One Happy Camper

Of all the kids in Disney's Camp Nowhere, Nathan Cavaleri certainly seems on track to go somewhere. Cast as a micro rock star, the 12-year-old Australian is actually an accomplished blues guitarist whose first CD, Nathan, has just been released. What's it like to be a preteen crossover artist? Eleven-year- old journalist Jacob Hajdu asks.

EW: How did you get started in music?
Nathan Cavaleri: Well, I started guitar at the age of 3. I developed a strum on the guitar, and at 4 I started playing actual songs, and I think at the age of 7 I got on TV.

EW: Are your friends back home jealous that you're such a good guitar player?
NC: It's hard to tell, because I never really talk about it, because one time when I started talking about it, they did get a bit jealous.

EW: When you were making the movie, how late did you get to stay up?
NC: They let me stay up really late sometimes. I'd start at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and then go to 1 o'clock in the morning. It was cool.

EW: What was the hardest part about making the film?
NC: The acting-like when you're acting a sad scene and you've got to hold a laugh in. The director told me to take your finger and pinch it right before your nail, right on the skin there-that makes you not laugh. It really works.

EW: What are you going to do with all the money you make from the movie?
NC: I'm going to save and hopefully buy a Chevrolet Corvette or a Ferrari Testarossa.

EW: Do you like the food better in America or Australia?
NC: The hamburgers here are really good. And I like the hot dogs, and I love the ice cream here. In Australia, we have a lot more chocolate. We have hundreds of different kinds of chocolate, which is a big improvement over the States.