Someday, the neatly printed name of Evan Barron may be worth a lot of money.

The budding 9-year-old actor from Fayetteville experienced a moment of panic over autographs recently while on location in Senoia for an independent film. One of the "locals" asked for Evan's autograph, and he quickly whispered to his mother, "What do I do? I don't know how to write cursive yet!"

Evan was working with Harry Connick Jr., Pete Postlethwaite and Patricia Clarkson on "Letters from a Wayward Son," an Avenue Entertainment Production. He had no lines in the movie, but that doesn't stop the rehearsal hours from being long, hard work, Evan says. His little brother, Colt, and a friend, Amy Overton, also portray children in the movie. Evan and Colt go to Spring Hill Elementary and Amy is in third grade at Fayetteville Elementary.

"I don't want acting to take over my childhood," Evan says, "I just want to be a normal kid and have fun. I'm just trying to be a regular guy." He says his mom, Beth Barron, a former model, "told me it's the easiest way to make money, and I think acting is fun." He says he is putting his money away for college, but if he happens to get a football scholarship like his dad, he'll buy "a Lamborghini Diablo Roadster V-8."

David Barron played football at the University of Tennessee and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s. He's now a project management consultant, and the family has lived in Fayetteville for four years. Six-year-old Colt says he is the tallest kid in his first-grade class and is also looking forward to football. David coached Evan's team last season, "and had as much fun as the boys," Beth says. David grew up in Decatur and Beth in East Point.

Evan is accustomed to talking freely to people, since interviews and auditions are necessary for getting acting jobs. He says he memorizes "monologues" to use in auditions to let the interviewers know how he speaks and something about his personality.

"I'm a size 12, 86 pounds, 56 inches tall, 9 years old, turning 10 on June 22, and I've had a good life," he says with a straight face.

An honor roll student, Evan says he likes math and science, and if football and acting don't work out he'll be a dentist. One of the weirdest places he's ever done homework, he says, was in a Publix grocery sometime around 4 a.m. while working on a joint commercial with BellSouth.

He and Colt showed off their yo-yo skills, another of her boys' big interests, Beth says. Evan has billboards, four movies and some "print work" with such clients as Goodys, Dillard's and Russell Athletic, to his credit so far. He is represented by Atlanta's Young Faces.