On May 4, comedy legend Carol Burnett debuted her new Netflix talk show “A Little Help with Carol Burnett,” in which the comedic icon leads a panel of children ages 5 to 9 provide unscripted advice to regular people and celebrities in front of a live audience. One of those people to receive advice was 2012 Benicia High School graduate Nicholas Bustamante.

Bustamante began acting in Solano Youth Theatre, which he said inspired his current path.

“It was really nice having a lot of people come to those shows,” he said. “It really inspired me and made me think I could go further with what I was doing and at the time, that was musical theater.”

Bustamante kept on performing through Benicia High School where he spent four years on the improv team and acted in its various productions. Among his roles were as Harold Hill in “The Music Man,” Lumiere in “Beauty and the Beast” and Malvolio in “Twelfth Night,” the latter two of which he won Arty Awards for his work. He applied for the screen acting program at Chapman University in Orange, which he had to apply for with an audition. Since graduating, Bustamante has acted in mostly local independent movies and sitcoms. However, his latest on-screen appearance drew largely from reality.

Bustamante had applied for “A Little Help” through the LA Casting agency, due to the show seeking someone who was good at improvisational comedy. He did not hear back until a few weeks later on another set.

“They were like, ‘Tell me your problems,’” Bustamante said. “I was like, ‘I don’t really have one.’ They were like, ‘Well, people talk about dating’ and kind of gave it to me. I was like, ‘Oh, I could talk about dating.’”

Bustamante auditioned with a standup routine based on the difficulties of his dating experiences in college and being able to find someone to date. Producers felt it was a common experience people would relate to, so after a series of Skype interviews, he was chosen to appear in an episode.

As part of the show, a crew came to Bustamante’s house in Vallejo to film him discussing his trouble finding a date at the time, all the while living in his childhood home with his parents. Much of the interviews were done in Bustamante’s bedroom.

“I’ve never changed my room since I was a baby,” he said. “There’s a giant castle bunk bed and all the same toys and memorabilia.”

Bustamante was also flown out to Burbank to be on the interview set with Burnett and the panel of children. Meeting the famed comedian was a great experience for Bustamante. He said she had a good sense of energy and was very blunt. Before the taping, an audience member asked Burnett what made her want to return to TV. Bustamante said her response was simply a joking “Money.”

Moreover, Bustamante felt she did a good job of mediating the children. When the time came for the kids to give their advice, Bustamante said they were very honest but he took it in good strides. Among other things, the kids suggested he cut his hair, ditch the toys and move out.

“At first, I was cracking up because it was so blunt what they would say to me,” he said. “Honestly, I was expecting much worse.”

Bustamante was a positive sport throughout it all and even seemed keen to some the kids’ advice.

Thankfully, Bustamante was not the only one to face them. In the same episode, investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also received advice about his 14-year-old daughter wanting to date a boy. Bustamante briefly got to meet Cuban backstage and said he seemed really nice and very tall. He also got to meet the show’s co-host, comedian Russell Peters who did his hair.

“He’s hilarious,” Bustamante said of Peters.

A lot has changed for Bustamante since the taping. For one, he has a girlfriend now. He also has continued to act, with his most recent project— a “Mad Max”-style science fiction film called “Rock Steady Row”— making the rounds in independent film circuits throughout Europe and the United States. He hopes to have it distributed by Netflix, Hulu or Amazon.

Bustamante said his appearance on “A Little Help” is the biggest thing he has done so far and is grateful for the experience.

“It was a life-changing moment and I’m happy to have been a part of it,” he said.

“A Little Help with Carol Burnett” is available on Netflix. Bustamante’s appearance is in Episode 7 titled “Dating.”