Matthew Ringard, a professional actor attending Napa High School in the fall, says there is nothing like being on stage.

"I've always been into performance. ... You get this sense of euphoria -- the feeling that you have the potential to be famous. It's a feeling of accomplishment," he said.

Ringard, 14, a self-described infovore and old soul, said he began acting professionally around age 7 after taking modeling and acting classes. He now acquires acting jobs through San Francisco's Generations Talent Agency and works mostly in the Bay Area. Ringard said he has been in three television commercials.

"I did a public service announcement against bullying. I played the victim. (The other actor) put me in an arm lock and my glasses had to be knocked off when he was shaking me. ... I really enjoyed working on the PSA. The whole thing was interesting to watch," he said.

Ringard said he got his highest-paying job when he did a voice-over for LeapFrog, a company specializing in educational children's toys. Ringard snagged the lead spot in the project, set up as a version of "Where the Wild Things Are," a children's book by Maurice Sendak. In the voice-over, Ringard was the voice for Max, the main character; the job paid $600.

Ringard, who said he is more interested in acting than modeling, was also hired for spots in two other commercials, including one for Countrywide Home Loans.

He said he was cast as a paper boy riding a bike and delivering newspapers. The problem was the bicycle he rode was a model for adults -- and a bit too big for him. Later in the same commercial, along with others, Ringard dangled his feet off of a plank filmed to appear as the base of a tree house. He also appeared in a family photograph during the commercial -- and wasn't too fond of his on-screen dad. "He was so full of himself, it was ridiculous," he said.

Ringard said his easiest job was appearing in a commercial for a Hyperscan Game Console, a Mattel video game product. All he had to do, he said, was play the video game and talk about what he liked best about it.

Even though Ringard is a teenager, his tastes in the entertainment industry include old-school, classic entertainers such as Red Skelton, Abbott and Costello, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.; his favorite movie is "The Godfather" and he's a fan of the popular, yet now defunct, television series, "The Sopranos."

If you detect an interest in the Mafia, you're right. Ringard is writing a screenplay about organized crime and the story features five gangster families.

"It follows the life of a family don and their fight for turf," he said. Ringard said he became interested in organized crime about two years ago, after his dad gave him a Godfather video game. "I don't want to be involved, but it's just so interesting to me."

His mother, Laura, said keeping abreast of her children's interests and careers is important to her and she is proud of their accomplishments. She runs her own tutoring business, and said scheduling her children's jobs around everyday life can be challenging. In addition to her son's success with commercials, her daughter, Savannah, 9, currently models for the Gap clothing company.

"They'll get a call Monday at four and say that we have an audition tomorrow at three. And there are no guarantees (that the children will get the job.) ... I see my role as finding what they're passionate about," she said, adding that she is teaching her children about the value of a dollar by asking them to save some of their hard-earned money for future endeavors.

Ringard said in the future, he hopes to attend the New York Film Academy and appear in a comedy. "When I lay on my deathbed, I want to know I did everything in my life that I wanted to do."