AnnaSophia Robb Interview, The Reaping

MoviesOnline sat down with AnnaSophia Robb to discuss her new movie, "The Reaping,” a supernatural thriller directed by Stephen Hopkins which explores a series of bizarre occurrences in the Deep South. The film is steeped in atmosphere and anchored by one of contemporary film’s most acclaimed actresses, Hilary Swank.

Swank plays Katherine Winter, a former minister who turned her back on the cloth after losing her family while on a religious mission in the Sudan. She doesn’t believe in miracles -- she believes in facts. Now a university professor, she seeks answers through scientific investigation rather than prayer and has become the foremost debunker of supposed miracles. She is called to sites all over the world to investigate weeping statues, wall stains resembling saints and palms that bleed, and so far, there is no divine mystery she hasn’t solved.

For the first time in her professional career, Katherine can’t explain these phenomena with science. The townspeople believe an enigmatic child named Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb) has brought God’s wrath to their doorstep, but what they see as a harbinger of evil, Katherine sees as a lost child needing her help. The more she is drawn into the dark heart of the mystery, the more Katherine discovers her own role in a conspiracy that threatens to shroud the world in darkness.

The final piece of the puzzle is that child, Loren McConnell, played by young actress AnnaSophia Robb, who has already played a diverse range of roles in such films as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and "Bridge to Terabithia.” "She’s just such a talent,” Swank says. "Although her character says very little in the film, acting is not always about dialogue. She says so much with her face and with her expressions, through her eyes. AnnaSophia is such a joy to work with.”

"Loren is very quiet, shy and scared,” says Robb, who turned 12 after production wrapped. "She has a reason to be scared because the townspeople have tried to kill her. She lives way back in the swamps and has no real friends, so she has been hiding in the woods since all of this started. Loren’s not very educated. She just reacts without thinking, instinctively, like an animal.”

AnnaSophia Robb is one of today’s busiest young actresses. Robb made her feature film debut in 2005 in the Wayne Wang-directed family film "Because of Winn-Dixie,” with Jeff Daniels. Robb was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress for her performance as Opal, a young girl whose life is changed when she befriends a stray dog. Later that year, she starred as champion gum chewer Violet Beauregarde in Tim Burton’s "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” starring Johnny Depp. She is currently starring in the critically acclaimed fantasy adventure "Bridge to Terabithia.”

Robb also stars in a wide range of upcoming films, including "A West Texas Children’s Story,” with Val Kilmer, Matthew Modine and Lara Flynn Boyle; the indie drama "Ferris Wheel,” with Charlize Theron; the indie adventure "Doubting Thomas”; and the sci-fi adventure "Jumper,” in which she stars with Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson under the direction of Doug Liman.

On television, Robb played the title role in the telefilm "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday,” executive produced by Julia Roberts and directed by Nadia Tass. Robb’s other television credits include guest appearances on the Nickelodeon comedy series "Drake & Josh” and "Danny Phantom.”

AnnaSophia Robb is a fabulous person and a very talented actress and we really appreciated her time. Here’s what she had to tell us about making "The Reaping,” working opposite Hilary Swank, and running barefoot on set:

Q: WAS IT CHALLENGING TO PLAY A ROLE WHERE YOU HAD VERY LITTLE DIALOGUE?

AnnaSophia Robb: It was kind of hard, different from anything I've ever done before, and it was more with the eyes and the eyebrows, the face and the body language.

Q: WAS THAT THE WAY IT WAS SCRIPTED?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yes, that’s the way it was scripted. It was kind of hard to audition for because they had to make up dialogue so I could audition. (laughs) You can't stand in the room and just stare. I talked with Stephen a lot about how I was going to portray my character. It worked out well though, I think.

Q: DO YOU LIKE THE IDEA OF TWO TOTALLY CONTRASTING MOVIES COMING OUT AT THE SAME TIME?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yeah, I think it's kind of fun. I think it kind of throws people off a little bit. I just want to try different things, and I got to work with Hilary Swank and Stephen Hopkins, and they are both really amazing people to learn from. I think it's kind of good. I mean I think it changes the way people look at me. Bridge to Terabithia is a really good movie, it's a totally different message — and then The Reaping, and it's scary in this film and happy and very uplifting in the other one.

Q: WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM HILARY?

AnnaSophia Robb: I learned some ways to focus and get into my character and also how to work off other actors. And it's really getting into the moment with her and just looking at her and reacting and being totally into my character in the moment in the scene.

Q: WAS IT INITIALLY INTIMIDATING WORKING WITH A TWO-TIME OSCAR WINNER?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yeah! A little bit. I mean it's not necessarily intimidating. It's just a little — wow, I can't believe this. I hope I do a good job. But she's very personable and really friendly and funny and just very encouraging.

Q: DID SHE DO ANYTHING EARLY ON TO SET YOU AT EASE?

AnnaSophia Robb: I met her in the hair and makeup trailer and she just kind of turned around and said ‘hey!’ So it's just — when you meet someone, you automatically feel the vibe, their aura of energy, and how they're going to treat you the rest of the film. She was just really nice and funny and very kind to me.

Q: WERE YOU DYING FOR A SHOWER BY THE TIME YOU FINISHED YOUR DAY?

AnnaSophia Robb: I was. It was pretty nasty. Every day I’d get in and it was just dirt, all dirt. They would cover me, but it was fake dirt, which was kinda weird (laughs). So it was actually a bit of a relief because I could spill stuff on my wardrobe by accident, and it wouldn't really matter, and I could get all dirty and no one would really care. I just had to be careful about touching other people. I didn’t want to get them dirty.

Q: THERE WERE SOME SCENES WHERE YOUR EYES WERE VERY PROMINENT AND BLUE. WERE YOU WEARING CONTACTS OR ANYTHING?

AnnaSophia Robb: No, they changed them in the film. They changed them digitally. I saw a clip of one of the scenes and my eyes had changed and they were really scary and I went ‘that looks really cool! Wow! How did they do that?’

Q: SPEAKING OF DIGITAL EFFECTS, ONE OF MY FAVORTIE SCENES IS WHEN THE LOCUSTS WERE RAINING DOWN ON EVERYONE. HOW MUCH OF THAT IS DIGITAL EFFECTS VERSUS REAL?

AnnaSophia Robb: Well, in preparation for that scene, they had me train with the locusts. I was terrified of them. They’re these big, ugly, fat creatures, but they're not going to hurt you unless you’re a big head of lettuce. [Laughs] So I though there were going to be hundreds and thousands of them, and there were just about eight. The ones on the chimes — those were all real. The one on my arm and crawling up my leg, that's real. And then they had a couple scattered around for dimension and to see how big they are.

Q: DID THEY HAVE A LOCUST WRANGLER?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yes they did. They had several locust wranglers. They were pretty funny. They had brought around this huge cage of locusts and it's like this big black jittery cage and it's kind of intimidating. And they just reach their hand down there and they all crawl up on their arms and they play with them.

Q: HOW ARE YOU NORMALLY WITH CRITTERS?

AnnaSophia Robb: I'm all right with animals. I can now pick up locust and I'm not so scared of them. I don't like snakes though. They kind of creep me out — snakes and sharks I don’t do. [Laughs]

Q: SO NO "SNAKES ON A PLANE II” FOR YOU?

AnnaSophia Robb: [Laughs] I don't think so, no.

Q: CAN YOU COMPARE YOUR WARDROBE IN "BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA” WHICH WAS VERY COMFORTABLE AND CONDUSIVE TO RUNNING AROUND TO "THE REAPING” WHERE YOU’RE BAREFOOT AND WEAR A DRESS THAT GETS EXCEEDINGLY TATTERED OVER THE COURSE OF THE FILM. YOU SEEM TO GET A LOT OF SCRAPES AND SCRATCHES BECAUSE YOU'RE ALWAYS RUNNING.

AnnaSophia Robb: It was great. I loved being barefoot because I felt so free and just — I'd wear shorts every day under my dress, and I was 11, so I got really tough feet by the end of the movie from just running around barefoot. And it was such a nice thing to come to set because you could go to set in your PJ’s and you just wear this dirty old dress and run around and it was during summertime so I didn't have school, and I just had a great time with it. And I got to beat it up and no one really cared.

Q: AND NO INJURIES?

AnnaSophia Robb: No injuries. I mean a couple scrapes and scratches, but I didn't care.

Q: THERE’S A LOT OF PHYSICALITY IN THIS MOVIE. WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING YOU HAD TO DO FOR THIS?

AnnaSophia Robb: The most difficult thing...(sighs)… That's a hard one. I didn't do any real wire work. The most difficult thing? Just running, but that wasn't very hard for me.

Q: WHAT ABOUT TACKLING YOUR MOM AND BEING STRAPPED TO THE SACRIFICIAL TABLE?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yeah! That was just laying down on the table. Tackling mom we rehearsed a couple of times, but everyone was all right. I landed on a bed, they had mats around. It was just like a big piggyback ride.

Q: ARE YOU A HORROR MOVIE GIRL OR DO YOU WATCH THEM WITH YOUR HANDS COVERING YOUR EYES?

AnnaSophia Robb: I watch them like this [covers eyes with her hands] Actually I saw the movie and I was like this (looks scared) the whole time because music is what scares me when it comes on and it’s very haunting and you don't know what's going to happen, so I got really nervous before hand. I was like, ‘Mom, am I going to get scared watching this? What’s going to happen?’ I don't usually watch scary supernatural thriller movies because I get freaked out, but I was alright in this movie.

Q: YOU HAVE TWO MOVIES OUT RIGHT NOW AND FOUR COMING UP? DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yes, I do go to school. I go to a private school in Denver and it's kind of hard being pulled out of school and then put back in. The choir concert was last night and I missed that. You know, I was training for it and then I left, but it was okay. It's difficult but I always get the best of both worlds. I get to come back to school and see all my friends, but then I get to leave and I enjoy this life as well.

Q: WHEN YOU'RE FILMING, DO YOU HAVE A TUTOR WITH YOU?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yes. I have a tutor that travels with me, and I try to stay up to speed with the rest of my class, and then when I come back to school, I just get right back into it. Sometimes it's really hard trying to stay up to speed with them and then working and also doing schoolwork — it's kind of confusing trying to go from an intense scene to doing a math test and history and then going back to the intense scene.

Q: AFTER CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY AND WITH YOUR APPEARANCE IN MORE AND MORE FILMS, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR YOU TO WALK DOWN THE STREET AND NOT BE STOPPED?

AnnaSophia Robb: I wouldn't call it difficult. It's just what comes along with the job. It's increasing more and more, there's more recognition, but sometimes I feel a little bad for my friends when we go to the mall. I feel bad for them rather than for myself because they might feel a little bit uncomfortable or they’re just like tired of it. But you know, I’m just AnnaSophia, and I'm just going to the mall and I'm as goofy as ever, and they'll get stopped and it makes them feel kind of uncomfortable, so I feel bad for my family. I knew this was coming and I just have to deal with it with grace.

Q: ARE YOU AFRAID OF OVER EXPOSURE THIS EARLY ON?

AnnaSophia Robb: I only want to do good projects. I want to make good decisions. If it's just a dumb movie — then no, I'd rather stay in school. But if it's a movie worth telling and that I think I would really benefit from, then I would like to do that film. And that's one of the reasons I still live in Colorado. I love being with my family and going to school, and then when I come out to L.A., this is the time to be in the movies. People ask me the questions, I do the promotion work, then I get to go back home and live my life.

Q: DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER CAREER INTEREST BESIDES ACTING? PERHAPS SOMETHING YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT AS YOU’RE GOING THROUGH SCHOOL?

AnnaSophia Robb: I've been thinking about it. I'm really enjoying acting right now. I do want to go to college, and I want to see what other options are out there because acting might not work out forever. I think — I love to read books, but I’m starting to like the film industry more and more — just finding out what different jobs there are in producing, but I want to help the world. I'm involved with two organizations: the Dalique Freedom Network and Save The Children in Darfur. And I really think it's important to reach out to those people and use my recognition to help those who aren't recognized that much and that really need to be helped.

Q: OF THE FOUR MOVIES COMING UP, IS THERE ONE IN PARTICULAR THAT EXCITES YOU?

AnnaSophia Robb: They're all work that I'm really excited about and that I’ve worked on and I want to see how they all come together. I'm particularly excited about A West Texas Children's Story and Ferris Wheel. They're both independent films and they're both fairly intense and I think those are some of the projects that I worked as an actor really hard on, and I would like to see how they turn out, and I think they're both beautiful, beautiful stories.

Q: WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A PROJECT?

AnnaSophia Robb: I usually look for a reason to tell the story — if this can help people in the entertainment way, where they can just laugh or if the audience can relate to the story. I usually read it to see if my character is a good character that I think would be a challenge for me to portray. I look to see if the story is worthy and if it's well written. I look to see who's attached — the director, the other actors. And then I think, what other projects are out there, and do I want to be gone away from my family and my school and life to do this project.

Q: WHAT DID YOU RESPOND TO IN THE REAPING? WHAT DID YOU LOOK FOR IN THIS MOVIE? WHAT WAS THE ATTRACTION?

AnnaSophia Robb: It was mainly Hilary Swank and Stephen Hopkins. They were a big draw because Hilary is an amazing actor, and Stephen is a very powerful and incredible director. Those were the main draws for me – that I could work with them. And it was also in the summertime.

Q: DID THEY SEND YOU THE COMPLETE SCRIPT?

AnnaSophia Robb: No. I hadn't read it. I read it after I got the part.

Q: DID HILARY GIVE YOU ANY POINTERS ABOUT GROWING UP IN HOLLYWOOD?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yes, she did. Mainly she told me to stay grounded — just to stay grounded basically, that was the most advice of growing up as a child actor.

Q: WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON HEATHER GRAHAM (her co-star in "A West Texas Children’s Story”)? WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH HER AND YOUR EXPERIENCES?

AnnaSophia Robb: I thought she was perfect for the role. Her character is very happy and bright. My character and Cayden Boyd’s character (Ben), they're like little adults in the film. They take off from Cayden’s house in West Texas, and they travel to Boston, and it's really a story about commitment and friendship and supporting each other. They're like little adults and I guess we were cute, but it's a little bit darker story, I guess. I think she's perfect for the role. We didn't get to spend that much time together but she was really fun when we got to film some of the baseball scenes and [eat] hot dogs.

Q: HOW FAR DO THE KIDS GET TO TRAVEL ON THE ROAD TRIP?

AnnaSophia Robb: From Texas to Baltimore.

Q: WHO ARE SOME OF THE ACTRESSES THAT YOU ADMIRE, THAT YOU WOULD PATTERN YOUR CAREER AFTER IF YOU COULD?

AnnaSophia Robb: I think Natalie Portman — she went to college and she's still in the film industry, making good choices in her career. And I think Hilary and Charlize Theron — they're both two actresses that I've worked with and that I admire for how good they are, what they do, how grounded they are, how kind they are to everyone, and they treat everybody the same.

Q: IN YOUR WORK WITH CHARITIES, HAVE YOU EVER HAD A CHANCE TO GO TO DARFUR?

AnnaSophia Robb: No. I haven't. I want to though. I think when I get a little older. I think I could be involved from here, but right now it's really dangerous there. I do want to go and see what it’s like so I know what it’s actually like there and I can tell people about my experience there so they’ll want to go there and help too.

Q: A COUPLE OF PEOPLE IN MY OFFICE SAY THEIR KIDS HAVE VIRTUALLY WORN OUT THEIR WYNN DIXIE DVDS. DO PEOPLE STILL MENTION THAT MOVIE TO YOU?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yes, they do. It’s always nice. It was my first film. I loved doing it and it’s a very sweet story. I liked filming it. I think it’s cute. All the kids want to know what the dog's like. They're just so happy about the dog.

Q: HOW MANY DOGS WERE YOU WORKING WITH ON SET IN WYNN DIXIE? JUST THE ONE?

AnnaSophia Robb: They had two that I mainly worked with: Michael and Scott.

Q: BESIDES YOUR ACTING JOB, WHAT'S THE COOLEST THING ABOUT WORKING IN THIS INDUSTRY?

AnnaSophia Robb: I definitely think traveling is really fun. I get to go to New Zealand, England and Louisiana with the different experiences I get in each place and also the people I get to meet and become friends with.

Q: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE?

AnnaSophia Robb: Definitely London. London, I totally fell in love with that. That was so much fun. I want to live there now and New Zealand was pretty awesome. We lived on the beach.

Q: WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN NEW ZEALAND?

AnnaSophia Robb: We filmed Bridge to Terabithia there.

Q: WHAT DID YOU DO FOR FUN WHEN YOU WE’RE SHOOTING? I HEAR A LOT OF FUN STUFF CAN HAPPEN ON THE SET OF A HORROR FILM.

AnnaSophia Robb: Oh yeah. I wasn't scared at all when I was filming. Usually it's joking around playing with the locusts, making friends, talking, chitchatting away, just kind of hanging out.

Q: DID YOU PLAY ANY PRANKS ON EACH OTHER?

AnnaSophia Robb: Yeah, there's always little pranks, where you pull out the whoopee cushion or — it depends, if someone's phone goes off, it's always kind of funny and they're all nervous and we have to snicker a little bit because we've all done it.

Q: CHARLIZE THERON WAS ALSO THE PRODUCER OF "FERRIS WHEEL”? DID YOU WORK WITH HER IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA ALSO OR JUST BEHIND?

AnnaSophia Robb: She played my mother in the film, and she was there every day on set.

Q: WHAT’S THE PREMISE OF THE FILM?

AnnaSophia Robb: It's really about a dysfunctional family and this sort of ferris wheel of bad decisions raising your child, and how my character and Nick Stahl's character kind of try to break that circle.

Q: THANK YOU.

AnnaSophia Robb: Thank you guys.

"The Reaping” opens in theaters on April 5^th. I invite you to read my interviews with the other members of the cast: Hilary Swank, Idris Elba, and David Morrissey.