Interview : AnnaSophia Robb & Alexander Ludwig

As Taxi Driver Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson) plays pick-up and drop-off on the Las Vegas strip, the Men in Black get wind of some sort of extraterrestrial landing in the desert nearby. Led by the all-business agent Henry Burke (Ciaran Hinds, TVs ‘’Rome’’), the authorities discover the alien visitors have taken human form – more precisely, teenage form. And guess who just hopped into Jack’s cab?

“One of the best things about playing this role is that he is nothing like me at all”, Alexander Ludwig says when asked what was the most interesting part of getting to play teenage extra terrestrial Seth in Andy Fickman’s “Race to Witch Mountain”.’ ‘’I am a carefree kind of guy and he takes life much more seriously. I just had to look into this character and use my imagination to portray him, he is not like anybody I know. He is tough and he loves his sister and he is doing all he can to get back home. “

AnnaSophia Robb, known for her roles in “The Reaping” and “Bridge to Terabthia”, gives a more unsurprising answer. “I have the ability to move things with my mind!”, the young actress gleefully declared. “So that is great fun, to play a girl with amazing abilities. My powers mean that I am much more connected to the human spirit than most people. I tend to trust more than my brother, and I can see the real heart in other people. I will say what somebody is thinking before they can get the words out, so there is also lot of comedy in my role. I do that with Dwayne [Johnson] and Carla [Gugino] and all the characters I encounter. My brother and I are a team—without both of us working together, we would not be able to complete our mission.”

It goes without saying that the duo are opposites in real-life as well as on screen. “We are complete opposites, but deep inside, we love each other”, says Ludwig of their characters.

Robb adds, “Our mission is a matter of life and death, it is a desperate race, so we really have to stick together, but we do clash quite a bit in terms of trusting Jack and deciding which way we should go.”

“We usually decide about the big decisions together”, says Ludwig, “but we argue about little decisions, like most brothers and sisters.”

Robb has worked with a slew of big-time actors in her career – including Oscar Winner Hilary Swank and, but says she’ll always have fond memories of working with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

“Dwayne is great—he is extremely supportive as well as talented. He goofs around on set a lot, which makes it a lot of fun. It is a very happy set.”

Ludwig loved working with the big guy too. “I love working with Dwayne, he is an awesome guy and so much fun. He has been such a big help to me, because I have not done that much acting and he gives me a lot of advice. If I am not too sure about a take, he will reassure me. Dwayne and Carla are both so helpful.”

“[Yes] Carla is amazing”, says Robb, of the “Sin City” actress who plays a kindly scientist here. “She nails her character, she is always open to trying different things and is constantly developing her character.”

And there’s not a bad word to be sad about their director either.

“Andy is so wonderful! I just love him!!!”, says Robb. “He runs a great set; we are on schedule, he knows what he wants, and the set is always a happy place to be. He is so excited about the project and is always around and willing to answer questions and discuss. He also is very unique as a director because he likes having visitors on the set, and is always so friendly and sharing. This is one of my favorite shows I have worked on, and one of the major reasons is because Andy Fickman directed it.”

Ludwig says Fickman immerses himself in the movie.

“If you go into his office you see that everything in there is related to the film. There are pictures of aliens, alien toys, alien movies. He is so passionate about the film and his enthusiasm is infectious. Also he is like Santa Claus, he is always jolly. He is such a kid, but such a great director, too.”

Fickman’s also careful not to get the young actors bruised and battered.

“We can’t do that much of the action ourselves, they won’t let us do stunts because we are minors, but we do a lot of running around, we are chased a lot”, says Ludwig. “There are fantastic car sequences and crashes. Dwayne does some great stunts when the military men from the government are trying to take us down, on the way to Witch Mountain, and there is a really cool fight scene that involves Dwayne and me. The whole film is so exciting.”

The young actors believe the film will appeal to those who’ve grown up with the Witch Mountain films and those who haven’t.

Says Robb, “I think there are so many elements, it is a classic, and it has a lot of connections to the original Witch Mountain films, so the older audiences will like it. For our age group, it is fun and energetic, with great special effects and exciting aliens. It is a great story with fantastic characters.”

“I think people will love it whatever age they are, it’s fun, but also edgy”, adds Ludwig. “ Dwayne, of course, has a huge following around the world, and his fans will love it.”