Max Page, the young actor who starred in the popular Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial last year, came through open-heart surgery on Thursday “just like a champion,” his grandfather said.

Max, 7, is the grandson of Jim and Connie Alderson of Whitefish and son of Whitefish High School graduate Jennifer Alderson Page.

“The surgery went very, very good,” Jim Alderson said Thursday afternoon. “The doctor said they were able to put a good-sized valve in, which should last several years.”

Max was born with a congenital heart defect, and the surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles replaced his pulmonary valve.

“His valve just didn’t grow so he had the valve of an infant,” Alderson said. “The doctor said it was like trying to water a garden through a straw. The volume just wasn’t there.”

The boy’s doctors also suspected Max had a hole in his heart, but discovered during surgery that wasn’t the case. He will spend about five days in intensive care and faces a six- to eight-week recovery.

“Connie and I are really grateful and have gotten a lot of calls from good friends in the Flathead,” said Alderson, who is in Los Angeles with the family. “We appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers.”

Earlier this week, Max’s surgery was the focus of numerous national media stories, including a piece on the NBC “Today Show.”

The Super Bowl ad for the Volkswagen 2012 Passat — one of the most talked-about commercials of the sporting event — depicted Max as a mini-Darth Vader trying to summon his super powers.

Max has been acting since he was 3 and is a cast member of “The Young and the Restless” soap opera. He’s also an official junior ambassador for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, raising money and awareness for the hospital.

It was the boy’s positive attitude about the upcoming surgery that caught the attention of the national news media.

“That positive attitude just carried him right through it,” Alderson said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.