7-year-old Max Page, who is best known for portraying a diminutive Darth Vader in Volkswagen's successful Super Bowl ad (and also for looking uncannily like a little Luke Skywalker), will undergo open-heart surgery tomorrow at LA's Children's Hospital.

Page suffers from a congenital heart defect, and has undergone multiple operations since being diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot at three months of age. The latest surgery — his first open-heart procedure — aims to replace his pulmonary valve with a donor valve, and close up the hole in his heart.

"He's scared and he's nervous," his dad, Buck Page, told Ann Curry on this morning's Today Show. "Max has not known how good he can feel because of the restrictions of his valve, so this is going to enable him to become even more active, which is hard to believe, and help him out tremendously."

To help Max alleviate some anxiety and deal with the disappointment of having to cancel summer plans, his mother Jennifer helped him put together a list of activities he'll be able to enjoy while in recovery. "He said, 'Well, this house is awfully boring to recover in, so we need to fun it up," she said.

Waiting for Max when he comes home is a house full of "themed" rooms for him to play in. For example, "the garage is the 'explode zone'," Jennifer said. "It's covered in science projects and paint."

In addition to appearing in several other commercials, Max also has recurring roles in NBC's Prime Suspect and The Young and the Restless.

[photo via AP]