Check out 'Clubhouse'

"I just think we've all been so inured by these self-reflective teenagers on television," he said, referring to their dialogue as "Dawson's Creek speak." "They all talk with the awareness of having, like, 10 years of therapy and being 35 years old. And I had some of those lines in there, and then Jeremy comes in and tries to read them and I'm, like, 'No, no, no, no, no.'

"He keeps us honest. And it was one of the greatest things for the show. It was really mutual, because since then we've just simplified the character because he is a 16-year-old kid and it actually makes the stakes more dramatic. He is Pete Young in every way, shape and form."

The similarities between himself and the character are the reason Sumpter — who was only looking to do movies after starring in last year's theatrical film "Peter Pan" — decided to do a weekly TV series.

"I am Pete Young, and that led me to do the show," said Sumpter, who sounds like any 15-year-old boy when he talks about walking on the field at Dodger Stadium (where "Clubhouse" films its baseball scenes) as "a dream come true." And he can certainly relate to the wide-eyed wonder Pete feels when he steps on the field with the fictional New York Empires.

"I wasn't acting there as much because every time I walk onto the field, I just get the shivers and that thrill of being on a major-league baseball field," he said.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com