Cameron Bright talks about his shining career

You’d think it would take a big man, or at least a Tom Cruise-size one, to upstage Nicole Kidman. But the most memorable thing about the Oscar winner’s 2004 flick Birth was her 10-year-old costar (and bath partner). ”People say, ‘You were freaky in that movie,”’ admits Bright, now 13, ”but I’m not like that in real life.” No matter, Hollywood has taken a shine to the Canadian actor. Already he’s appeared in three films this year: First Bright chewed up the scenery in Running Scared, as a boy who shoots his stepfather; then he played Milla Jovovich’s charge in Ultraviolet (he’s young, so we’ll give him a pass on that stinker) and Aaron Eckhart’s son in Thank You for Smoking. Still to come: blockbuster X-Men: The Last Stand on May 26. Naturally, Bright won’t tell us much: ”It’s really secretive,” he explains, ”but I can say that I play a character named Leech. Both the good and bad guys are fighting over him.” So, it seems, are casting directors.