His next film was Local Boys, a family surfing drama, with Mark Harmon and Eric Christian Olsen.

[citation needed] In July 2002, at age 13, Sumpter was selected for the role of Peter Pan in the then-upcoming film adaptation.

Sumpter grew several inches during the film's production, requiring staging tricks to retain Captain Hook's height advantage over Peter in face-to-face scenes late in the process.

[8] In the fall of 2004, Sumpter starred in the TV series Clubhouse as a boy who gets his dream job of working as a batboy for a New York City major league baseball team.

[citation needed] Sumpter completed filming roles in the coming-of-age comedy Calvin Marshall, Soul Surfer and Death and Cremation.

[citation needed] During filming for Peter Pan, Sumpter briefly shared a childhood crush with co-star Rachel Hurd-Wood.