Los Angeles Times - 16.11.2019

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HOT PROPERTY LOS ANGELES TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2019 WSCE

MY FAVORITE ROOM

Unlike most 9-year-olds, Pax-

ton Booth rarely has to be told to

clean his room. After playing with

his 1,241 (and counting) Hot

Wheels cars, the actor scoops them

up and neatly parks them on the

turquoise-colored shelves around

his bedroom.

“I do put them away,” said Pax-

ton, who plays Ollie Wrather on the

Disney Channel series “Coop &

Cami Ask the World.” “It sounds

weird, but I can usually tell you ex-

actly where each car is.”

Paxton’s bedroom, in his par-

ents’ Ventura home, houses all the

things he loves — vinyl LPs he finds

at swap meets, lanyards from the

red-carpet events he attends, his

Mickey Mouse ears and a series of

newsboy caps. The bedroom fea-

tures a mash-up of colors — a red

dresser, a fuchsia rug, purple bed-

ding.

But it’s the car collection in min-

iature that defines the room. Pax-

ton started acquiring the Mattel

Inc. classic creations when he was

3, when his grandmother handed

him some Hot Wheels that used to

belong to his father.

“It sparked something,” said

Paxton, who also appeared in

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” on Fox. “It

became a hobby and now it’s an ob-

session, really.”

Do you spend most of your time

in this room?

This house is nearly 100 years

old and the rooms are small. But

this room has a big loft bed so I

have all this room underneath to

play. When I’m playing with my

cars, I usually make tracks on the

ground using my bedding to make

bumps. It’s a whole shebang.

Sometimes, I’ll just sit on this

ladder and look at all my cars.

What else do you like to do in

here?

I love to read mystery stories.

I’m into “Goosebumps” [the chil-

dren’s horror novels] and Geroni-

mo Stilton [the reluctant hero-

mouse of his own adventure se-

ries]. I’m also a big fan of comic

books, like Scooby-Doo.

What else is meaningful to you in

here?

I have an inspiration board

where I put pictures of friends and

family. I also cut out a lot of fashion

ads to see what’s on trend right

now. And I like to keep the lan-

yards from events I go to. My favor-

ite is from the premiere of

“Dumbo” — I’m a fan of Tim Bur-

ton and Danny Elfman, and I got

to meet them both on the same

night. And there’s a snow globe

from my trip to Italy with my fam-

ily.

What in here is most meaningful

to you?

I have the original 16-piece set

of Hot Wheels, with replicas of

what they were like in 1968 when

Hot Wheels started. They only

made 1,500 of the sets.

Why do you love Hot Wheels so

much?

I play with mine differently. I

make a story. Every car has its own

personality. Some are faster, and

others are better in the dirt than

on the street. I get lost in the story.

It’s like reading a book or acting —

you get lost in that story. I have

some in their original packaging;

they’re super hard to find. You

don’t want to open them, but

they’re shiny and fun to look at.

Will you keep collecting?

I think the reason I collect is

I’m not allowed to have real cars

yet. But once I get a big car, I’m

still going to be collecting Hot

Wheels.

Do you have a favorite?

I’m going to quote [automotive

designer] Carroll Shelby, who

used to say his favorite was “the

next one.” My favorite is going to

be the next one.

Space

to park

a mini

fleet

Disney Channel actor’s

bedroom houses all that he

loves, including a massive

collection of Hot Wheels.

By Kavita Daswani

PAXTON BOOTH,co-star of “Coop & Cami Ask the World,” often plays underneath his loft bed.

Photographs by Jesse GoddardFor The Times

“I MAKEa story” out of playing with the cars, Paxton, 9, says. “Every car has its own personality.”