SCHOOLBOY Oliver Walpole swapped his pens and paper for a pod racer when he landed himself a part in the new Star Wars blockbuster, The Phantom Menace. The 11-year-old lad, who attends Ralph Sadleir School, Puckeridge, features with child actor Jake Lloyd - who plays Anakin Skywalker - in the George Lucas production, which is released in Britain next Thursday. Oliver was nine when he went to see Star Wars being made in Leavesden studios, near Watford, with his father, Peter, who was working as a set decorator on the production. He was trying out one of the pod racers because he is the same size as Jake Lloyd when George Lucas spotted him and suggested that Oliver should have a screen test. After two weeks of waiting, the football-mad youngster learned he would have a speaking part in one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the century. He flew to Tunisia with his mum, Alison, and dad to spend 10 days filming in the desert with Liam Neeson, who stars as Jedi knight Qui-Gon Jinn, and Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi. Oliver will get a sneak preview of his screen debut tomorrow when he goes to the cast and crew showing with his parents and sisters, Lucy, 18, and Sophie, 9, and big brother, Stuart, 25. Speaking from the family home in Manuden, near Bishop's Stortford, Oliver's mum, who works as a learning support assistant and science technician at Ralph Sadleir School, said: "It was just the most exciting thing to seeyour child get a part in a film like this. "We were treated like royalty in Tunisia. It was just a fantasticexperience. "Oliver was so cool about it and he came over and told me he had been doing card tricks with his new friends - they turned out to be Jake Lloyd and Liam Neeson! "The casting director of the film told us we should get Oliver signed to an acting agency. It was something we thought about long and hard, but we have other children to consider and decided to leave things as they are for now. "He has a lot of talent and enthusiasm and acting is something he canalways go back to. "At the moment, he loves football, cricket and gymnastics and he also stars in school productions." Oliver's father, Peter, who has worked on films such as King Ralph and TV's The New Adventures of Indiana Jones, added: "He is not a mouthy kid and is quite cool about all of this, but secretly excited. The money he earned has been put in the building society for a rainy day."