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Hilary Swank’s St. Francisville-filmed supernatural thriller The Reaping debuts in theaters March 30, but one of her co-stars will be too young to watch it.

Samuel Garland of Baton Rouge followed his older sister Jennie, now 16, into acting a few years ago. He would tag along with his mother on Jennie’s projects, and finally someone suggested he have headshots taken, too.

The 8-year-old Garland has a resume to be envied. He’s already shared a scene alone with double-Oscar winner Swank, and played opposite Josh Lucas and Emily Deschanel as the coach’s son in Glory Road. He’s even earned indie cred, starring in nearly every scene of festival hit Gone as a child questioning the death of his mother on the day of her funeral.

During Glory Road Garland shot hoops with the films’ basketball players, and his family struck up a friendship with Bones star Deschanel, even having dinner with her at Superior Grill. During the long shoots for The Reaping, a stampede of robotic cattle and a formidable craft services spread of fruit and snacks kept Garland’s attention.

“Mostly I get tutoring, and then after that I play GameBoy,” Garland says of his downtime between scenes. But some film shoots have stretched to 3 a.m., which prove the toughest challenge for Garland and his mother, Anna. To keep on a day-sleeping schedule during filming, Anna Garland says Samuel likes to swim until he’s tired enough to fall asleep in the middle of the day.

Though he enjoys the strange schedule, the departures from school and taking instructions from a director, Garland is still a kid. His favorite memory from Gone is of the wrap party held at a Los Angeles bowling alley. “I got a strike!” he remembers.

What has surprised Garland the most is just how many people are involved in these films. They’ve been major Hollywood productions though, and ones that would seem to have Garland reaching for the stars. But while Jennie Garland wants to continue her pursuit of acting, Samuel has other dreams. “I want to do something with animals when I grow up,” he says, as he draws a prototype business card. It reads “Samuel Garland—Baton Rouge Zoo—Tigers Only.”