Josh Hutcherson:

Firehouse Dog

by Lynn B

Cute, 14-year-old actor Josh Hutcherson has appeared in some of your fave movies. You might have just caught him in Bridge to Terabithia and he was on the road with Robin Williams in RV. He was the lead kid used for motion capture in The Polar Express and his whole house went to outer space in Zathura. This week you can watch Josh as he adopts a stray pooch who turns out to be a movie star dog in Firehouse Dog.

Although he still lives in Kentucky, Josh was here in L.A. filming Winged Creatures when he phoned us on one of his days off from the set. Let’s catch up…..

AGW: Do you still live in Kentucky most of the time?

Josh: Yeah, whenever I’m not filming, I’m back home in Kentucky. I hang out with my friends. I’m on a soccer team. We go to movies and the mall; just normal teen things.

AGW: Congrats on the success of “Terabithia”. Do you still see AnnaSophia at all or text her? I just interviewed her for The Reaping.

Josh: No so much anymore but we have before.

AGW: I understand there were four terrier dogs playing the Firehouse Dog, Rex.

Josh: There are four different dogs and each dog has their own action where they can do special things.

AGW: Did you bond with any of them while making the film?

Josh: I worked with Arwen the most because she was the one who had to look at marks and hit certain spots and I was there doing my lines. I bonded with her the best. We had two weeks of bonding period before the film started but I couldn’t become too close to the dogs because then, when they’re on the set trying to work, all they want to do is play and hang out… like me.

AGW: Were the actor dogs all divas like their character Rex is?

Josh: They were all very down to earth. They’re all very nice.

AGW: Who was the big jokester on set? Every movie has at least one.

Josh: Our director Todd Holland. He’s so funny. He was always hilarious. He’s a light-spirited person and so much fun.

AGW: You’re 14. You made this a while back.. Were you 12?

Josh: I turned 13 on the movie.

AGW: Do you think you would do your part the same way at 14?

Josh: I kind of like the way it was played. I think Todd had me play it really well and he would guide me but of course, I’m playing older now and I probably say things a bit differently and have a different way about me just because I am older and that will change through time but I like the way I played it.

AGW: You have a dog, right?

Josh: I do. I have a boxer and his name is Diesel. He’s almost two. April 20th is his birthday.

AGW: Did you teach him tricks or is he not a trick dog?

Josh: He is actually. He can sit, he lays down, he shakes and does the high five. He’s getting better at ‘stay’. He’s really bad about it but getting better.

AGW: A lot of the tricks the dog does in the film are CGI right?

Josh: Yeah, but the stuff when he’s skateboarding, that’s really him but there are times when he had to do flips or jump off the roof of a building, those were more CGI.

AGW: Do you sometimes feel that you can just go talk to your dog when you don’t really want to talk to a parent or friend?

Josh: I do yeah. Diesel’s just kind of always been there for me. He’s my buddy and we can hang out and talk about anything.

AGW: Did you do any research on firemen or firehouse mascots or anything?

Josh: It was all pretty much in the script but the people who got to play the firefighters, all the other actors, went to a firefighters’ bootcamp thing and learned all the different firefighter drills and how to put on your suits and everything. That was cool to see what they learned.

AGW: What message or moral do you hope kids and teens will take away from this film?

Josh: I like the message ‘you can’t tell a book by its cover’ because, at first, Shane [his character] kind of judges this dog by how it’s acting and he gets sick of it but then, throughout the movie, they become really good friends. I think that’s a good message and also ‘give your parents some respect’ because even if sometimes, they don’t necessarily do everything right, like Shane’s dad, they’re still trying hard. That’s an important message too.

AGW: What was the most difficult scene for you to either physically shoot or act in?

Josh: There’s a scene where I’m sitting on my bed and my dad comes in and I kind of have a breakdown then and that was pretty emotionally challenging. But physically challenging, I had a lot of skateboard stuff. I’ve skateboarded before but it’s not like I’m a skateboarder so I had to learn that stuff and that was pretty cool. That was fun.

AGW: What is coming out next for you and what are you working on now?

Josh: Right now I’m working on a movie called Winged Creatures [ this movie is about a group of strangers who form relationships after a shooting in an L.A. diner. Josh co-stars with Dakota Fanning, Kate Beckinsale and Oscar winners Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker]. It’s a dark, independent movie with a great cast and it’s awesome. I’m working on that right now in L.A. Then, August 8th 2008 is when Journey to the Center of the Earth will come out. Long time, I know.

AGW: Have you read any books that you would love to option so you could play the lead character?

Josh: We did, actually. I have a production company called Jetlagged Productions and we go out and find books to make into movies and characters that would be good for me and get things up on their feet and running. Right now, we’re working on an untitled football movie that I’m pretty excited about. That’s hopefully, going to start filming in the next year or so.

AGW: And you play a football player?

Josh: Yeah. I love football so that’ll be great.

AGW: Favorite movie of 2007 so far?

Josh: I like scary movies and I saw The Messengers. I like that movie quite a bit. But my favorite movie from last year was Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

AGW: Yeah. That was hilarious. Are you still playing guitar and writing songs when you can?

Josh: I’m not really doing that anymore no. I’ve been really busy so its kind of hard to really sit down and learn. When I was playing guitar I loved it but then I broke a string and I was like too lazy to fix it [laughs]. I was going to have to go out and buy a string and I was like ‘uhhhh’. Other things just kind of took over.

AGW: What music you are listening to right now?

Josh: I listen to a lot more rap and hip hop now. I like Ludacris a lot and this newer guy named Rich Boy. I listen to anything that has a cool beat really.

AGW: Any messages for your fans?

Josh: Keep an eye out for Firehouse Dog and Journey to the Center of the Earth in 2008 and Winged Creatures. That one is geared more toward an older audience. It’ll be rated R. I’m going to keep making movies as long as I can.

AGW: Who would you love to act with?

Josh: I want to act with Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s a great actor and he’s made so many great choices with the movies he’s done in his career. I want to model my career after his.

Hear that Jake? Give Josh a call. He could play your younger bro!

Photos copyright 20th Century Fox and Joshhutcherson.com

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