Interview
Q: How did you get the role of Zero?
By auditioning. The first audition I went on, I impressed the casting director and then they calld me back. Then I went to audition for the director and producer of the film.
Q: Was this specificaly for thr part of Zero?
For Zero. Then they called me back a third time and I had to go to a screent test. That i when they bring the best of the character you'll be playing. They put you in the studio in a scene and they switch people in and out to see who looks the best. There were 10 kids going for the role. They weren't really paying attention to me, so I said, "OK, so I didn't get this one." Then when [our group] was leaving there were 10 more Zeros coming in. I said, "Eh, I'm not even going to worry about this one." Two days later I got a call saying I got the role.
Q: Why do you think you were picked?
I think it was the director; I think he liked me because I acted well and was very polite.
Q: What was most fun thing about filming the movie?
Meeting new people on the set and the lizards.
Q: So they don't really bite?
No
Q: Was there an animal trainer on the set to amke them seem harmfull, like they are in the movie?
Yes, but he didn't really have to do anything because they were just acting [like] themselves, actually moving around.
Q: Did you know going into this project that you would end up in a hole with a bunch of lizards?
I like lizards.
Q: Did the other actors pull pranks on each other when the cameras weren't rolling?
Shia had put mud on Max's brand-new studio chairs. Max was so mad, so when Shia left to do his scene, Max threw his chair in a hole and started dumping bottles of water on it.
Q: Were you involved in this?
No, but there was a fight. It was Jacob, Shia and me versus the other kids. We had squirt guns and we filled them up with ketchup and mustard. We ran after the guys, chasing them, and we started squirting all of them, everything at them. We ran back to Shia's trailer and when we were coming out, they just threw stuff at us: onions, relish, mustard, and mayonnaise. Just everything!
Q: Not those huge onions that were in the movie?
No, no! Those were actually apples with edible ceramic wrap.
Q: How long were you in the desert filming?
Two months.
Q: What was there to do when you weren't filming?
We stayed in school. They had a VCR, so we could watch movies. We played pranks on each other. We'd talk or sing some songs.
Q: How did you handel school when people were in all different grades?
They had a school trailerfor us with two teachers. I was home schooled, so it was easy for me.
Q: Have you always been home schooled?
No, from kindergarden through seventh grade I went to regular school, and I was just starting home school when I found out I got the part.
Q: Which do you like better?
I prefer home school because you learn more by yourself than when you're around other people because you get distracted. Ats school, it would take me an hour just to finish an assignment. Now it takes 20 minuets.
Q: What's your favorite subject?
Science, because you can do so many different things, like dissect frogs, find out about different chemicals.
Q: Did you dissect any of those lizards?
No way!
Q: Do you like to read?
Every other day I read a book. It takes me two days to finish a book. I like reading because if I'm not doing anything, then I read. If my mom tells me to go take out the trash, then I'll go take out the trash,and come back and start reading.
Q: What's your favorite book?
The Harry Potter series.
Q: Had you read Holes before oyou got the part in the movie?
No, I didn't. When I had to go to audition for it, I went and bought the book.
Q: Was there something they took out of the book when making the movie that you wish they had kept in?
Stanley's character, Shia, is supposed to be fat in the beginning, but they ended up not doing that because they didn't want Shia overworked.
Q: Did Sigourney Weaver or Jon Voight give you anyacting advice?
Jon gave me pointers on eye contact. He told me that if you're doing a close up, you should imagine the person that you're supposed to be in the scene with there.

Interveiw by Paul Coco