Alexander Nathan Etel, a former English actor, made his film debut in 2004's Millions, a family film directed by Danny Boyle, where he played the starring role of Damian Cunningham.
His second film was The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, where he took on the lead role, directed by Jay Russell. This film, based on a Dick King Smith story, is set in Scotland during World War II and tells the story of a boy who adopts a monster sea creature. Although the film is set in Scotland, all scenes involving the creature were shot in New Zealand.
Etel also played the bright-eyed ragamuffin Harry Gregson in the six-part TV adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's "Cranford" for the BBC and WGBH. This adaptation, which co-starred Philip Glenister, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Francesca Annis, and Imelda Staunton, was transmitted on BBC 1 in the autumn of 2007. He reprised his role in the two-part second series entitled Return to Cranford.
Currently, Etel is scheduled to appear in two projects: From Time to Time, an adaptation of The Chimneys of Green Knowe directed by Julian Fellowes, and Easter Sixteen, set in Dublin during the Easter Rising of 1916.
