They didn’t have to kill each other, but, according to Hunger Games star Alexander Ludwig, there was a healthy sense of competition on the North Carolina set of the juggernaut teen franchise.

“We did do exercises where we’d have to flip huge monster-truck tires, and a lot of cool physical stuff, just to keep us in the right head space,” says the Vancouver actor who plays Cato, one of 24 “tributes” faced with the ultimate struggle to survive.

“No boxing matches or anything like that,” he says. “We all got along . . . and we all knew we were part of something pretty special.”

Even though Ludwig wasn’t a Hunger Games neophyte before he read the script, he quickly educated himself once he was part of the prospective casting pool. He pored over the Suzanne Collins books, and figured out the central attraction wasn’t just the action or the love story.

“This is part of the zeitgeist,” he says, pointing to the parallels with shows such as Survivor, or even American Idol, where contestants are eliminated one by one.

“Modern reality TV sets up these competitive situations to show us real human nature,” he says. “This movie is a metaphor of that. And it’s a pretty edgy concept.”

Despite being set in a not-too-distant future, where civilization has devolved to the point of human sacrifice, Ludwig says the actual emotional content of the film is timeless, human and entirely earnest.

What he found refreshing, however, is the way the movie is allowed to show a little bit of camp, in addition to an epic scale.

“It’s kind of fake, but it’s real, because they were playing off the reality TV show. They wanted that feel. In fact, I have to say, of all the movies I have worked on in the past, this is the one with the least amount of CGI,” he says. “Even though we’re in this futuristic world and this futuristic story, it wasn’t hard to imagine we were there, because we shot in very real locations.”

Ludwig credits the successful mood and feeling to the hard work of director Gary Ross, but also series author Suzanne Collins, who came up with the concept of teen sacrifice in a post-apocalyptic universe.

“This is a complete world, and I think, once you see the movie, you enter that world.”

Fortunately, Ludwig says the kill-or-be-killed part of the narrative was something all the actors left behind on set.

“We became a family so quickly,” he says of his work with co-stars Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence.

“I was just in Toronto with Josh, and it was great. We get along so well.”

Hutcherson plays Peeta in the movie, and, in many respects, it’s Peeta who represents the biggest threat to Ludwig’s Cato — even if he’s much smaller, and has about half the muscle mass.

“The thing about Peeta is he’s the one everyone can relate to. He’s just an ordinary guy who realizes he’s not going to survive using his physicality alone. . . . It’s cool, because it’s not a cop-out to run away. It’s more important to survive, and Peeta finds a way to do that,” says Ludwig. “That’s what makes him heroic.”

By contrast, Cato, who possesses all the manly qualities of a typical matinee hero, is the one who emerges as the de facto villain.

“Cato is this big alpha guy,” says Ludwig. “But I’m not like him. As competitive as I am, I’m actually in the process of losing some of this bulk, because I don’t really want to be known as that alpha guy. I mean, I don’t think Shakespeare had a need for the six-foot muscle man,” says Ludwig.

“Acting is what I love. I love being the chameleon, and you can’t do that if you have just one physical type.”

Although he’s not yet 20, Ludwig is already a veteran of the acting business, having landed the lead role in The Seeker (2007), followed by a star turn in Race to Witch Mountain (2009).

When he landed a part in The Hunger Games, he knew it would be a turning point.

“Everyone in Hollywood wanted a role in this movie,” he says. “Everyone wanted to have a part in it. I feel so lucky that I got one, but what I find so cool about Hunger Games is that the real star is the story itself.”

Ludwig says if he’s fortunate enough to stay in the business and call his own shots, he’d like to keep making movies such as The Hunger Games or Blood Diamond — one of his favourite movies of all time, because it balanced action with human drama.

“I like movies that instil passion in the viewer,” he says. “I like movies that can teach us about who we are as people.”

And for all the hype surrounding The Hunger Games, the fact is: It’s actually saying something, according to Ludwig.

“I think this is a story that shows us the power of hope, and the (redeeming) quality of love,” he says. “And that’s pretty cool.”

CHECK : Newmusiclive.ca

Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove, Alexander Ludwig as Cato and Amandla Stenberg as Rue charmed us at our recent interview. As feisty and sometimes cruel Tributes Cato and Clove, Alex and Isabelle might not be our favorite people but, the actors playing them are fun and friendly.  Little Rue won our hearts in the book and will win yours in the movie. 13-year-old Amandla told us some funny tales of on-set antics.

Picture Amandla in a cute lime green Burberry dress (she played the young Zoe Saldana in the movie Columbiana). Alex, who was the star of Race to Witch Mountain, is all grown up and hot in a tan V-neck sweater and black slacks.  Isabelle creeped us out in the psych thriller Orphan and will co-star with Super 8’s Joel Courtney in a serious family drama The Healer.  She has Clove’s long black hair and is in trendy beige jacket over white tee with jeans.

TeenHollywood: [shaking hands with a very tall grown up Alex] Long time since “Witch Mountain”, dude!

Alex: Seriously, right? Oh my God.

TeenHollywood: Alex, your scene also involves a great emotional thing where we see that Cato is tough but he’s really just a teen in a horrible situation. Was that fun for you as an actor?

Alex: That scene was the sole reason why I decided to do this. Every once in a while, it’s great to try something new and dive into the dark side of humanity. That’s a reason why I loved Cato. He’s a villain in the movie but, at the end of the day, these are all innocent kids thrown into this crazy fight to survive. You see a little bit of humanity in Cato at the end and it makes you have a little hope in humanity.

TeenHollywood: This movie has a very dark, sci-fi future. Did any of you have a favorite bad future book or movie when you were younger? Also a kind of sick reality TV theme is addressed in the film. Do you guys watch any of that?

Alex: Guilty pleasure? “Jersey Shore”. You’re like “Are you serious? This is really happening?” Then another one I like is called “I Shouldn’t Be Alive”, crazy stories of people in horrible situations and you are like “Hasn’t this person died already?” and you keep watching. It’s crazy.

TeenHollywood: Can you guys talk about working with Jennifer?

Alex: She’s great, just unreal. We became huge fans on set.

TeenHollywood: Are any of you into making music?

Alex: Actually I’m releasing my first single in 24 hours [it’s out now].

Isabelle: You didn’t tell me that!

Alex: Yeah. I write my own music and it’s always been a passion of mine since I was a little kid and, hopefully, it’s coming to life. I’m working with The Fray.

Isabelle: I love The Fray! Why didn’t you tell me this?

Alex: Their producer Aaron Johnson who did their work on “How to Save a Life” I’m working with him right now and the first single comes out tomorrow so I’m excited.

TeenHollywood: How does that work with your acting career?

Alex: It kind of doesn’t. That’s the way I wanted to keep it. Two very different things in my life. I wanted to get this out before The Hunger Games so it wouldn’t be that actor turned musician. I’ve always wanted to do both. The single is called “Live It Up” and one the flipside is “Teenage Wasteland”. It’s about traveling Europe with a buddy.

TeenHollywood: The movie has tons of violence but it is rated PG-13 and the violence is done very well. Did you ever feel like you were getting too violent in the film?

Alex: Absolutely not.

Alex: It’s about the brains of each person as well. They try to figure out ways to survive and strategize. Cato probably has the most violence in the film. Of course the movie is going to depict things that could be risqué but they kept it quite light, I’d say.

Alex: It’s a movie that the masses can see.

In The Hunger Games, adapted for the big screen from the best-selling novel by Suzanne Collins, actors Alexander Ludwig, Isabelle Fuhrman and Amandla Stenberg play three of the Tributes competing in the Games. Cato (Ludwig) and Clove (Fuhrman) are ruthless killers who are the two most fearsome Career Tributes, while Rue (Stenberg) is the youngest Tribute from District 11, who also becomes a close ally of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence).

At the press day, the three co-stars made it obvious just how tight-knit the cast had gotten while making the film, as they shared stories about training together, the practical jokes they played on each other, what it’s like to interact with fans, and what they learned from this experience. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Question: Had all of you read the book, before you found out about the film?
LUDWIG: There’s a book? No. Absolutely! We were all huge fans of the book.

Alexander, what appealed to you about this role and what kind of training did you have to do?
LUDWIG: When I got offered the role of Cato, I jumped on the opportunity just ‘cause I’ve never really had a chance to play a bad guy, and that’s something I’ve always really, really wanted to do. I wanted to experience that really dark side of a person, and Cato is a really, really twisted individual. We worked unbelievably hard. Physically, I wanted Cato to have as big of a physical presence as he did a mental one, in the movie. There was lots of fight training that we had to go through. I worked with an ex-Navy SEAL to bulk up. I did tons of hand-to-hand combat.

Isabelle, how good did you get at knife throwing?
LUDWIG: Isabelle actually did an exceptional job. She worked very, very hard.

Were there pranks on set?
LUDWIG: Amandla is a prankster. I remember, one day, I was doing a fight scene on set and was just practicing with some of the stunt guys. In North Carolina, during the time we were filming, it was so hot that it was disgusting. It was like you had just walked out of a shower of sweat. It was gross. I’ve never been so disgusted. So, I had my shirt off when we were doing the fight training, and I had no clothes, so I had to run back to my trailer to go get my clothes. When I did, all my clothes were gone. I couldn’t find them anywhere. I just found this little note from Amandla and Jackie Emerson, who plays Fox Face. I was like, “Oh, my god! What have they done?” I had no clothes. I was in my boxers, trying to find all my clothes, and I found some of them in the fridge and some of them in the microwave. It was ridiculous! That was one of the many, many things Amandla did to ruin my life on set.

FUHRMAN: Yeah, and Alex has me text him directions. He wasn’t working for a weekend. It was a three-day weekend that they were just doing scenes with Jen [Lawrence] and Josh [Hutcherson]. He called me and was like, “My phone is about to die and I need directions from Nashville to Scottsdale, Arizona.” So, I typed them out and my thumbs were killing me. I sent them to him and he said, “I also need directions from Scottsdale, Arizona to Little Rock, Arkansas, and then to Boulder, Colorado.” I was like, “You’re not going to make it back in time.” He was like, “We’re going to fly back.” And I was like, “Okay, that seems implausible, but whatever.”

LUDWIG: She spent half an hour, just typing out directions on text. It was really sick and funny.

FUHRMAN: It was not funny for me.

LUDWIG: I got this huge essay of directions, that was like, “Turn left on a dirt road, and go all the way to Little Rock, Arkansas.” It was really funny!

Have you had any interactions yet with fans who are super-excited about the film?
LUDWIG: There is one fan who just always knows where we’re all going to be, every single time we’re there. I would go to the airport, and there he would be. It’s gotten to where we know each other, on a first-name basis. I’m like, “Oh, man, what’s up? You found me again! Should I call the police?” But, other than that, all the fans have just been so supportive. We did a Vanity Fair spread for The Hunger Games, and we were on set, and I saw a little head pop up from the tree. There were three teenage girls who snuck past security and made it into the forest. There are funny things like that. But, all in all, it’s just really flattering to have that much support.

What was Gary Ross like to work with, as a director?
LUDWIG: At the end of the day, so many people were so passionate about their craft. Right when Gary would say, “Action!,” everyone was just mutually in that mode. Even with all that laughter and friendliness off set, this is what we do for a living and this is our passion, and we just go all out. Everyone knew, going in, that there was a reason we were chosen for this, and we had to do the fans and this amazing book justice.

What’s the best thing that each of you learned about yourselves, from doing this movie?
LUDWIG: That’s a great question. For myself, in playing a villain, that is really a mind-set that you have to work on. That’s not just something that comes easy. When I play good guys, that’s much more natural for me. I’d like to think I’m a bit of a good person. But, it definitely takes a lot of work and lots of research and really creating a backstory for your character, especially if you’re playing a villain, so that you have something to go off of.

Though don’t fret too much that things will be completely different. At least so says bad boy Cato, played by Alexander Ludwig.

“I think it will surprise most fans because usually when you see a movie about a book it’s not really that true to the book,” he filled us in. “Or at least it varies a little. But Gary’s done an excellent job of making sure it stays very identical to the book.”