Netflix Exec Funds Education for Child Star of ‘Beasts of No Nation’

Ghanaian teen Abraham Attah is on a whirlwind of a ride. 

The 14-year-old street vendor-turned-actor just made his debut as a child soldier in Netflix’s Beasts of No Nation, and now, the video streaming service’s head of content acquisitions is ensuring that the teen receives a quality education.

“Ted Sarandos has said that he would pay for [Attah’s] private education through senior year of high school,” Beasts of No Nation director Cary Fukunaga told Business Insider.

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Film producers say that prior to filming, Attah had little to no education. His dismal education prompted the Netflix exec to foot the bill for a boarding school, where Attah would learn the necessary skills to further his love of acting.

“Technically he’s in 7th grade, but I think there’s a lot of be caught up on including reading comprehension, and that’s essential to his script reading if he wants to do more acting in the future,” Fukunaga said. “We found a private school that starts in the 7th grade, a lot of the private schools don’t start until 8th or 9th grade. And it’s a school that can cater to his specific needs and help him get caught up.”