Talking fantasy

Alex Etel is 13, English and the star of the new Loch Ness sea monster fantasy "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep," which opens today.

The plucky lad has only appeared in one other movie, Danny Boyle's comic thriller 2004 adventure "Millions."

I caught up with young Alex at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, where he'd come to promote his new movie and see the kind of aquatic creatures that aren't made of special effects.

DG: When you acted in "The Water Horse" with Crusoe, the lovable sea monster, did you know what he looked like?

AE: Not really. I saw the baby (version of Crusoe) because they were puppets. I later saw, like, the teenage version of it. They didn't show me anything after that. It was all a tennis ball and a stick. That's what I acted with."

DG: Wait, so in these heart-breaking scenes where you're acting your heart out with Crusoe the monster, he's just a tennis ball with a stick?

AE: Yep. Tennis ball and a stick. It was hard.

DG: How did you create such an emotional response to a tennis ball?

AE: Well, I had seen the teenage version of (Crusoe), so I just imagined what it would look like when it's older. Then I acted to that. I had to use a lot of imagination, then do the accent and then do the acting.

DG: What's the difference between your English accent and your character's Scottish accent?

AE: With a Scottish accent, it's more rolling your r's and things like that. With an English accent, it's in a much lower key, and it's more of a lazy way of talking.

DG: I understand you weren't much of a swimmer when you started the movie?

AE: No, I wasn't. I could swim, but I wasn't that strong. By the end, I could swim very well. At first, I could only hold my breath for about 20 seconds. I got up to 49 seconds, I think. That's quite good. I was impressed with that.

DG: What's the hardest part about being an actor?

AE: Getting the jobs. You have to keep your cool. You have to be able to do everything the director wants, but that's kind of the easy part. The hard part is getting the job in the first place. As soon as you've got the part, you feel a great sense of achievement.

DG: What was the biggest difference between making "Millions" and "The Water Horse"?

EF: I can't really remember much about "Millions" because I made it when I was 8, and that was five years ago. "The Water Horse" was an amazing experience because I'm grown up more now, and I know what I'm doing a bit more now.

DG: Any favorite actors you'd like to emulate?

AE: I like "The Matrix" with Keanu Reeves. I think he's a great actor. He did all his own action scenes. I like Tom Cruise. People like that. They're great actors because they know what they're doing. And they're never going to like just turn bad over night. I admire them for that.

DG: Any final words for your Chicago fans?

AE: Uh, thanks?