A chat with Josh Hutcherson of 'The Hunger Games'
Josh Hutcherson has been a working actor for 10 years. He's now 19 and about to become an international star as Peeta Mellark, the pragmatic love interest of Katniss Everdeen in the anxiously awaited science-fiction thriller "The Hunger Games," opening Friday.
I sat down with Hutcherson for an interview at Chicago's Four Seasons Hotel.
Q: Are there any performers whose style you particularly admire?
A: Any time an actor internalizes emotions, that's the sort of thing that I'm attracted by. So much of what people say to each other isn't in the words. It's in the body language, the look in the eyes. What's behind the words.
The actors I think do that amazingly are Ryan Gosling - I think he's incredible - and Christian Bale does that a lot. Even Brad Pitt a lot of times can play these leading men but also play these crazy kinds of character roles.
Q: What's the oddest thing any stranger has said to you or done to you?
A: It was the day after Christmas and I was having dinner with my family (in Kentucky) and the doorbell rang after dinner and I went to get it. There was a mom there with two girls. They had driven down from Chicago.
The girls were like crying and screaming and freaking out. They were wearing clothes that they had put my face all over, which was kind of crazy. They just drove down to my house on the outside chance I could be home for the holiday. It was a pretty wild experience.
Q: What was the best piece of advice you ever received from your "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" co-star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson?
A: Oh, boy. That's guy's a machine. There's really no piece of advice I can point to, but he literally got up every morning at 4 a.m. and worked out for two hours, ate food like a machine, exactly the same thing like nine times a day, just chicken breasts and rice. It was incredible to see his dedication. It just blew me away.
Q: No acting tips? No bench-pressing tips?
A: No. But I should call him up and ask for some workout tips.
Q: What was the most surprising thing that happened to you on the set of "The Hunger Games"?
A: The most surprising thing was one day Jennifer Lawrence decided she was going to kick me in the side of my head and I got a concussion. It was a total accident. She was like, "I can kick over your head," and I said, "No way."
So she tried to kick over my head and hit me right in the temple. Got a concussion. I was surprised.
I definitely didn't see that coming.