First off, let’s set the rumors straight. Yes: Hollywood “It” boy Josh Hutcherson did date Hollywood “It” girl Vanessa Hudgens — but it only lasted for a minute. Well, maybe more than a minute, but…
“We only dated for, literally, like two months,” insists Hutcherson, 19, a Kentucky native who got his first sample of fame when at 4, he charmed audiences at the Boone County Fair with a rendition of Brooks & Dunn’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” He’s since taken Hollywood by storm in films such as 2007’s “Bridge to Terabithia” and the upcoming blockbuster “The Hunger Games.”
Alternative audiences may know Hutcherson best after his turn as the son of two lesbians in 2010’s Oscar-nominated “The Kids Are All Right.” Charmingly, Hutcherson made good on a promise to his mother Michelle, taking the former Delta Airlines employee as his Oscar date.
Speaking of dates — did the fact that he met, dated and broke up with Hudgens while filming their new film “Journey 2” make things awkward on set at all?
No way, he insists.
Hudgens, 23, who also plays Hutcherson’s love interest in the follow-up to the 2008 Jules Verne-inspired “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” has become a very close friend who’s now rumored to be dating actor Austin Butler. And while the romantic relationship between H and H didn’t last, Hutcherson says they became “best friends.”
In fact, he insists it actually helped them support each other on set in Hawaii, as the two rode gigantic bumblebees up a mountain-top and nearly got devoured by White-throated Needletails.
“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” centers around Sean Anderson (Hutcherson) who receives a distress signal from his adventuring grandfather (Michael Caine). Together, along with Anderson’s stepfather Hank (Dwayne Johnson), tour guide Gabato (Luis Guzman) and his strong-willed daughter Kailani (Hudgens), they set out to discover a lost island and escape its powerful seismic waves before it gets buried underwater completely. Whew.
The film features many near-death experiences including Hutcherson having to fight for his life with a hurt leg and even required him to become a certified scuba diver in one escape sequence. But it wasn’t as dangerous as it appears on screen.
Says Hutcherson, “It wasn’t too bad, honestly. For there to be as few injuries as there were is pretty impressive.”
“I know one time Vanessa was just like goofing off and being silly and, like, walking backwards and almost fell on a rock and cut her leg,” Hutcherson says.
“Because,” he continues, with just the tiniest smirking laugh of a best friend, “she’s silly and goofy and clumsy sometimes.”
Qualities the now-single, soon-to-be-swooned-over hearthrob (once “The Hunger Games” debuts in March) looks for in a gal.
“It’s weird,” Josh says, laughing. “I mean, I don’t really know how to respond to [all the attention]. I don’t know how to handle it. It’s going to be an interesting adventure to go on.”