AnnaSophia
Robb's
Alien Encounter
by Lynn Barker
 In
the sci-fi action thriller Race to Witch Mountain, beautiful
15-year-old blonde actress AnnaSophia Robb plays Sara, an alien teen on
Earth on a mission to save her planet and ours! Along with her twin brother
Seth [Alexander Ludwig of The Seeker: The Dark is Rising] she
must find and return a re-greening device to their dying homeworld before
unsavory forces come and invade Earth! Our government wants to grab the
two teens and dissect them as lab rats! Whose Las Vegas cab does the duo
hop into to make their escape? Why, The Rock's of course. Hunky actor
Dwayne Johnson is the clueless cabbie who must drive the two young aliens
on a race to hidden government facility Witch Mountain where they can
retrieve their spaceship and go back home!
From Las Vegas,
where some of the film was shot, AnnaSophia phoned us to let us know how
much fun she had on this film, how funny Dwayne is, that Alexander is
"the Energizer Bunny" and that she rode the roller coaster at
New York, New York 10 times in a row! Sure, she crashes a spaceship in
the movie but the teen can't wait to get her permit and get behind the
wheel of her own "safe, environmentally friendly" car. Check
out our chat on space aliens, Vegas casinos and what AnnaSophia learned
from the cast members of the original "Witch Mountain" film
series of the 1970's.
AGW: You have
to speak in very complete stilted English, very formally in this. Was
it hard not to use contractions and just say "Hey Jack" to Dwayne?
AnnaSophia:
I worked a lot with Andy Fickman, our director, trying to figure out the
mannerisms and backstory behind my character and what my brother, played
by Alexander Ludwig, we come from the same planet, what our lives were
back on our planet. It was just figuring out the character then how and
why they talk that way.
AGW: Probably
because they learned perfect English and not all the slang words we use.
Sara also doesn't realize she is funny. She keeps a straight face. Did
you have trouble not cracking up a lot?
AnnaSophia:
I had a hard time not laughing all the time. We were cracking up on set.
We had so much fun. Between Andy Fickman and Dwayne, who is such a character
and so hilarious, and Alexander, who is like my favorite person in the
whole world, we were having such a great time. It was really a happy set.
AGW: There
is a lot of action in the movie. You do a little drop and roll at one
point. Did you do your own stunts?
AnnaSophia:
That was pretty much the only thing we were allowed to do, that little
drop and roll. While we were filming, at the same time, there was a second
Unit and they were doing all the stunts, so it's like these two movies
that come together to make one.
AGW: Sara's
powers include moving objects with her mind, reading nearby minds and
telepathy with animals. If you could have one of those in real life, which
would it be and why?
AnnaSophia:
I think I'd want to be telekinetic because the ability to move objects
with my mind is so cool. Maybe I can also move myself. I don't know. In
Vegas through, it would be nice to do that in a casino.
AGW: Yeah,
make the machines all pay off! Fun! What was actually on set for you to
look at while acting? No spaceship or part of one? Any tennis balls substituting
for anything that would be put in later by computer?
AnnaSophia:
We had a mix on that set. The underground lab, that was all real with
real explosives going off. That was really exciting but I think one of
my favorite sets to film on was, while we were in the aircraft hangar,
I remember one day, I was walking to the school trailer from my trailer
and all of a sudden, I look over and there is this giant spaceship and
my jaw just dropped because it was just a surreal moment. It looked so
real! I hadn't seen it and didn't know they were building it. No one was
around because we were filming on a different stage. I just stood staring
at it because it looked so authentic. It was big, to scale. The part we
actually filmed in, they only built a little section of the inside of
the spacecraft, but it was really cool, really mind-blowing. Probably
the first and last time I'll ever be in a space ship. Being in another
one would be so cool.
AGW: I understand
that a lot of the science in the film was real. Did you know that when
you read the script?
AnnaSophia:
I didn't know all of it was real but that we only use ten percent of our
brains, I know that's real. Andy Fickman did a brilliant job of taking
real facts and real theories and tying them into the film. He really wanted
to make the film as realistic as possible so if two extraterrestrials
were to come down onto Earth, this is how the government would react.
So, when audiences are watching the movie, they would feel like it was
authentic.
AGW: It was
pretty scary that the government wants to cut you up and check you out!
AnnaSophia:
Yeah!
AGW: What
scene do you remember having the most fun shooting and what was the most
difficult?
AnnaSophia:
One of my favorite scenes was when we were at the UFO Expo. There was
so much to look at. All the extras were dressed up in crazy alien costumes
and almost the whole cast were there so we all just had a great time looking
around and behind the scenes and talking with everybody. Some of the most
difficult scenes were filming in Las Vegas. We filmed in a running casino
[Planet Hollywood]. We only got part of the casino floor. Alexander and
I were really the first kids to legally be able to be on the floor and
that was cool. It was hard to control the crowds and people were looking
at the camera and going crazy over Dwayne and we're trying to film a movie
but, in the end, it all worked out and we were having a great time. It
was a lot of stress for the crew, for sure.
AGW: You are
pretty much in a frantic race throughout the movie. What did you do to
keep up the energy?
 AnnaSophia:
Alexander Ludwig is like the Energizer Bunny, I swear. We had so much
fun together so I guess working off of his energy kept me up because he
was always so excited all the time. It was such a fun set. Andy is very
professional and has an amazing vision for the film and he shares it with
the cast and crew but he has a wonderful way of going about making a film.
He can do his job well but he can make people laugh at the same. I really
enjoyed it.
AGW: I guess
Sara and her brother crashed their spaceship because they aren't really
accomplished pilots yet. So, moving that to Earth, are you driving yet?
Should we be careful on the road in case you are coming?
AnnaSophia:
[laughs] Well, I could have gotten my permit a couple of months ago but
I've been so busy with school and traveling, I haven't had time to take
Master Driver or any of that stuff. As soon as I get home [Denver, Colorado]
I'm going take a class and get my permit because I can not wait to drive!
AGW: You and
every other teen. What kind of car would be your ideal ride?
AnnaSophia:
I'm not sure yet. It would have to be something safe and hopefully the
best kind of car for the environment.
AGW: Well,
this movie is about a planet that is dying and needs "re-greening".
What do you and your family do to help save our environment here on Earth?
AnnaSophia:
We recycle. Denver is pretty good about that. I never realized how many
lights I put on. I'm working on turning the lights off after I leave a
room and actually unplugging your equipment. You don't realize it's still
using up electricity even though it's not turned on, electricity is still
going into it.
AGW: What
kind of music you are into right now?
AnnaSophia:
I listen to a lot of different types of music. Generally, I can't listen
to any type of noise when I'm studying or doing homework except for Pink
Floyd. That's the only thing I can listen to.
AGW: Wow,
you are a retro band girl! Any fave designers?
AnnaSophia:
I really like Alberta Ferretti.
AGW: Las Vegas
doesn't have a whole lot for teens except shopping and shows. Did you
get to take in any of that or hang out with Alexander while making the
movie?
AnnaSophia:
We had a lot of time. We did a lot of school of course. We're working
on our schooling throughout the entire shoot but on nights we'd go shopping
or go out to shows. We rode the roller coaster at New York, New York,
ten times in a row. Last night [they are in Las Vegas for the press day]
we went to the Stratosphere and went on some of the rides there and those
are really terrifying but I had a good time.
AGW: Did you
ever see the early 1970's "Witch Mountain" movies? Original
alien kids Kim Richards and Ike Eissenmann are in the cast of this movie
as a waitress and a sheriff. Did you talk with them?
AnnaSophia:
Yes. Andy sent the two original films Escape to Witch Mountain and Return
to Witch Mountain and they are such classics. It was so much fun to watch
them. When we were filming on set, Ike and Kim they did little cameos
in our movie. I remember Kim telling me all about learning to drive while
they were filming and how they would go to the Little Red Schoolhouse
[on the Disney lot]. They've torn it down now. They told some of the old,
cool stories about what Disney was like way back then.
AGW: Will
there be an action figure of Sara or a doll?
AnnaSophia:
I haven't seen any. That would be cool. I hope so.
AGW: At the
end of the film, Carla [Gugino] and Dwayne get a call on a little communication
device your character left them. Is that indicating you are coming back
in a sequel?
AnnaSophia:
I'm not sure. I can't give anything away but I hope we get to do a sequel.
AGW: Can you
talk a little about some of the charitable causes you are into?
AnnaSophia:
Sure. I'm going down to Miami over Spring Break and I'm going to be M.C.-ing
the Boys and Girls Club fashion show so I'm really looking forward to
that and I'm working for the Dalit Freedom Network [helping the oppressed
"untouchable" caste] in India. It's on my website. Check it
out.
AGW: We will.
What's next for you?
AnnaSophia:
I'm not sure. I'm talking about a couple of projects but nothing is set
in stone right now. So, just going to school and we'll see how everything
works out.
[Note: We've
read that AnnaSophia is negotiating to star in Dear Eleanor,
a film about two 14-year-old girls who travel cross country during the
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Abigail Breslin is also rumored to be approached
to play the other girl but we have no confirmation or start date on this
film].
Photos
courtesy of and copyright Walt Disney Pictures, 2009
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