Hutcherson hungry for more
Young actor hopes to make it big with The Hunger Games
HONOLULU — Ensconced in a resort hotel room, Josh Hutcherson definitely likes Hawaii better without the ants.
“The bugs were definitely a little much,” says the 20-year-old nolonger-a-child actor of his starring role in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. “You’d see a few ants and then realize you’re standing on a nest of nine million of them.”
Just another day’s work for one of the quietly busiest young actors of the last decade — a quiet that’s presumably about to break through next month when he costars in the long-awaited adaptation of the young adult hit novel Thehunger Games.
Hutcherson, who was “the kid” opposite star Brendan Fraser in 2008’s Journey To The Center Of The Earth, was bumped up to lead actor opposite Dwayne Johnson in the sort-of sequel.
“It was such a big gap between the two, it was like a different movie. And when I heard the cast I got really excited about it. It makes no sense, honestly, me being (the lead) in a movie with Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Vanessa (Hudgens).” people fight to the death for society’s entertainment, Hutcherson plays the male lead, Peeta Mellark, opposite Jennifer Lawrence as teen fighter Katniss Everdeen.
Though he’s tasted disappointment plenty of times, this was a different story. “There’ve been a lot of little let downs. But with Hunger Games, I said out loud, if I didn’t get it, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t know what that meant because I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he says with a laugh.
“I’ve never read a role I connected with as much or thought I was as right for in my whole life. Peeta had this strong belief that you have to stay true to yourself, and that’s like my biggest moral as a human being. As well he has a very kind of self-deprecating sense of humour. His voice and his existence was who I was.”
The anticipation is such that he, Lawrence and author Suzanne Collins have already been on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. And there’ve been the usual heated (OMG!) online discussions about the casting.
“I don’t read a lot of stuff online,” Hutcherson says. “When you have such a beloved book, everyone’s going to have their own mind. But having Suzanne come out and give me a vote of confidence meant a lot to me.”
Thekentucky-bornhutcherson, who decided at age nine that he was going to be a movie star, got a taste of what might be in store while hanging with Journey 2 co-star Hudgens, of High School Musical fame.
“It’s crazy what Vanessa lives with or the Twilight people or Harry Potter. We were in L. A. after we’d done shooting Journey 2, we’d be in her house and we’d come out and four different paparazzi cars would start taking pictures right away. It’s mayhem. It’s not normal. But you can’t let it get to you. It’s an indication of how devoted people are to what you’re working on.
“Put it this way, if The Hunger Games does as well as everybody expects it to, I’ll be very happy.”