'HARRY POTTER' Calif. kid wins role in third movie
T.J.'s teachers and family agree that he shows potential as an actor.
By MARGO HORNER
SCRIPPS HOWARD
At first, Jeannie Van Buskirk wouldn't let her son T.J. watch any Harry Potter movies. Now he will be in one.
T.J. Van Buskirk, 9, of Redding, Calif., won a trip to England for a walk-on role in the third Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."
Harry Pottermania is once again in full swing because of Saturday's release of author J.K. Rowling's fifth book, "Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix."
T.J. was one of 500,000 hopeful kids who entered the Chamber of Secrets Contest on the Harry Potter Web site.
Thousands of prizes were awarded, but T.J. was the only one to win a part in the next movie.
Surprised by call
T.J.'s parents, Mike and Jeannie, said they were surprised when they received a phone call May 21 from Warner Bros. Pictures telling them T.J. had won.
"We forgot what we entered because it seemed so long ago," Mike Van Buskirk said.
"I originally was never going to let them watch Harry Potter," Jeannie Van Buskirk said. "My mom talked me into it."
Jeannie Van Buskirk said she and her husband previewed the first movie in the soon-to-be trilogy and found it acceptable for their son -- they thought it was cute.
"But we didn't, like, go out and buy all the Harry Potter stuff cause I didn't want them -her three children] to go overboard," Jeannie Van Buskirk said.
So T.J. checked the Harry Potter books out from the library.
In August, T.J., his parents and his two sisters Shae, 8, and Kaitlyn, 5, will spend seven days and six nights in London during the filming of third Harry Potter movie.
"His face will actually be in the actual film. That will be really cool," Jeannie Van Buskirk said.
T.J., who has traveled only as far as Oregon, said he can't wait to see Stonehenge when he visits England.
Cash, too
The prize also includes $3,000. Most of the money will be spent during the trip, T.J.'s parents said. But T.J. will get to spend some of it.
Children who visited the Web site also voted on the grand prize, which could have been a home entertainment system, a chance to meet the cast, a private screening for friends or a chance to be in the movie.
Although T.J. didn't vote on what the grand prize should be, he said he would have picked the role in the movie. He wants to be an actor.
And some of his teachers at Manzanita Elementary School, where T.J. participated in many school plays, don't think his dream is too far-fetched.
"He did a really good job," said Jody Greaney, an adviser for Odyssey of the Mind, a youth problem-solving tournament in which kids write skits. "He's young but his voice carried well and he always remembered his lines. He was a really good team member."
Diedre Malain, T.J.'s third-grade teacher, agreed that he shows potential in show business.
"We did a lot of plays in class -- puppet shows and various things like that," Malain said. "He enjoys getting up in front of people. He does a good job."
In February, Malain assigned the class to write about their dream and T.J. wrote about wanting to be a movie star, Malain said.