Brendan Fraser, does having kids inspire you to make these kinds of movies?

Fraser: Yeah, I need money, dude [laughs]. Yeah, next question.You took an active role as one of the producers--

Fraser: Yes, sorry to interrupt you. And I did take an active role. There are producers who are not active in it. They take a relaxive position in it.So, what was it that you liked in the script, and where did you use your power as producer to make changes?

Fraser: I get the script and it's called Journey to the Center of the Earth. OK, I get it, sci-fi movie. I don't know any actor who doesn't like to work, like I say, or [who] idles that well. Cover letter has a sentence on it, the last one, and it says, "And this film will be shot in 3-D." Huh? Hello. That bounces off me. That does a 3-D thing. And I realized after reading the script that, "Oh no, it's crap! [puts his hands over his mouth]. Did I say that?

It needed help! I've seen this before. What happens is that screenplays go through so many generations with so many different writers that that can end up just being a bad smorgasbord of ideas that'll just give you indigestion. You think, "OK, let's just start over. I've got fresh eyes." I would not be speaking from a place of knowledge if I didn't known the source material.

So, because I didn't read the book in high school, I scrammed over to Westwood and I got the last copy of Journey to the Center of the Earth in an anthology from a bookstore in Westwood. I read it as quickly as I could through the weekend, hacked through the Internet, learned as much as I could about Verne, about these characters. I realized that the screenplay had relationship dynamics that just didn't fit, that just left the audience feeling like we were watching some sort of 30-minute television movie about how to reunite a family. What this needed was a reason.

Why go to all the trouble to go to the center of the earth? If it was possible? And is it possible? Well, you need someone, as in the book that Verne wrote, who believed it is possible. He may be wacky in believing this, but he's a professor and he has a nephew. That makes him his uncle. There's maybe a paternal relationship of sorts. But he has to follow this belief that he has that Iceland, this incredible country that I know it to be from having shot there, which is steeped in mythology that is still much a part of their culture and belief to this day, [contains] a portal in Mount Sneffels that can lead to the center of the earth.

Why bother going there? Well, Verne wrote it because, I believe, that he wanted to bring you on a journey, and that was the story. It's like a travelogue, only to the center of the earth and back, or out, rather.It's your feeling that this Journey is a real moviegoing experience, right?

Fraser: Whether or not you liked Journey to the Center of the Earth, what we've done with the story, win, lose or draw, hey, have your opinion. I happen to think it's good. Others have told me the same. That's very nice. Thank you for that. If you don't, I'm sorry. I hope you find something that you do like. It didn't hurt my feelings. But one thing that is undeniable is that going to this movie makes the experience of being there the star of the movie. There's only three characters in this movies, the dinosaur, the fluffy birdies and plants that snap and bite. That's it. That's it. So the cool thing is that, for the first time, again, we're getting back to being there all together and having that cinema-going, must-have-buns-in-seats to experience this picture as it should be done. Now, we're the first one out of the gate. There are many of them lining up. Eyes in the industry are watching this movie very closely, let me tell you.How ready are you to do a Journey sequel?

Fraser: I could kiss you on both cheeks right now. I'm standing by, because we don't know. The truth is we don't know. Will it fly or will it die? I don't know. On top of that, the industry should be happy because, unfortunately, it's going to be trickier for the issue of piracy, to be able to take this [and pirate it]. I'm sure they can rip it off and show it in 2-D, and they will. It's probably on the streets of Shanghai right now. Anita Briem, as a native of Iceland, how did you feel your country was depicted in the film, and do you feel a special connection to it because of its setting?

Briem: Of course, of course! There's a reason why Jules Verne chose the place where the glacier was when we start to descend into the center of the earth. That area specifically has magical powers, and people come to this place specifically from all over the world. I actually think that's true of all Iceland. I think it's so special, apart from the water and air being so clean. It was a great joy for me to develop a strong female character in the spirit of an Icelandic woman. Icelandic women tend to be very strong and very independent, and I think that came in very handy because as Hannah the mountain guide I often found myself in these very dangerous situations, and I have on one hand a geeky scientist and the other a small child, and they are both going to get us killed, so I have to intervene and save the day, regularly. And I think that's where the strong sense of the core Icelandic woman came in very handy.You have been in the business for a long time back home, but what was it like to suddenly be part of a big Hollywood movie?

Briem: I come from a theater background. I was in the national theater of Iceland from age 9, and my parents are both musicians, so I grew up behind my dad's drum kit, on studio floors. So this as my North American debut was a real surprise to me, and I fell in love with this genre. I started watching the incredible movies like Back to the Future and Tim Burton and how that genre of the action-adventure can be so magical. But at the same time it doesn't change for me as an actor the core of your character and how you structure and develop your character. You want to learn, experience, be taken aback by ... that's the same as every piece I do, whether it be in The Cherry Orchard or playing Jane Seymour in The Tudors or Hannah in Journey to the Center of the Earth. So it was a beautiful journey, pun intended, into the world both of cinema, for me, and of that genre specifically.Take us through the process of landing your role.

Briem: I must have auditioned for this movie at least 25 times. This was a four-month process. I have to check my sources on this, but I think I beat out Cameron Diaz's record for how many times she auditioned for The Mask with how many times I auditioned for this movie. But that gave me the privilege of watching the script still in development. So by the time I got the role and we started researching and developing and rehearsing I had a real sense of what I wanted to do. And I really wanted for her to be a strong female presence that is not your damsel in distress, quite the opposite. I'm in fact saving the day. A female character that is driving the action, I thought, is somewhat lacking [in movies], especially in the family action-adventure. I think it's important for young girls to see a female presence that is in control of the action.Josh Hutcherson, you must have spent pretty much the entire Journey shoot with Brendan Fraser. You probably have a lot of stories ...

Hutcherson: Oh, yeah, I could go on for hours. We were practical joking the entire time. I had a squirt bottle that I started squirting on his pants while we were talking to make it look like he peed on himself, and then apparently there is a big wide shot that you can totally see it in the movie. And the scene where I'm pulling him up over the edge after the ground had fallen away ... wedgie, boom, right there. He got me back, though. Whew, did he get me back. Vengeance was sweet for him.What do you have coming up?

Hutcherson: I just finished production on Cirque du Freak, which was a vampire movie. It was so amazing. The cast in that was insanely awesome. It was John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe and Ken Watanabe, and that's just a few. What does Salma Hayek play?

Hutcherson: She is the bearded lady. So she has a full beard down to here. It's crazy, right?What kind of books do you like to read?

Hutcherson: I read a lot for school. Older stuff like Catcher in the Rye. I really do like sci-fi because it's so rich and imaginative.What kind of authors?

Hutcherson: I really like the guy who wrote "Harrison Bergeron." Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I like him a lot, he's really good.Did you read Journey to the Center of the Earth?

Hutcherson: Not cover to cover, but on set when it's around you get to kind of flip through it. But I definitely want to read it. How interested would you be in a sequel?

Hutcherson: It would be great. They leave it wide open at the end, so that would be really fun. I'd definitely be very open.

Eric Brevig, how did you balance paying attention to the visual effects and directing the actors?

Brevig: Luckily, I've had 25 years of doing visual effects and a bunch of years doing 3-D, so I could forget about that on the set and just focus on the actors and the story. And I made a big deal of telling that. "Forget about my technical background, I'm only here to make you guys look good and to make sure the story is the best it can be." So that was what I worried about on set. And we all got along great.This is your debut with a full feature. Did you feel like a rookie in that sense?

Brevig: Well, before we started shooting I did. I thought, "Oh, you know, I've got to tell the actors where to go and where to look," and all this stuff. Because I've done second-unit direction and visual effects on such big movies, my crew filming this movie was actually smaller than the crew that I was used to working with. So when I got on the set I realized, "You know, I'm totally comfortable with this situation. I'm just going to make a good movie."The original story was written in 1864, and it's been realized many times in many ways. What do you think Journey is so timeless?

Brevig: I think it was something we were all interested in. "What could be down there?" We haven't proven what's down there, so it might be true. It's one of those things that you know it's there, but you can't get there, so it's fun to imagine. The end of the film hints at a sequel, Atlantis. Will you be back for that one?

Brevig: I hope so, if a lot of people go see this one.