Skyler Gisondo was always the comic relief. ‘Primetime’ changed that.

NEW YORK ‒ Not many actors can attribute their careers to a large three-topping pizza with a side of cinnamon sticks.

But at just 6 years old, “Primetime” breakout Skyler Gisondo earned his Screen Actors Guild card after appearing in a 2002 commercial for Pizza Hut’s Cinna Meal Deal. It was his first-ever audition – his dad thought it was a scam – and he wound besting roughly 100 kids for the 30-second spot, thanks in part to a speech impediment that the casting directors found irresistible.

“I remember I was bummed because I had it in my head that you’d get lifetime free Pizza Hut,” says Gisondo, 30, seated at a Central Park hotel on a recent afternoon. “My mom tried to explain: ‘Honey, they’re giving you money. You could buy so much Pizza Hut!’ I was like, ‘It’s not the same!’ ”

The fast-rising star has a whole lot more than free pies on the horizon, with some Oscar pundits predicting a best supporting actor nod for his heartbreaking work in “Primetime” (in theaters now).

Gisondo plays the fictional Dan Plum, a wide-eyed aspiring actor who lands a gig as a decoy on NBC’s “To Catch a Predator,”…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/