When a producer for the family sitcom “My Wife and Kids” contacted Gray-Cabey about appearing as a musical guest, the six year old immediately told his parents that he wanted to accept.

Reflecting on the new opportunity, Gray-Cabey said that although he had never considered becoming an actor, he was enthusiastic about pursuing new opportunities even at that age.

Gray-Cabey’s first role on the show was small, just a few sentences of dialogue and a few notes on the piano.

“Then they kept giving me more lines and extra stuff to say, and it just kind of snowballed from there,” he says.

That snowball eventually avalanched into an acting career rivaling his musical one. Gray-Cabey and his family moved from Newry, Maine to California, where he became a permanent member of the cast. His television acting continued after the end of “My Wife and Kids” with guest appearances on shows ranging from “Grey’s Anatomy” to “CSI Miami.”

In 2006, he joined the cast of “Heroes” as Micah Sanders, a young boy who could communicate with and control technology.

Comparing “Heroes” to his previous work, Gray-Cabey described the job as far more intense.

The pinnacle of that intensity came during a long night filming his final scene of the show. After being fired at with blanks during hours of filming, Gray-Cabey contracted pneumonia.

But not even severe sickness could dampen his spirits.

“That night was pretty awesome,” he says.

FROM HOLLYWOOD TO HARVARD

Staying true to his ambition of becoming a Renaissance man, Gray-Cabey balanced his acting career with his pursuit of academic achievement. At age 11 he started high school after six years of homeschooling.

Despite his hectic filming schedule, which forced him to miss countless days of school, Gray-Cabey managed to maintain an academic record that eventually would earn him a spot at Harvard.

“I just had to do a lot of juggling of schoolwork and acting, which is tough,” said Gray-Cabey, who missed more than 60 days of class his sophomore year.

At age 15, he graduated from high school and was admitted to Harvard.