A rising Hollywood star featured in the box office hit Ghost Rider has ties to eastern Kentucky.

WYMT's Julie Maloney spoke with Matt Long, a Kentucky native who plays young Johnny Blaze in the action film.

“When I play him, he's a 17-year-old kid who lost his mother as a child,” Long said.

Actor Matt Long landed his first big screen role playing young Johnny Blaze in the movie Ghost Rider.

At age 27, Long plays alongside Nicolas Cage in the box office hit about a stunt motorcyclist who gives up his soul to fight against power hungry Blackheart, the son of the devil.

Long is a native of Winchester, Kentucky.

His wife Lora is from McDowell in Floyd County.

The couple now lives in Los Angeles, but say they frequently make trips back home.

The past year Long has been featured as an up and coming star to watch in several magazine's including Marie Claire, Wizard, and Details.

In February Long walked down the red carpet for the premiere of Ghost Rider and his mother-in-law says she was also in New York for the celebration.

Long is currently working on a movie called Sydney White, a modern day version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, set on a college campus.