Exclusive Interview with Sara and Seth: Alien Siblings! By Angela McLean
The Screening THE MAGAZINE was invited to the Canadian premiere of Disney’s new movie, RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN. We were lucky enough to see the movie and then meet and interview two stars from the movie, AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig (he’s Canadian! ), who play Sara and Seth, alien siblings.
The Movie RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN is a thrilling action adventure. Two teen aliens (played by AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) get into a cab driven by Jack Bruno (played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson). Little does Jack know that he is about to assist the young aliens as they try to retrieve a device left by their parents that holds the secret to saving both their planet and Earth while also fighting off some alien and earthly enemies! The movie opens in theatres March 13th.
The Meet and Greet After the screening on March 4th at the Scotiabank Theatre, press, family of the talent and some lucky fans were invited to the V.I.P. room where we all had the chance to meet AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig. AnnaSophia and Alexander filmed an interview with two T.V. stations and both went great by the looks of it! For the lucky fans, AnnaSophia and Alexander signed some RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN posters and chatted with them. While listening, I heard that AnnaSophia’s favourite movie is WALL-E. As well, one fan came with a copy of the RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN novel, which totally surprised both AnnaSophia and Alexander.
The Interview THE MAGAZINE caught up with AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig at the Toronto Walt Disney offices on March 5th. We chatted about their characters in the movie, aliens and their upcoming projects.
Can you describe your character? AnnaSophia: I play Sara. I am an alien and I have superpowers. I am telepathic, so I can read minds and I am telekinetic, so I can move objects with my mind, which is pretty cool. [Also], because I can read minds, I am the more sensitive one, and I am more in touch with the human soul, and so I am always looking out for everyone and sensing the situation.
Alexander: My character Seth is Sara’s brother. He can control his molecular density. So if you got really angry and threw something at [Seth], [he] can make it go through [him] or [he could] condense it so that [he could] withstand the greatest of impacts. What I love about playing my character is that he is nothing like me in real life. He is very reserved at the start of the movie and very focused on where he needs to go and what he needs to get to save both worlds. Not trusting of anybody, especially Dwayne. It’s a great story, because he goes through this great character arc of learning to love and it’s a great story because it shows a family coming together.
It must have been cool to work with the original actors from ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN and RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN, Kim Richards and Iake Eissenmann (Tia and Tony). Did it make you nervous and how did having them on set and working with you, help you? AS: It was incredible and they were so excited to be a part of the next chapter of RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN. They were telling us stories of what it was like when they were shooting.
A: They gave us some great advice. In the movie, there is a scene where they actually help us out of a really tight situation. So, for the original fans, they can actually see that as the original [characters] all grown up.
Sara and Seth are aliens with paranormal powers. If you could have one special power, what would it be and why? AS: I think flying would be so much fun. I don’t know though; I think being telekinetic could be fun… moving stuff around or maybe you could move yourself around.
A: Fly. I think it would just be amazing. Or, controlling molecular density would be pretty cool, because you could fall out of a plane and land on the ground and be okay.
Do you believe in aliens? AS: I think so… I mean, we live in a huge universe and we are one of so many millions of planets. I think it is fun to believe.
A: I think space is just so mysterious. So, as a kid or even now, when you look up at the stars, there are so many of them. There has to be something else out there.
The movie has some amazing action scenes with crazy, out-of-this-world stunts. Did you use a stunt double? A: Not at all and actually when the car smashed me, that was real too. Dwayne gave me some workout tips and I got really buff and smashed that car all by myself. No… just kidding. Obviously, since we are minors, we are not allowed to do all the stunts we want to do. We can’t get hurt. We did do a lot of running. Actually, a lot of the stunts that you see in the movie were actually done by stunt doubles on a second movie unit. So, when we saw the movie for the first time, we saw this whole other movie that we didn’t even picture. So, we saw it all come together. But, when I am old enough, I want to do all my favourite stunts for sure.
So, I am guessing that the car scene was your favourite? A: Yeah. I loved being able to see how they did it and put it all together. But, actually, one of the coolest things about the movie was the spaceship. They had a spaceship on huge hydraulics. So, whenever you see us moving around in the spaceship, they were moving the hydraulics. So, we were tossed around in this spaceship like hamsters.
You turned 16 during the filming of this movie and you were given an acoustic guitar from Dwayne Johnson, who plays a guitar himself. A: Yes. Oh my goodness, I gotta say that a 16th birthday on the Disney lot is not like anything you have ever experienced. Dwayne and I used to play guitar when we were filming, because Dwayne is also an avid guitar player. It was such an incredible experience. It is just another example of his generosity. Dwayne is just the coolest guy you’ve ever met. We’ve made friends forever and we formed a family both on and off screen.
What was your favourite scene and why? AS: One of my favourite scenes to film and to be a part of was the Space Expo, because there were so many alien costumes and so many things to look at. Almost the whole cast was there.
Did you see the original movies, ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN and RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN before auditioning for the roles? AS: Yes. Andy Fickman [director] sent the films out to me and I watched them with my parents who had seen them when they [originally] came out. They are just such great classic films.
What do you do when you are not working or in school? AS: I’m just hanging out with friends, shopping, sleeping mostly. I also kickbox.
A: Yeah, she actually beat me up on set.
Are there any similarities between you and your onscreen character? AS: I think my character is driven. However, she’s calm about everything and she never gets freaked out. I could never be as calm as Sara. She’s always, ‘okay we have to deal with this situation’. However, I’m ‘I don’t know what to do’ and freaking out.
A: My character is very driven and I feel very driven. I would not be here today if I wasn’t driven. I feel so fortunate to be in the position of the kids we idolized as children. We are having such an incredible time. We are experiencing things that kids would just die to experience and we’re just having the best time and we are so fortunate. I think in that way, I am somewhat driven just like my character.
Do you have any upcoming projects that you can tell us about? AS: I am looking at a couple of projects but nothing is set in stone. School is important for me right now.
A: I have been meeting with some great directors about projects that are filming in March. So, they are in development right now, so hopefully those will be a go. Right now, school is very important and I definitely want to get my university degree.
