Like a lot of boys his age, Parker Bates loves playing soccer and hanging out with his brother Prestyn.
Yet, this 12-year-old spends his days dodging questions about NBC's 'This Is Us.'
"Everybody always wants to know, 'What can you tell us about 'This Is Us'?' And I can't. I just can't," Bates said.
Bates grew up in McKinney, but is now stealing scenes as "young Kevin Pearson" on NBC's biggest drama.
The two Bates brothers started to model and act in commercials while here in North Texas until they both got a big break three years ago.
"My brother booked a movie and I booked 'This Is Us,' and my life has changed completely," Bates said.
He said working with the cast and crew is a blast and choosing his favorite part of filming can be tough, but said sharing scenes with his TV parents may be the most fun.
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"Milo [Ventimiglia] will sometimes make me cry," Bates said. "But Mandy [Moore] is always fun to do scenes with, because I never get to do that many one-on-one scenes."
Bates returned home to North Texas last week to visit his grandparents and cousins and to help debut a new kids menu at Great Wolf Lodge.
In addition to acting, he also found a passion for cooking.
"A little rule in our house is if you cook you don't have to do the dishes, so that's one of the reasons I started cooking," Bates said.
The indoor water park asked him to develop two signature dishes. Bates made a Sloppy Joe and a dessert that's a twist on a country biscuit.
"The country biscuit is like Texas and it reminded me of Texas because my grandmother makes country biscuits and everybody's grandmother made country biscuits when they were growing up."
He'll be back in California to watch the season finale of "This Is Us" and said while he can't spill any secrets, be sure to have extra tissues.
The season finale airs Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on NBC 5.
