Matt Heath's son becomes celebrity reporter

Photo / Supplied

He's only 9 years old, but Barry Heath, the son of Radio Hauraki's Matt, is a star on the rise, according to some of Hollywood's most seasoned professionals.

The movie-loving youngster flew to Hollywood in February to interview the A-list stars of The Lego Movie 2 for the Herald's TimeOut magazine, coming face-to-face with Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett and Tiffany Hadish.

He did such a great job that Warner Brothers invited him to New York to interview the stars of Shazam, another blockbuster.

Heath jr started his first interview by introducing himself: "I'm Barry Victor Hobart Heath and I'm 9 years old and come from Auckland."

The stars loved him, with Arnett declaring: "Barry is my best friend in New Zealand."
Warner Bros. told dad Matt that Barry is a star and they want him to cover all their kids' movies from now on.

Matt and Barry Heath interviewing Zachary Levi. Photo / Supplied

"Barry loves Lego and movies, it's all he talks about," Heath sr told Spy. "It's great he's getting to talk about Lego and movies to movie stars in a Lego movie. He has surpassed my media career at the age of 9 and it's paying off. I just went to New York for a week on the Shazam junket and his work paid for it. I'm very proud."

Barry created a custom Lego character for Zachary Levi, (who plays Shazam), after learning he didn't have one yet. Zach was stoked.

"You made a Shazam Lego figure!? Do I get to keep this? That's awesome!" Zach told Barry.

Barry's mum, Lani Purkis from the band Elemeno P, is proud as punch too. "I'm really excited that my boy gets to be involved in a world that excites him so much. Plus, sometimes I get to go too. Always a bonus. I love my son, he's such a nerd."

You can read Barry's interview with Shazam stars Levi and Mark Strong in TimeOut this Thursday and watch the adorable video on nzherald.co.nz/timeout.