As an actor, it might be hard to imagine topping playing the son of God. Despite making his stage debut at 4 months old portraying the infant Jesus in a Christmas play, Mason Carter, 9, said his favorite role was more down to earth, if more involved, than lying in a manger.
“I liked playing Fudge, the little brother from ‘Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,'” Mason said. “It was a little scary.”
Mason wasn’t cast as the destructive younger brother in the Chattanooga Theatre Centre’s Youth Theatre’s 2008 stage production of Judy Blume’s children’s book, but when lead actor Max Montague became sick, Mason’s mother, Youth Theatre director Maria Chattin-Carter, said she immediately looked to him to fill in.
Although he never rehearsed for the performance, Mason took the stage after watching a couple of performances, Chattin-Carter said.
“He was the only one I knew could pick it up and just do it,” she said. “On stage, it’s like he blocks everything else out. He was very focused on stage and living in the moment.”