Adventure of a lifetime

Film roles offer range of experiences for 12-yearold Oakes Fegley

In his relatively short film career, Oakes Fegley has shared scenes with Robert Redford, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken and Robert DeNiro.

He’s anchored three major Hollywood movies, beginning with the Disney adventure “Pete’s Dragon” last year and continuing with the DeNiro comedy “The War With Grandpa” due in 2018.

But, for the 12-year-old Fegley, one of biggest thrills of shooting his new movie “Wonderstruck” came between takes when he was left to his own devices at New York’s Museum of Natural History where pivotal scenes were shot.

“I’ve been to the Museum, which is probably my favorite museum, many, many times with my family and I have probably seen almost all of it,” says Fegley.

“But to be able to film there at night when no one was around was really an honor. Normally, when you’re there, you can hear all these people talking and giving their opinions. But to be there and have it be so quiet, and just have this personal experience with the Museum: that was so cool.”

It’s appropriate that Fegley was infatuated with the Museum’s ever-popular exhibits since, in many ways, the movie is a celebration of the ways that such facilities can spark the imagination.

Adapted from Brian Selznick’s (“Hugo”) critically acclaimed novel by director Todd Haynes (“Carol”), “Wonderstruck” (opening Oct. 27) pivots on two 12-year-olds - Ben (Fegley) and Rose (newcomer Millicent Simmonds) - who are growing up decades apart. Ben lives in Minnesota in 1977 while Rose lives in Hoboken in 1927.

“Wonderstruck” follows both youngsters on an adventure of a lifetime. Rose, who suffers from hearing loss, takes a ferry to Manhattan to try to track down a silent screen actress.

Ben, meanwhile, faces an avalanche of tragedy. He loses his mother (Michelle Williams), becomes deaf after being struck by lightning, and heads to New York via bus to try to locate his missing father. Once in the Big Apple, he befriends a fellow tweener named Jamie (Jaden Michael).

For both Ben and Rose, the action culminates in the Museum of Natural History and the Queens Museum, which houses a 895,000-building diorama built for the 1964’s World’s Fair. Julianne Moore plays Rose’s mother in 1927 and a museum employee in 1977.

MARY CYBULSKI/ROADSIDE| ATTRACTIONS VIA AP Jaden Michael, from left, Oakes Fegley and Julianne Moore in a scene from “WonderStruck,” which was featured at the Cannes Film Festival.