Montauk boy stars in CBS Sports Super Bowl commercial
![Francisco Gabriel Estrella in a green-screen scene while making his Super Bowl...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3ANThlNjNlNjctOGExNi00%3ANjctOGExNi00NjRiNDI0%2Flisuperkid190207_photos-fdd.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Francisco Gabriel Estrella in a green-screen scene while making his Super Bowl ad. Credit: Cynthia Neat
Francisco Gabriel Estrella was a typical second-grader until Sunday. That was when the Montauk boy starred in a Super Bowl commercial where he played a kid with supersized fantasies of sports greatness.
"Dream big" was the theme of the promotional spot for CBS, and that's just what Francisco plans to do. The ad was Francisco's first paid acting gig but he's already made up his mind about the future.
"I really want to become a movie star," he said Wednesday.
The 7-year-old's Super Bowl ad performance has been seen by millions around the globe. He's being treated like the big man on campus at his school, said Francisco's mother, Cynthia Neat. He likes the attention.
"At school, I like to be early to class, but sometimes I'm late because people come up to me and talk about the commercial," he said.
His mother, for her part, is overjoyed.
"Montauk is so excited," Neat said. "The whole town is loving him."
Francisco, a student at Montauk School, beat out nearly 100 other boys at his audition. The producers said he had a sincere, genuine quality, his mother said.
"He is very humble, very cute and handsome," Neat said. "They were impressed."
In the ad, Francisco plays a boy watching TV in bed. He falls asleep and dreams of receiving the coveted green jacket after winning the Masters golf tournament. He cuts down a basketball net after his college team wins the national championship. Dressed as a cadet, he salutes at the annual Army-Navy football game as the announcer says, “This is a game of honor.”
Then he hoists — or tries to — trophy after trophy, including the gleaming silver football awarded to the Super Bowl winner, while confetti falls around him.
As the boy watches TV in his bedroom, play-by-play man Jim Nance, who called the Super Bowl for CBS, smiles warmly back and says: "Dream big, kid, dream big."
Francisco said he enjoyed the acting challenge, which included making the prop trophies appear as if they were heavy.
When his family saw the ad during the game Sunday, Francisco's mother was so happy she started screaming. She said she's watched it about 15 times. Friends from as far away as Chile, Puerto Rico and Vietnam have shared their thrill at seeing the commercial.
Francisco also enjoys playing basketball and baseball. He gets As in school and loves to play with the family's Shih Tzu, Max.
He showed a flash of his talent during last year's school show, said Montauk Superintendent J. Philip Perna. Francisco got on stage and drew cheers with his rendition of the Floss Dance craze.
"The crowd roared," Perna said.
Francisco has not shown signs that his head has gotten too big, Perna added.
"He's a great kid," Perna said. "He's happy, he does his work, he's friendly."
Francisco got into acting by chance a few years ago. Francisco's mother offered his older sister, Adriana, acting and modeling classes in Melville but she declined. Francisco said he wanted to give it a try.
"He’s got such a great look,” said Amanda Carson, director of operations at Tower Talent Long Island in Melville, where Francisco takes classes. “And he’s definitely Mr. Personality.”
Now Francisco is aiming even higher.
"He said to me the other day, 'Maybe next is a movie,' " his mother said. "He sounded very sure of himself when he said it."
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