'Kids Are All Right' teen may be next big heartthrob

By Mal Vincent, the Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

July 29–Correction: An earlier version of of this story indicated Josh Hutcherson was still in the running for the role of Spider-Man. Although he was under consideration for the role, it went to British actor Andrew Garfield earlier this month.

Josh Hutcherson, 17, is now appearing with some highly recognizable actors — Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo — in "The Kids Are all right."

Hutcherson himself is already highly recognizable to the throngs of teenage girls waiting outside a Los Angeles theater for a screening of the movie. Hutcherson waved, eliciting squeals, but kept moving.

the next day, Hutcherson said that's something he's not accustomed to yet and hopes not to get accustomed to. He regards his role in "The Kids Are all Right" as a breakthrough.

"Laser, the guy I play, is not like me at all," he said. "He's quieter. He's probably more sensitive.

"It's not a movie aimed at a particularly teen audience, and I guess that means an 'acting' breakthrough. I hope so. I just know that I was floored — blown away — when I learned who was going to be in it. I mean, these are heavy hitters. I had to be on my toes this time out."

A Kentucky boy, Josh told his parents, at age 8, that he wanted to be in movies. It happened fast.

his mother took him to California to get his career started, which meant the family had to be separated when he was working. He doesn't feel he's missed anything, though. "I was still a kid. I still had a childhood," he said. "It just was a little bit different from a normal one."

He graduated from modeling to acting parts by way of voice roles in the animated "Howl's Moving Castle" and "The Polar Express" with Tom Hanks. He did "Zathura: A Space Adventure" and "RV" ("Runaway Vacation") with Robin Williams. Williams and the movie got terrible reviews, but Hutcherson came away with a best-actor award from the Young Artists organization. "Bridge to Terabithia" gathered new fans and scored as a moneymaker.

the most recent hit was "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in which he played Brendan Fraser's nephew and learned a good deal about action work.

"Wires and gimmicks," he said. "In one scene, we were on a raft in an ocean at the center of the earth in the middle of a big storm. A hydraulic system was pouring rain on us. I hate to say it, but it really feels like everything is held together with duct tape sometimes."

He's getting ready to make the sequel to "Journey." He also has two other movies in the works, and "The Kids Are all Right" opens nationwide today after getting rave reviews from Sundance and other festivals.

Hutcherson's role models are child actors who graduated into adult roles — Elijah Wood, Ron Howard and Natalie Portman. his idol, though, is Jake Gyllenhaal, with whom he hopes to work someday. He'd also like to make a movie in which he plays a soccer player, "because they'd give me private training that would help my game."

He's wary, though, of the Hollywood scene. "The drug thing has no allure whatsoever. You'd have to be pretty dumb to go for that. It'll never happen."

He does have dark purple fingernails on one hand. "Some girl did that," he grinned as he put the hand out of sight.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com

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