Star Attitude : Young Actor’s Great Personality Has Garnered TV, Movie Bit Parts

Move over Mary Steenburgen, Scott Bakula and Peter Strauss: The latest addition to the Ojai Valley’s miniature movie colony is aptly sized 4-foot, 6-inch Christian Hames.

The 9-year-old Mira Monte Elementary School student has completed minor roles in a television pilot and a pair of movies including this summer’s “Matilda.”

Christian is on a first-name basis with such stars as Danny DeVito, who starred in and directed the well-received family comedy.

And he already has an unofficial management team circulating his resume and glossies among Hollywood glitterati.

No matter that he has yet to utter a line on screen and has minimal acting experience. Christian, “Matilda” casting director Brent Scarpo said, has potential. “You work with a lot of kids who have that real star attitude,” Scarpo said. “They’re 8 going on 35. . . . He’s just got the right attitude, and the important thing is attitude.”

That means traveling to a movie set on a few hours’ notice. Doing exactly what is asked repeatedly without complaining in often uncomfortable conditions for hour upon hour.

And enduring interminable waits between takes that can try the patience of most adults, let alone a fidgety child.

While children can always be taught to act, more important is willingness to learn, flexibility and undemanding parents, said his father, Ventura attorney David Hames.

Christian’s entrance into the movie business was the typical Hollywood accident. In an attempt to keep Christian and his 6-year-old brother occupied last summer, his parents answered an advertisement seeking extras for a film to be shot in Ventura County.

The movie was never shot here, but the pair got a part anyway. Christian’s stamina won him a larger role, led to more work in the as-yet unreleased film “Dear God” and has the youngster enthusiastically seeking more.

With his skinned knees, shyness with strangers and penchant for skateboarding, Christian is like any other kid.

But put him and his wide-eyed Disneyish looks before a camera and his unassuming nature is replaced by confidence, calmness and cooperation, Scarpo said.

“Christian has an infectious personality,” Scarpo said. “He has stars coming up to him on the set that don’t even know who he is. . . . To me it says there’s something there. There’s a quality about him.”

Christian apparently has one other quality universal to Hollywood as well. Asked why he enjoys making movies, the budding star doesn’t hesitate.

“The money,” he said.