CEBU, Philippines - Joining Dwayne Johnson in Walt Disney Pictures’ new, family adventure Race to Witch Mountain are two of today’s most promising teen actors – AnnaSophia Robb, 15 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Alexander Ludwig, 16 (The Seeker: The Dark is Rising).
In the film, the life of hard luck Las Vegas cab driver Jack Bruno (Johnson) is thrown into chaos when apparent ‘runaway’ teenagers Sara (Robb) and Seth (Ludwig) jump into his taxi. He soon realizes his two fares are children with exceptional paranormal powers whom he must protect as they elude a collection of ruthless enemies. When they discover that the only chance to save the world lies in unraveling the secrets of Witch Mountain, the race begins, as the government, mobsters and even extraterrestrials try to stop them.
“I am telepathic and telekinetic, and I have the ability to move things with my mind,” says AnnaSophia Robb of her character, Sara. “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, Seth, 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 a lot of comedy in my role. I do that with Dwayne and all the characters I encounter. But my brother and I are a team, and without both of us working together, we would not be able to complete our mission.”
For his part, Alexander Ludwig who plays Seth, explains, “I can condense and expand my molecules so I can phase through objects. If you threw a tennis ball at me, for example, it could phase through my body. It can just go right through like a ghost. When I condense my molecules, I can become as strong as steel. If something comes at me when I am standing still, it smashes right into me.”
While the film’s central character is Johnson’s flawed Jack Bruno, casting the right young performers was obviously crucial. From the start, director Andy Fickman was convinced that the talented AnnaSophia Robb would be perfect as Sara. “AnnaSophia was the first and only person I ever had in mind,” he says. “I loved her work in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but her performance in Bridge to Terabithia broke my heart—I thought it was such a difficult role for any actor to pull off. She never auditioned for me…we just had a meeting and rolled the dice. She was born with innate talent, I think, you can’t teach what she has.
“Then the bar was raised very high, because I thought, ‘How do I find a boy to match her?’” continues Fickman. “We had nationwide auditions and narrowed it down to five young actors, but when Alexander came in and auditioned, I just thought he was fantastic. Before the door was shut when we left, we all said, ‘That’s the one we should cast.’
Opening across the Philippines on March 13, Race to Witch Mountain is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.