Growing up in Idaho normally isn’t a fast track to Hollywood. But for Moscow teen Joel Courtney, the experience — and his utter lack of it — was precisely the quality that director J.J. Abrams wanted in a leading man.

Phoning from Los Angeles, where he was about to attend the premiere of science-fiction thriller “Super 8,” Joel said his innocence helped prepare him for the starring role. In a film inspired by summer classics such as Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” and “The Goonies,” as well as the coming-of-age kid camaraderie of Rob Reiner’s “Stand By Me,” Courtney plays a sensitive boy whose mother just died.

“When J.J. met me, he told me that I brought this sweetness that actors can, like, imitate — but nobody can imitate it well,” Joel, 15, said. “And I just brought the real thing.”

Less than a year ago, Courtney was a 14-year-old seeking his first acting job while visiting his older brother, who is pursuing acting in L.A.: “My goal for that summer was to get a commercial and $100,” Joel said.

One life-changing audition later, he wasn’t returning to Moscow for school in the fall. He was being transformed into a character in a Spielberg-produced movie (which critics love — review, page 4).

In the past month, Joel has been interviewed by as many as 30 media outlets each day while staying mum about the big mystery of “Super 8”: What made the train crash? What exactly is the cargo?

Keeping the secret wasn’t too difficult, he said.

“If you look at it one way — like, ‘Well, I really want to tell my friends, but I want them to be surprised’ — it’s kind of hard,” he said. “But if you look at it, and you think, ‘I’m one of the only people that actually knows the “Super 8” secret,’ it kind of becomes cooler and a lot easier.”

Joel fell in love with acting after attending one of his brother’s acting classes a year and a half ago, he said. His parents are teachers at a private Christian school in Moscow.

“It’s still surreal,” Joel said. “Just the thought of me going to a premiere for my first movie in like a couple of hours? That’s just crazy.”

Making the transition from middle-schooler to actor was a jump. Joel’s parents were contractually obligated to continue teaching, he said, so his older sister stayed on set with him during filming. That’s where he studied his school lessons.

“That was a lot of fun,” Joel said, “because I could just go from being terrified out of my mind into, like, learning how to do Latin and logic.”

He also got a crash course in major-budget filmmaking.

“Going into the movie, I didn’t know any of the movie lingo,” he said. “And there was, like, all these tools, and I didn’t know why this stuff was lit up. I didn’t know what the dolly track on the ground was. I’m pretty sure that the first day people thought I was, like, stupid.”

Fortunately, another young actor, Riley Griffiths, also was a newbie.

“J.J. just taught us everything,” Joel said.

Next up for Idaho’s newest movie star? He’ll film a couple of episodes of “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour” on pay-TV children’s channel The Hub.

After that, he’s keeping the door open — as long as he can return home. Joel treasures his Idaho life, he said, even if he isn’t exactly a rugged outdoorsman.

“I have never been camping,” he said. “Our family is not a big camping family. But I can’t wait to go. And I love fishing ... when I can catch something.”

“I am staying in Idaho,” he said. “Unless I get a series — and then the commutes will be too crazy, and then we might get a place in L.A. But I really do want to finish school up in Idaho. That’s where all my friends are, so I would just love to be able to stay there.”

So ... was Joel utterly thrilled to finally be interviewed by his home state’s capital city newspaper?

Ahem. Let’s skip that question.

“I have not been to Boise,” Joel admitted. “But,” he added enthusiastically, “I’ve heard it’s awesome.”

Give that kid an Oscar.

Michael Deeds co-hosts “The Other Studio” at 9 p.m. Sundays on 94.9 FM “The River”; he appears Thursdays on Channel 6 News. Twitter: @IDS_Deeds