Youngster rubs elbows with Hollywood heavyweights
By Margaret Hawryluk, Enterprise special correspondent

BRIDGEWATER ˜ With gleaming blonde hair and bright blue eyes, 8-year-old Zachary Pauliks is a film heartthrob in the making. And he is in a movie with another heartthrob ˜ playing the younger version of Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the Martin Scorsese film, "The Departed."

"Even if it's a small role, it's a huge movie," said Michelle Pauliks, Zachary's mother.

The film, to be released in 2006, is set in Boston and features such stars as DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin.

Shooting for the Boston scenes began last month ˜ Zachary shot his scene with Nicholson on June 20 on Castle Island.

Zachary, of Bridgewater, has been a model at Dynasty Models & Talent Inc. in Boston since infancy and has been featured on Stop & Shop billboards, toy boxes and schoolbooks.

"He's a great kid," Scott Freeman, head booker at the agency, said. "He's polite and outgoing."
When an Enterprise photographer arrived at Pauliks' Bridgewater home Wednesday, Zachary's professionalism shined through.

He smiled and giggled while posing for shots in his back yard, not at all distracted by his energetic 4-year-old sister, Zoey, also a model at the agency, who was fighting for the camera's attention.

He auditioned for the role in early March, his mother said, and received a "call back" to audition for Scorsese at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston.

"We didn't think he got it because he didn't get another call back for a few months," Michelle Pauliks said.

A key reason Zachary was chosen for the part is his remarkable likeness to DiCaprio.
"The crew couldn't get over how much he looked like Leo," Michelle Pauliks said.

When word finally came, Pauliks called her son at St. Mary's School in Taunton to give him the news. He will enter third grade in September.

"I was excited," said Zachary, who aspires to be an actor. "My friends thought it was awesome."
Zachary plays a younger version of DiCaprio's character, "Billy," during a flashback in the beginning of the film. It is his acting debut.

The youngster improvised a line in his scene and the director decided to keep it.

As he was trying to untangle the lines on a fishing rod, "Billy" had been scripted to remain silent, but instead, "I said, 'Dad, I can't get it on right, can you fix it,' and they said I should keep it in," Zachary said.

While filming the part, he met Nicholson and Scorsese. His dressing room was a few feet away from Nicholson's trailer.

Although he had his own dressing room and there was a wardrobe person on the set, Zachary wore his own jeans and lucky Red Sox shirt.

He had worn the dark-blue T-shirt with red and white lettering to both auditions and had great results, so he also wore it to the set.

Michelle Pauliks said that although she and her husband were star-struck, her son was very professional on the set and wasn't phased by the opportunity to work with the celebrities.

"They're just two old guys to him," Pauliks quipped.

Zachary has become a celebrity among his peers.

"Everyone wants to touch this hand," he said, waving his right hand in the air, "because I shook his (Scorsese's) hand with this one."

Zachary will be called back in August to take a number of snapshots that will be used as props in the movie. DiCaprio's character will have the pictures of the boy on display in his home.

His mother said she hopes the role will be a foot in the door for her son to work in more movies.
"He wishes he was in 'Star Wars,'" Pauliks said, laughing. "He's sure they'll make another movie."

Zachary said he looks to DiCaprio as a role model and hopes to meet him if he is invited to the cast wrap-up party.