‘YOUNG SHELDON’: SMALL LEAD, BIG BANG

At age 9, Iain Armitage is a veteran actor.

It’s not every day that an interview subject finishes a conversation by hanging upside down from a pair of gymnastic rings at a park. But here we are.

Just past the swing set and plastic slide at Beeman Park in Studio City, Calif. — where kids on summer break frolic happily on a clammy day — Iain Armitage dangles and squirms from the metal hoops during a day off from shooting CBS’ comedy “Young Sheldon,” which premieres Sept. 25. It’s a fitting bookend to a meeting that kicked off with Iain, armed with a magician’s wand and several decks of cards, demonstrating his stealthy illusion skills under a lush tree for a half-hour: “Watch very closely,” he’d say again and again.

This is what it’s like, spending the afternoon with a budding veteran actor who just turned 9.

“I’m still a kid,” he says matter-of-factly while maneuvering into various positions on the rings. “I get my play time.”

After making his television debut this year on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” playing a missing boy with a troubled home life, Iain’s big break came just weeks later with a role on HBO’s highprofile limited series, “Big Little Lies.” In it, he played the son of Shailene Woodley’s character who sets off some of the mommy tension after he’s accused of bullying a classmate.

Since then, his career is showing no signs of taking a recess. Iain played a role in this summer’s Brie Larsonled family drama “The Glass Castle” and later this month stars opposite Jane Fonda and Iain Armitage plays the young Sheldon Cooper and Zoe Perry plays his mom in CBS’ new spin-off of “The Big Bang Theory.” “Young Sheldon” has a special premiere on Sept. 25. Robert Redford in the Netflix movie “Our Souls at Night.”

But it’s the sitcom “Young Sheldon” that has Iain front and center. The series, a spinoff of the CBS ratings powerhouse “The Big Bang Theory,” focuses on the childhood of Sheldon Cooper, the egotistical and socially awkward theoretical physicist character portrayed by Jim Parsons. Iain is young Sheldon.

“I hardly knew what ‘Big Bang Theory’ was,” Iain says. “It really isn’t appropriate for me. But I watched some of the episodes that my mom said were OK just to see what it was about.”

Iain’s demeanor is a mixture of carefree kid and astute thespian. He encourages a reporter to hop and skip during their journey to the park’s baseball bleachers. Then, minutes later, he is talking about the “professional thrill” of headlining a TV series and the “incredible experience” of working with such Oscar-winning heavyweights as Fonda and Redford — or, as he calls them, Ms. Jane and Mr. Robert.

Fonda spoke of that duality: “When Iain and I first met … (he) was nervous and talked nonstop, recounting fantasies he played out with his toys and told countless stories. The director then had us improvise several of the scenes we would be doing together and I realized that Iain was very talented. There was no ‘acting’ apparent. He knew how to just go with the scene intuitively.”

For Iain, who lives in Arlington, Va., when not shooting the show, the road to rubbing elbows with Hollywood’s elite came after he made a name for himself as a theater critic, offering reviews of productions such as “Fiddler on the Roof ” and “Annie” on his YouTube channel, IainLovesTheatre. Parsons, who recently attended a production of “A Doll’s House, Part 2” with Iain, says it was a surreal experience.

“I have never gone to the theater where more people couldn’t have cared less I was standing there,” Parsons says. “They were like ‘Iain! Iain!’”

And before you ask, yeah, he’s friends with “Hamilton” powerhouse Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Despite his high-profile extracurricular activities, Iain says he is a normal kid — though he has willingly been on a sugar detox for months. He notes that he has a pact with his parents, actor Euan Morton (Broadway’s “Taboo”) and theater producer Lee Armitage, about this whole acting thing.

“As long as I stay the kind of boy that I am and keep my end of the bargain, I can do it,” Iain says. “We do have talks sometimes. I have a great mother, she’s good at reminding me how to be a good person.”

Lee, who was present for the interview and is with Iain when he’s on set, says the idea of her son headlining a TV series was an overwhelming thought initially.

“That amount of time is so much of his life,” she says. “But he was so excited about it. So we made a pact that as long as he likes doing it — and as long as we see it’s not negatively affecting him — he can do it. If it doesn’t work for our family, we’ll talk.”

Dear Readers: Today’s Sound Off is about too many junk flyers:

“Dear Heloise: I want people to please stop leaving ads for various restaurants, child care, lawn and tree-trimming services, religious information and all the other info. It’s stuffed in my door, left on the porch or, more often than I like, thrown on my front lawn. I put a ‘No Solicitation’ sign on my door, but that hasn’t stopped anyone.” — Miranda L., Kennewick, Wash.

Miranda, this can be a problem, especially if you’re out of town for a while. Unfortunately, they are not going to stop! Most times, these are delivered by a separate company. Also, all of the piled-up papers signal that no one is home, and basically says to a thief, “Hey, break in!” If you are gone for a while, ask a neighbor (or pay a neighborhood teenager) to pick the stuff up daily. — Heloise

Fast facts

Dear Readers: Here are some other uses for the cardboard tubes inside paper towels:

Slit one side and use to push all of your computer, phone and printer cords through the slit and out of your way.

Store prints or posters inside.

Use to store plastic bags inside.

Close up the ends and use to mail letters, pictures or other items.

— Heloise

To ring or not to ring?

Dear Heloise: I have some good advice for young men (Heloise here: or older ones, too) about surprising their girlfriend with an engagement ring. First, you don’t have to have a ring to ask her to marry you; find some unique way to ask. I asked my now-wife to marry me, then we went ring shopping.

We decided on a jeweler, and I went by myself to discuss a price I could afford. He was to have a tray of possible ring sets to show her the next day. We both went back, and she selected five sets she liked. I returned alone, chose one from the five sets and surprised her when I gave her the engagement ring a few days later.

We have been married for 54 years. — Sheridan G., Fullerton, Calif.

Sheridan, what a lovely story, and one I hope will give others some insight that some things do NOT always have to be done in the traditional way. — Heloise

Pet-hair removal

Dear Heloise: As much as I love my dog, he sheds on my sofa and chairs. Instead of yelling at him to get off the furniture, I use a damp, clean sponge (after vacuuming as much as possible). I lightly rub the sponge in small circles, which causes the pet hairs to collect together. Then I take tape of any kind and press on the clumps of pet hair. It’s easy and takes less time than writing this hint! — Tammy R., Kent, Ohio

This does work well; just be sure the sponge is clean! We keep a very-thinmaterial shower curtain on the bed so that when Chammy jumps up, the hair stays on it. — Heloise