They’re not precocious. They’re not the brightest kids in class. They’re not smart alecks. And they’re sort of shockingly real, in a somewhat exaggerated sort of way.

“We really set out to … not make them cliches,” said executive producer DeAnn Heline. “And I honestly think part of being a parent is you would do anything for your children. You love them so much. Of course, you think they are perfect.

“Yet there’s always something where you are going, ‘Really? Did you have to do that?’ They also sometimes have quirks that can drive a parent crazy.”
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Having been Axl’s age just a couple of years ago, McDermott said he can relate to his character.

“I think we try to keep it as grounded and realistic in as humorous a way as possible,” said McDermott, 19. “There’s some stuff that is exaggerated, but like they said, there’s a lot of stuff that is taken from … people that you’ve met.”

Sher said she has no complaints about her character.

“She’s always happy. And even when she’s not happy, it’s always an extreme emotion with Sue, pretty much,” the 18-year-old said. “And to play anything to the extreme all the time … it’s awesome.”

Eleven-year-old Shaffer said he’s not even really acting.

“For me, playing Brick is actually playing me, only with a different family and a different name,” he said in total sincerity. “Because I love almost everything that Brick loves to do — read, talk to myself. So I like thinking of Brick as me, which he is.”

Californian Atticus Shaffer plays Brick, the younger son in the family comedy starring Northeast Ohio’s own Patricia Heaton. According to ABC, he began acting in 2006 and has appeared on The Class, My Name Is Earl, Days of Our Lives, Carpoolers, Out of Jimmy’s Head and Human Giant — as well as sharing a bus stop with Will Smith in Hancock and doing commercials. Other films include The Unborn and An American Carol. He is home-schooled, a Boy Scout and an avid Yu-Gi-Oh player. And he does all those things while dealing with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease; Shaffer has Type IV, which according to the OI Foundation’s Web site leaves people ”moderately affected.”

However, originally thinking the book was a great idea “because he worries about everything,” Patricia has been left to deal with the aftermath!

“I went to tuck him in one night after Christmas … and he had the book open on his lap and he was saying, ‘Mom, did you read about the Ebola virus?’” she explains. “And I realized, you know what, probably not a good idea to have gotten him that book.”

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