Fifteen-year-old actor Colin Ford chatted with J-14 recently about his movie We Bought a Zoo, out on DVD today! (Click here to enter to win your very own copy!) He shared tons of stories from set -- he starred alongside Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Elle Fanning -- including what it was really like to work with all of those exotic animals, so read on for the inside scoop!
J-14: What was it like working on this movie with such huge Hollywood stars, like Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson? Colin Ford: It was insane -- and so incredible. Matt played my father in the movie, and in real life, he was just like a father figure to me too. Scarlett is so beautiful and really cool to work with as well because she is so sweet and funny.
J-14: Your character has a really sweet love storyline with Elle Fanning's character. Were you nervous about those scenes at all? Colin: Well, I've known Elle for a really long time. Both of our families moved to L.A. from Atlanta. Actually, in seventh grade I started going to school with Elle -- but she was in the grade below me.
J-14: What a small world! Do you think the fact that you guys were friends made it harder or easier to play love interests? Colin: I think it was totally easier because we're comfortable with each other and we're friends. So, having a really strong friend background was helpful for showing the "love" relationship that our characters had.
J-14: You worked with so many amazing animals on set. What was that like? Colin: It was so cool! My favorite animal on set was Crystal, the Capuchin monkey -- you might have seen her in The Hangover 2 or The Night at the Museum. She's like a little person. She would sit down at a table and she would eat dinner with everyone. The lions and tigers were also incredible.J-14: That sounds amazing! But did anything ever go wrong with all of the crazy animals running around all over the set? Colin: In the movie, there's one scene where I accidentally let snakes loose and they go everywhere. During one of the takes, Matt's daughter, Alexia, hopped in the crate and when I went to let the snakes out, she jumped out and scared me. It was the scariest thing ever! It was even scarier then the snakes!
Photos Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
