born	(1998-06-19) June 19, 1998 (age 26) Santa Clarita, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, voice actor
Years active	2007–present
Known for	Role as Brick Heck in The Middle

Career

The Middle

Main articles: The Middle and List of The Middle characters

Shaffer is most known for his role as Brick Heck in The Middle, which he played throughout the series' entire nine-season run, from 2009 to 2018. Brick is the youngest of the three Heck children, and is highly intelligent and smarter than most people at his age. He loves to read and has an ongoing fascination with fonts. Brick is socially awkward, and repeatedly overlooked by the members of his family. The series and its cast were nominated for awards dozens of times and won over a dozen collectively.

In a Wired magazine interview published in January 2013, Shaffer said his role as Brick was similar to his own life, as he is also a "big reader" and "nerd[s] out over the weirdest stuff".^[2] In May 2011, a TV Guide article had reported the closeness as well.^[3] Brick's characterization, including his idiosyncratic palilalian repetition of words and phrases at the end of sentences, is based on Justin Heisler, the son of The Middle co-creator Eileen Heisler.^[4]

Personal life

Named after Atticus Finch, the father in To Kill a Mockingbird, Shaffer was born in Santa Clarita, California, to Ron and Debbie Shaffer. He lives in Acton, California.^[4][5]

Shaffer has type four osteogenesis imperfecta,^[6][7][8] a condition involving a defect in collagen that causes fragile bones and short stature. He is 4 ft 8 in (142 cm) tall.^[9][10]

Shaffer is a Christian and as of 2018 had a daily Bible study with his mother, alternating between the Old and New Testaments.^[11] As of 2015, the year he was baptized, he was a fan of contemporary Christian rock music and identified several Christian bands among his favorites.^[9][12]

Shaffer has official YouTube and Twitch video gaming pages, titled "AtticusShafferVlog", the latter of which he announced in December 2019. He plays The Long Dark and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, among other video games.^[13]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Class	Jonah	Episode: "The Class Rides a Bull"
	Days of Our Lives	Irish boy	Episode 1.10632
	Human Giant	Wade	Episode: "Mind Explosion"
2008	Carpoolers	Boy	Episode: "Take Your Daughter to Work Day"
	Out of Jimmy's Head	Aaron	Episode: "Bad Fad"
2009	My Name Is Earl	Space camper	Episode: "Chaz Dalton's Space Academy"
2009–2018	The Middle	Brick Heck	Main role; 215 episodes
2010	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition	Himself	Special guest, 1 episode
2010–2014	Fish Hooks	Albert Glass, Kid Fish	Voice, 28 episodes[14]
2011	I'm in the Band	Eddie Nova Jr.	Episode: "Camp Weasel Rock"
	The Penguins of Madagascar	Vesuvius Twins	Voice, 3 episodes[14]
	Shake It Up	Zane	Episode: "Beam It Up"
	ThunderCats	Young Emrick	Voice, episode: "Song of the Petalars"[14]
2013–2018	Steven Universe	Peedee Fryman	Voice, recurring role (10 episodes)[14]
2015	Clarence	Seabass	Voice, episode: "Hoofin' It"
2016–2018	Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh	Fox	Voice, recurring role[14]
2016–2019	The Lion Guard	Ono	Voice, main cast[15][14]
2017–2022	Pete the Cat	Grumpy Toad	Voice, main cast
2017–2019	Star vs. the Forces of Evil	Dennis	Voice, 3 episodes[14]
2018–2020	Harvey Girls Forever!	Melvin, Lobgrilla	Voice, main cast[14]
2020	Never Have I Ever	Russia Model UN representative	Episode: "...started a nuclear war"
2022–present	Firebuds	Wayne Riley	Voice, recurring role

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Leaving Barstow	Boy on bus
	Hancock	Boy at bus bench
	An American Carol	Timmy
2009	The Unborn	Matty Newton
	Opposite Day	Small Man
	Subject: I Love You	Tommy	Voice
2012	Frankenweenie	Edgar "E" Gore[14]
2013	Super Buddies	Monk-E[14]
2015	The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar	Ono	Voice, television film[14]
2016	Monkey Up	Mooner	Voice[14]
2017	The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar	Ono	Voice, television film
2018	I'll Be Next Door for Christmas	Archie
2019	The Lion Guard: Battle for the Pride Lands	Ono	Voice, television film
2021	Arlo the Alligator Boy	"Kids Things" Kid, Ice Cream Kid, Kid Bully	Voice[14]

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016–present	Adventures in Odyssey	Morrie Rydell	Recurring role

Self

Year	Title	Notes
2009, 2010, 2011	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	3 episodes
2010, 2013, 2014, 2015	The View	4 episodes
2010, 2017	Entertainment Tonight	2 episodes
2010	The Bonnie Hunt Show	Episode: "30 March 2010"
	Lopez Tonight	Episode: "3 November 2010"
	The Tonight Show With Jay Leno	Episode: #19.44
	79th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade	Episode: "10 December 2010"
2011	25th Annual Genesis Awards	Episode: "30 April 2011"
	Conan	Episode: "The Container Store Of My Discontent"
	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition	Episode: "The Sharrock Family"
2012	Good Morning America	Episode: "6 February 2012"
	Live with Kelly and Michael	Episode: "6 February 2012"
	Made in Hollywood	Episode: #8.3
2013	The Queen Latifah Show	Episode: #1.8
	40th Annual Annie Awards	Presenter
	The Chew	Episode: "Meals from the Heartland"
2014, 2015, 2018	Home & Family	3 episodes
2015	Celebrity Page	Episode: October 16, 2015
2016	The Real	Episode "15 January 2016"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2010/11	Young Artist Awards	Outstanding Young Ensemble in a TV Series	The Middle	Nominated
2013	Annie Awards	Voice Acting in a Feature Production	Frankenweenie	Nominated	[16]