Vanessa Hudgens Flies Through ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island’

While actress Vanessa Hudgens began her career with a small part as Evan Rachel Wood’s friend in the gutsy drama, “Thirteen,” she soon became the darling of the Disney Channel and soared to success as Gabriella Montez in the “High School Musical” series opposite Zac Efron. Since leaving fictional East High School, Hudgens has been working hard on her film career. She appeared in the critically acclaimed (but little seen) indie film “Bandslam” as well as Zack Snyder’s thriller “Sucker Punch.” Now she's playing the feisty Kailani in the family-oriented “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” opposite Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, and Michael Caine.

I spoke to Hudgens by phone on the Hawaiian island where she filmed much of the new 3D fantasy. The film is a sequel of sorts to the wildly successful “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” which also starred “Hunger Games”-bound Hutcherson.

MSN Movies: I’m guessing that a lot of your time on this film was spent in front of a green screen. Was that a challenge?

Vanessa Hudgens: It was interesting, it definitely forces you to use your imagination! It can be hard but it’s also really rewarding doing green screen work because you’re just acting to little marks on this massive empty screen and then when you finally see it, you’re running away from a giant lizard. It’s so fun to see the end result!

Even though this film is heavy on fantasy and special effects, were there any stunts you had to do that you found scary?

 Oh yeah! Especially when I got dropped down from the top of a soundstage and caught at the very last second to make it look like I was falling off of that giant bee. That was pretty nerve-wracking, not knowing if they were going to stop me on time or if I was going to go “Splat!” on the floor! I mean, they make sure it’s all safe, of course, but it’s still terrifying to literally be dropped from the top of a soundstage!

Dwayne Johnson, despite his size and image, seems like a teddy bear of a guy in this film. What was it like working with him?

Oh, he’s a complete sweetheart, he cracked me up all the time. He’s very silly which I was not expecting from such a big guy! I just adore him. And he even sings in this movie! I thought he had a beautiful voice.

It must have been a thrill working with the great Michael Caine.

Absolutely. When I heard that they were making this film and that Michael Caine was going to be a part of it, I definitely wanted to get on board. Any chance I could possibly have to work with such a legend, I was going to jump on. Michael is such an awesome guy, I really wasn’t expecting him to be so open and welcoming and to have so much enthusiasm. It was really refreshing for all of us to see that.

You were part of a huge franchise that got a ton of attention. Did you have any advice for your co-star Josh Hutcherson as he gets ready to embark on all the craziness with “The Hunger Games?”

You know, I think the only thing that you can say to someone in that position is to just stay true to yourself. The people around you may change and there may be a lot more attention, but it’s important to not let anything change you. But Josh already knows that, I think he’ll be just fine!

How was it doing the kissing scene with him in this film? Are those kind of scenes awkward for you?

Nah, it’s nothing, you get used to it. There’s definitely scenes that would scare me to do like real love scenes but that hasn’t come up yet!

Your character has so many crazy adventures in this film. What was your favorite scene to shoot?

I had so much fun the whole time, we were filming in such stunningly beautiful locations so I loved whenever we were shooting outside. But I have to say, even though getting dropped was scary, it was just hysterical doing that flying bee scene. We were basically on these huge mechanical bulls wrapped in green screen material. It was so funny looking over and seeing Dwayne Johnson and Luis Guzmán, who played my dad, on the same big blob of green!

It looks like your next few films will be very different from “Journey 2.” Can you tell us about those films?

Sure. I already finished a film called “Gimme Shelter” that’s a coming-of-age tale about this pregnant homeless teen. It’s her fight for survival and such an interesting story. I got to be the voice for so many girls who don’t really have a voice. Rosario Dawson plays my mother and Brendan Fraser and James Earl Jones are also in the film.

I also made another film coming out later this year called “The Frozen Ground” that’s a true story about this mass murderer in the 80s who raped and killed about 25 women. Scary stuff, but my character is actually the one who got away and worked with a detective to help solve the case and put that man behind bars where he still is today. I got to spend a few days with the real woman and she took me through her entire life story. So amazing, and there are a lot of great people in that film also including Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, and 50 Cent.

And other projects coming up?

Well, I’m about to start a movie called “Spring Breakers.” It’s about these college girls who land in jail after robbing a local chicken and waffles joint, and they get bailed out by this drug dealer played by James Franco who makes them get involved in all sorts of crazy stuff. Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Heather Morris are in that film with me.

Quelle: social.entertainment.msn.com