Movieline: Newcomer Joel Courtney on Super 8 and His Steven Spielberg Geek-Out Moment

From MovieLine:

If J.J. Abrams’ nostalgic summer sci-fi adventure Super 8 is intentionally evocative of producer (and Abrams mentor) Steven Spielberg’s E.T. (1982), then 15-year-old newcomer Joel Courtney is its Elliott, the young, sensitive boy hero caught in the middle of an otherworldly mystery. It’s a big role to hang on the shoulders of a newcomer — one who won the part after visiting L.A. in hopes of landing a modest commercial gig — but, as it turns out, the Idaho native now has bigger career goals in his sights.

“I want to be like Tom Hanks,” Courtney told Movieline in Los Angeles, where he’s spending the summer before returning home to Moscow, Idaho for school. The lanky young actor has given considerable thought to his options, post-Super 8. “I wouldn’t mind trying [Nickelodeon and Disney], but I wouldn’t want to get sucked into it so that I wouldn’t be able to get out.”

Catch the entire interview over at MovieLine.