Many wondered who the kid was in the Darth Vader Super Bowl commercial last week and today we got our answer. Not only was the Volkswagen commercial great, but the story behind it was even better. You see, the kid playing Darth Vader -- and doing a dang good job of it, if I may say so myself -- is actually a heart patient. Max Page was diagnosed with a heart defect early in life, but appears to be on his way to a normal life -- one that just got a bit more famous.
SB Nation had the story behind the ad earlier on Monday, and it makes the whole commercial and everything about the ad campaign perfect.
Totally cute, right? Well, it gets even cuter: The boy who plays little Darth is six-year-old Max Page, who is a heart patient at the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. Max was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot - a heart defect - at four months old. His doctor says his long-term prognosis is good. "He can essentially have normal activity and with careful care, a full life is a reasonable expectation
Amazing, right? You bet it is. Max does an excellent job pretending to be Darth Vader, right down to the "punchline," if you will, when the car starts and startles him. Without saying a word, Max steals the show with his exaggerated motions and ability to mime Vader.
And, of course, it's always worth another watch.
Based on the whole package -- the great commercial, the great child actor and the story behind it -- Volkswagen comes out a big winner