Sangster was born in London. He lives with his sister, Ava, and his parents, actors Anastasia "Tasha" (Bertram) and Mark Ernest Sangster. His father is a musician and film editor. Sangster is the second cousin once removed of actor Hugh Grant, alongside whom he appeared in Love Actually; his great-grandmother, Barbara Bertram, and Grant's grandmother were sisters. Sangster's great-grandfather, Anthony Bertram, was a novelist, and one of Sangster's maternal ancestors was politician and colonial administrator Sir Evan Nepean.
Sangster plays the guitar, and he learned to play left-handed in order to portray the left-handed Paul McCartney in the feature film Nowhere Boy. He currently resides in South London, England with his parents and sister.
Sangster's first acting job was in a BBC television film, Station Jim. He subsequently appeared in a few more television films, including the lead roles in Bobbie's Girl, The Miracle of the Cards (based on the story of Craig Shergold) and Stig of the Dump. He won the "Golden Nymph" award at the 43rd Annual Monte Carlo Television Festival for his role in the miniseries Entrusted. Love Actually, in which he played Liam Neeson's stepson, was Sangster's first major theatrical film. He was nominated for a "Golden Satellite Award" and a "Young Artist Award" for his role in the film.
Sangster next appeared in a television adaptation of the novel Feather Boy and played a younger version of James Franco's role in the film version of Tristan and Isolde. Among other things, Sangster takes part in a (child's) swordfight in the film. Sangster next starred in the commercially successful film Nanny McPhee, as the eldest of seven children.
In 2007 he appeared in a two-part story ("Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood") in Doctor Who as schoolboy Timothy 'Tim' Latimer, and guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio dramas The Mind's Eye and The Bride of Peladon. His voice lowered during filming of the Doctor Who episodes. He also starred alongside Love Actually and Nanny McPhee co-star Colin Firth in the film adaptation of Valerio Massimo Manfredi's historical novel The Last Legion, released in 2007. That same year he voiced the character of Ferb Fletcher in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb alongside Love Actually co-star Olivia Olson. As of December 2007, he was also working on the filming of a television series of the story of Pinocchio, filmed in Italy.
In March 2008 it was announced that Sangster would star in Steven Spielberg's CGI motion capture film The Adventures of Tintin as the title character of Hergé's comic books. Sangster left the project after scheduling difficulties when filming was delayed in October 2008 and the role was given to Jamie Bell. At the end of March 2008, he began working with Oscar-winning director Jane Campion on her film Bright Star, a love story with Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish portraying John Keats and his lover Fanny Brawne.
In March 2009 Sangster joined Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff in Nowhere Boy, a film directed by award-winning artist Sam Taylor-Wood, about the teenage years of John Lennon and the two women who shaped his early life: his mother Julia (Duff) and his aunt Mimi (Scott Thomas). He played Paul McCartney . This would be his second time acting with Johnson, the first being in 2004's Feather Boy.
Sangster appeared in the film Some Dogs Bite in the role of Casey. The story involves a boy who wants to keep his family together. Casey (Sangster) takes his baby brother out of care, and with the help of his older brother, goes in search of their father.
He also appears together with Andy Serkis in an Irish film, Superhero, based on the novel, Death of Superhero by Anthony McCarten.
Additionally, Sangster plays Liam in the 2011 film, The Last Furlong. In April 2011, Sangster made his guest appearance as Adam Douglas in an episode of British detective drama Lewis. In 2012 he starred in The Baytown Outlaws alongside Billy Bob Thornton, Natalie Martinez and Eva Longoria, and Ella Jones's short film The Ugly Duckling, the third instalment of the Tales trilogy of reworked fairy tales from More Films. He also plays the role of Jojen Reed in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
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