SAN ANTONIO – The dream of becoming a famous actor is closer than ever for 18-year-old Alex Poncio.
He just landed a role in Adam Sandler's movie "Grown Ups 2," the sequel to the 2010 comedy about a group of childhood friends who meet up for a reunion years later.
"I'm very excited. I don't know how to really put it into words," said Poncio, "It's a dream. It's really dream-like."
Getting to this point has taken years of hard work. Poncio is passionate about acting and started doing theater as a young boy.
He is in the theater department at Brandeis High School, performs at the Overtime Theater with the comedy improv troupe "the Denials" and studies with Brad Milne at the San Antonio Film Academy.
The student film "Benny," which he stars in, was recently nominated for a Student Academy Award.
The local pilot "Book," which he also stars in, was recently selected for the BANFF International Pilots Competition.
His entire family is passionate about acting. His younger sister trains just as hard and their parents work hard to support their dreams.
"I don't think there's a minute of our day that's not spent doing something in theater," said Alex's mother, Tracey Maurer. "I mean, they study constantly."
Alex worked with his acting coach, San Antonio Film Academy Director Brad Milne, to put together the audition tape for "Grown Ups 2," which led to an audition in Los Angeles.
Poncio had just boarded the plane back to San Antonio with his mother when they learned he got the part.
"We're both very appreciative and very excited that his hard work paid off," said Maurer.
Poncio isn't allowed to give out too many details about the movie but the website IMDB.com shows a long list of stars he'll be working with, including, Adam Sandler, Taylor Lautner, Salma Hayek, Kevin James and Maya Rudolph.
Poncio's role is secret for now.
"I play a bully character that's about as far as I can go," said Poncio.
Poncio graduates from Brandeis High School early next month. It's about the same time he'll start his new job as a professional actor.
After that, he plans to continue pursuing a full-time career as an actor and comedian.