Dianna and Alex are Number One in Number Four

By: Lynn Barker

“Glee”’s Quinn, (Dianna Agron) and Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens’ co-star in the upcoming film "Beastly", play a teen couple who must save the planet from alien invaders in the sci-fi actioner "I Am Number Four", based on the Young Adult novel.

Kidzworld got to chat with the duo recently in Beverly Hills. The actors were all glammed up; she in a black lace dress and wearing diamond jewelry and handsome Alex in a light beige Dior suit. Yum!We got the latest from the young actors on the film, crazy weather on set, Alex’s dream action scene and, from Dianna, what’s coming up on “Glee”.

Kidzworld: Dianna, John in this film, played by Alex, is marked for death so it’s dangerous to be around him. In your own life are you attracted to those dangerous guys?

• Dianna: [laughs] No, I don’t think so because, I’m not a baddie so I wouldn’t know how to keep up with them.

Kidzworld: Your character Sarah in “Number Four” is always snapping pictures. Is she hoping to be a photo journalist or what?

• Dianna: She’s explored this fishbowl that she’s lived in and, for the first time, is feeling at home with herself and her place. She wants to escape behind the camera because it’s so much more interesting to her. It’s a chance to start over when she meets John Smith. They are quickly drawn to each other and let down all the walls and have this really pure, organic feeling for each other. It’s what I loved so much about their characters. You see that that helps them go on this journey together.

Kidzworld: Is that the kind of relationship you want in real life?

• Dianna: Definitely. I think, in any strong relationship with family, friends or your partner, it’s hard to share everything sometimes because life isn’t always smooth sailing and sometimes you’re afraid of hurting someone’s feelings. I think the truer you can be to yourself, the more you’ll open your horizons to a really beautiful relationship. It’s not always the easier thing to do.

Kidzworld: Alex, what did you enjoy during the shoot for "I Am Number Four" so much that you would like to do it again?

• Alex: I would go blow up the football stadium again! I had so much fun running around. It’s so crazy. It’s like being twenty years old but still dreaming about going into the back garden and playing action hero. You go on this massive American football field and have to use your imagination.
  The first shot we had, we run out of the tunnel onto the field and there are [creatures] jumping down at you and people are shooting at you and the ground is exploding. All the things you have to imagine happening are crazy and then you see the trailer and part of the film and it all comes to life. It’s a great feeling so I would go back and do that again!

Kidzworld: Dianna, how was co-starring with enthusiastic Alex here?

• Dianna: [laughs] It was great. I didn’t meet him until the day before the table read (of the script) and I thought,’ okay, no judgments, he’s British, he’s very attractive, he’s the lead in this movie. Let’s see’. He was very passionate about this film and what we could explore with it. I think that shows in the trailer. He looks amazing and so focused. I can’t wait to see the whole thing and see how it turned out.

Kidzworld: Alex, both your characters in "Beastly" and "I Am Number Four" are sort of tortured souls. In “Number Four”, John has always had to move from town to town and yearns for a “normal” life. Do you just pick this kind of character on purpose?

• Alex: Well, I think everyone in life comes to a point where they have a choice. John’s choice is to lead a normal life but it’s not his destiny. He is essentially this warrior from another planet. That is what is so torturing for him. He may feel tortured but it’s about choice for him; wanting one thing and having to do another. If he doesn’t become the warrior, he can lose everything he’s ever wanted.

Kidzworld: Dianna, what is this time for you like; promoting this film and jumping back into “Glee”? Is there any time for yourself?

• Dianna: Well, you have to make it. I went home last weekend because we’re going to London to promote the film (she wasn’t home for Thanksgiving). If family and friends are important to you, you make sure that you set aside that time and carve it out. At the same time, since I was fourteen years old, I had a job and was going to school and was dancing so I’ve liked being too busy rather than not being busy enough.

Kidzworld: Dianna, Alex remembers that football stadium scene. You spent three months in Pittsburgh filming "I Am Number Four". What do you remember most?

• Dianna: Erratic weather. It was comical. We were always filming outside of Pittsburgh in beautiful towns. It would be sunny, then torrential rain and mud up to our ankles. Our producers were on their i-phones checking weather aps; ‘Okay the storm is gonna pass in five minutes but it’ll be back in ten minutes and leave for thirty minutes’. So they’re saying ‘We have time for one take, then cover the equipment with tarps’. You watch it now and don’t see any of that. That’s the beauty of it. Watching the film will never be as fun as making it. The experience is the best part.

Kidzworld: Alex, with famous names like Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay as your producers, any pressure? How did you feel about that?

• Alex: As a kid, you idolize these people and think of it as a lifelong dream. When it finally happens, it kind of takes your breath away but you work with your icons because these guys know what they’re doing and have made movies that you’ve enjoyed in the past and now you just want on the team and you make a movie that everyone else in the world can enjoy.

Kidzworld: You have the two movies are coming out pretty close together. What are you planning next?

• Alex: I’m doing a film at the moment ("Now" with Justin Timberlake, Olivia Wilde and Amanda Seyfried) but I take it one step at a time. I’m lucky to be in the position I’m in. You don’t know if you’re going to work again. I’m very proud of those movies.

Kidzworld: Dianna, let’s talk “Glee”. There is a lot of rehearsal and recording on the show. How many episodes are you working on at the same time?

• Dianna: There is so much to do that there have been some days, like in the Sectionals episode we just shot, where we were learning the dance moves the day of, in the morning and then shooting. That was insane and we really had to focus but we got it done. It’s a challenge sometimes. The episode that we’re doing for the Super Bowl [in February] is massive and going to take a lot of focus.

Kidzworld: What goes on in your mind when you hear you’re going on after the Super Bowl and doing Michael Jackson songs? It’s the most expensive episode you’ve ever done. There must be great pressure coming with that.

• Dianna: Yeah. I read that script yesterday. But, before I could digest it, it was all about ‘so what are we doing today?’. It has to be about what we are doing day by day, on the spot. I’ll try not to be nervous.

Kidzworld: What reaction are you getting from fans when you go out?

• Dianna: I’ve noticed that whatever energy you put out is what you receive so I’m a very mellow person. People are really lovely and kind and soft-spoken with me. Our fans are so nice and so loyal. Nobody comes up and says ‘I hated last week’s episode’. People come up with things they relate to.

Kidzworld: How is it to bounce from TV to big screen?

• Dianna: I think I had no time to think about it so it was pretty easy. But, it was great and luckily they both let me [go back and forth].