Max Page, the adorable freckle-nosed boy who plays a mini-Darth Vader in the popular Volkswagen commercial, is scheduled to go under the knife to repair a defect in his heart on Thursday, and despite the seriousness of the procedure, the 7-year old remains brave with the help of one of his heroes.

Max, who has regular roles on “The Young And The Restless” and “Prime Suspect”, was born with a rare condition of one of his heart valves which makes it too small to carry blood from his heart to his lungs properly. This will be his eighth surgery in seven years and is leaving him deservedly apprehensive, as it is his first open heart procedure. But his mother says he is relentlessly optimistic and wants to focus on the things he will be able to do once the surgery is over, rather than the things he can’t do. He even made a list–with the help of his mom–of things they could change around the house to make it more of a fun place to recuperate in.

“….At first it was everything he was sad he wasn’t going to be able to do, all the plans we had to cancel,’’ mom Jennifer Page said. “So we wrote the list and then he looked around. He said, ‘This house is awfully boring to recover in. We need to fun it up.’ We’re so lucky we have an articulate son that’s able to tell us how to help him.’’

Max insists that turning to Darth Vader when he feels scared is one thing that always gets him through, saying, “Cause when I’m Darth, I feel strong.’’

His parents continually wonder where their little boy gets his strength and energy from, but Max has a simple answer:

“If you use your Force and dream big, you can achieve anything,” he said.

Image credit: Today Show