Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible Star Ed Oxenbould on His Guilty Pleasure: Mexican Coca-Cola!

For Ed Oxenbould, starring as the title character in the new Disney family film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day alongside Jennifer Garner and Steve Carell brought a lot of perks — but none better than his favorite on-set indulgence.

“Mexican Coke!” the 13-year-old Australian, a native of Bondi, says of the south-of-the-border version of Coca-Cola. “It’s in a really tall glass bottle with a white sticker. It’s made with real cane sugar. Not sugary chemical things. It’s so good.”

In fact, the cult favorite is experiencing something of a moment: The New York Times extolled its virtues in a recent piece.

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Oxenbould, who first auditioned for the film — which is based on Judith Viorst’s 1972 children’s book of the same name — with a tape shot in his living room, says he turns to the kitchen when he’s having a no good, very bad day of his own.

“I’ve had horrible days where you wake up with a zit and you have to film and it’s terrible,” he says. “For me, baking makes me feel better. That takes your mind off of it.”

His specialty? “I have made this one dish, a salted caramel chocolate ganache tart. It’s so rich. You can only have a few bites!”

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And although he says he dreams of attending culinary school, for now his acting career is keeping him busy. Next up: Paper Planes, costarring fellow Aussie Sam Worthington, and Sundowning from The Sixth Sense‘snotoriously secretive director M. Night Shyamalan.

“All I can say about that film is that it’s called Sundowning,” says Oxenbould. “That’s it!”

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day hits theaters Friday.

—Michelle Tauber

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