Although he enjoys it, starring in the school play is much different for 13-year-old Nick Bourdages than working side-by-side with actor George Clooney in a major motion picture. “It doesn't (compare) at all,” he said with a grin, relaxing on a sofa in his DeKalb home Wednesday afternoon. “The school play is just more me hanging out with my friends, reading lines.” The St. Mary School seventh-grader spent his birthday Sunday flying from Florida, where he was vacationing, to Los Angeles to attend the Hollywood premiere of the football comedy “Leatherheads.” Nick stars in the film as Bug, the ball boy to a team that served as a foundation for professional football. Nick spent four months last year filming the movie, which takes place in 1925, and said he picked up tips and acting techniques from “Mr. Clooney.” “I was the only kid,” he said. “I was with guys that were mostly in their 30s, and it was fun. We all bonded.” His character, Bug, is a 10-year-old boy who swears, smokes and drinks. Kim and Dean Bourdages said they were aware of what the part required of their son and worked to keep him grounded throughout the Hollywood experience. “He handled himself like a professional,” said Dean Bourdages, who alternated on-set chaperone responsibilities with his wife during filming in North Carolina and South Carolina. “He was in the adult world for four months and he still had the responsibility of homework.” The Bourdages family learned during the experience just how complicated and orchestrated Hollywood can be. “It's not just a simple setting up of lights and starting to film,” Dean Bourdages said, adding that more than 200 people were on set at a time. “There's a lot more that goes into it. It's incredible.” After shooting a scene, Clooney and Nick would review it on a monitor, and Clooney would give specific direction of how lines should be read and which expressions should be exaggerated. Despite the pressure, Nick wasn't nervous to be on camera, he said. “The most challenging part was waiting around,” he said. “I would act and then wait and wait for hours. It was hard knowing that I could get called back to the set at any time.” Nick was not used to the downtime, having starred only in school plays and on Forensics - a school speech and drama team - prior to filming the Clooney-directed movie. He took stage Wednesday evening for an after-school rehearsal of the play, “Chicken Bones for the Teenage Soup.” “He's always been a comedian,” said Jon Walter, play director at St. Mary School. “He's got a natural ability to make people laugh.” Aside from sprouting four inches and gaining 15 pounds during the shoot, Nick said he definitely changed. Most notably, he learned the tact necessary to being on a movie set. “When they say, ‘Quiet on the set,' you can't even whisper,” he said, “I also kind of got yelled at once because I went to slap someone a high five and I did a fist pound. Nobody did fist pounds back then, so that was one of those things you might not think of.” Walter also has noticed a change in Nick since he returned from filming. “It's a big difference,” he said before play rehearsal. “He has more of an awareness of being on stage and of his facial expressions.” Dean and Kim Bourdages are supportive of their son's aspiration to pursue an acting career, but said they keep him in check by reminding him that it's a finicky business. They are thankful Nick was fortunate enough to take advantage of such a rare opportunity, and to celebrate their son's successes, the couple bought about 270 tickets to a Friday showing of “Leatherheads” at a local movie theater. They intend to fill the entire theater with family and friends. “Every once in a shooting star, things land in the right spot,” Dean Bourdages said. “Nick's situation was one of those.”