You can see Jenna, 12, these days in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but she’s also appeared in other films, such as The Missing with Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones and The Hunted with Benecio Del Toro. Jenna’s brother Cayden, 11, has also acted in the movies Dodgeball and Freaky Friday. Now, he stars in The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D. IML spoke to Jenna and Cayden about their new movies, getting along as sibling actors, and life in general.

IML: Jenna, tell us a little about Bailey, the character you play in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Jenna: Well, with Bailey, you find out that she’d been diagnosed with leukemia later in the movie. She’s just a girl that doesn’t want people to know that, because she just wants them to accept her for who she is, and not feel sorry for her because of her sickness. And she’s just so strong, and is not scared of dying, but just wants to get to know people before she leaves the world. And she’s just an amazing, amazing girl.

IML: Did you do any research for the character?

Jenna: Well, we went to a children’s hospital in Canada, where they had a lot of kids who had leukemia. And we talked to the guy that kind of ran the hospital, and he had a son who died from cancer a couple of years ago. He just told us how amazing the kids are, and how brave they are. And actually, he said that his son, right before he was about to pass away, he said, “Dad, if this doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.” So they’re just so intelligent. And one of the director’s assistants had cancer a couple of years ago, so she kind of helped me with the process of what I would be feeling as a sick child.

IML: Cayden, in The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D, you play Max. What’s he like?

Cayden: He’s a little bit of a loner; he’s kind of a dork. He gets picked on and stuff, and he’s always dreaming up these characters called Shark Boy and Lava Girl. And his teacher’s always telling him, “They’ll never come true, and you need to stop making imaginary friends and start making real friends,” and so is his mom. But David Arquette, Max's dad, he’s totally into it, and he’s always telling Max's mom, “Y’know, kids need their dreams.” And Shark Boy and Lava Girl, while Max is in school, they kinda come and they rescue him away from his sad little world. At least Max tends to think that, but really, why they came to rescue him is because they need Max to save Planet Drool. Because it’s under destruction.

IML: What part of the movie do you think kids are really going to enjoy?

Cayden: Well, I’ve always loved superheroes, and I’m sure every single kid out there is gonna love these superheroes and want to see Shark Boy and Lava Girl…and the fact that it’s in 3-D.

IML: Jenna, what do you think kids will enjoy the most about your movie?

Jenna: I think that definitely girls are going to enjoy this movie. It’s a girly movie, but it can be seen by everybody. It’s not one of those movies that can only be seen by girls and everybody else is going to be bored. But it’s definitely a movie about friendship, and that’s hopefully what people will like about it.

IML: Is it hard for you to make friends as an actress? Do you have a group of friends you hang out with?

Jenna: No, I have friends. That’s always been important to my mom and dad, that we be balanced, and go to a normal school and be normal kids as much as we can. I have friends at my school, and all of that.

IML: What kinds of things do you like to do with your friends?

Jenna: Um, go swimming. I like to just hang out. My friends don’t like to do that, but I do. Because, a lot of times I’m busy, and I just kind of like to get a chance to just hang out.

IML: Is it hard, when you have to go out and shoot a movie, to say goodbye to your friends?

Cayden: Yeah, sometimes it’s kinda hard. A lot of friends are like, “How long are you gonna be gone?” And usually, they kinda miss me, and I miss them too.

Jenna: It’s definitely hard to do that, especially when you come back and you’re either ahead or behind, and either way it’s hard.

IML: When you’re away, do you feel like you’re missing out on juicy gossip and what’s going on with your friends?

Jenna: Totally! It’s definitely hard leaving my friends, and I hate it, because I don’t know what’s going on at school and I miss my friends and being around them and having them there.

IML: Is it hard to come back?

Cayden: No, It’s really exciting to come back. All my friends are really excited. They say, “Cayden’s coming back today!” and stuff like that.

IML: Do you guys have other siblings?

Jenna: No. It’s just him and me, and that’s it.

IML: Do you get along most of the time?

Jenna: Most of the time…Definitely not all the time!

Cayden: Of course we fight, like every single brother and sister, but we get along pretty well.

IML: What do you guys fight about?

Cayden: I kinda like to scare my sister, and usually she gets really mad at me for doing that. Or if I’m just kinda annoying her.

Jenna: It’s just that he spends more time in my room than he does in his own.

IML: Why, is your room cooler than his?

Jenna: Well, no…he just does it to annoy me. And he takes my stuff. Say, he takes like, a perfume out of my room, and he’ll go and spray it everywhere and waste it. It’s just stupid, little brother stuff like that.

IML: Do you two feel competitive because you’re both actors?

Jenna: We’re not competitive with each other in acting. Other things we are, but not in acting. We’ve been pretty supportive of each other in acting.

IML: Have you ever acted with each other?

Jenna: I haven’t. I think I would enjoy that a little bit.

Cayden: Yeah, I think that would be cool, because sometimes when one of the kids gets a job, then the family’s kind of split up. It would be like, me and my mom would go and do the job while my sister and my dad stayed at home. And I really would like it if it wasn’t as split up as much.

IML: Is it hard not having the four of you together as a family?

Jenna: It’s definitely hard, and we don’t like that, but we make sacrifices for this. We don’t do it so much that we’re apart from the family all the time. My parents won’t allow that, and I don’t want that either. I think it would be great if the family could just be together while we were filming. And I think it would be cool for me and my brother to play a fighting brother and sister, because we can do that!

IML: How do your parents support you in your acting careers? What is their role?

Cayden: Well, they’re very, very supportive. My mom, she coaches us, so that helps us a whole lot.

Jenna: It’s so important to them that we have balance in our lives. And they’ve always said, “Just do your best and that’s all you can do. Nobody expects more of you than just trying your best.”

IML: Are movie and TV sets fun places to be, or is it really a lot of hard work?

Jenna: No, I’ve always thought of this as something VERY fun. Most of the time it’s not even work for me, but sometimes it does get difficult, and it always does for everybody. Like, if you have a big headache or something, you still have to put up with it and do your job, because it’s part of your job, and you have to do it. But most of it is a whole lot of fun for me.

Cayden: Some of it is hard work, but most of it is really fun. We all have a really good time.

IML: What are you guys into besides acting?

Jenna: I am a competitive figure skater. I’ve been doing that for the same amount of time I’ve been doing acting. Ever since I was two.

IML: Which do you enjoy more, acting or skating?

Jenna: I couldn’t tell you that. I enjoy both SO much. They’ve both been a huge part of my life ever since I was really little, so I couldn’t tell you which one I like better.

IML: Cayden, what about you? Do you play a sport?

Cayden: Yeah, I like to play tackle football. I play tight end on offense, and I was the third string quarterback. And on defense I play defensive back, and I’m never off the field. And I’m also the kicker, and I’m also on the receiving team.

IML: Jenna, what do you think it means for a girl to be “strong”?

Jenna: There’s a lot of things out there, especially these days, that intimidate girls. Girls need to be strong and know how to stand up for themselves. Definitely having friends is a big part of it, so that they can help you through that, and a strong family.

IML: Do you think that TV commercials and shows that emphasize clothes, makeup, and other things to spend money on put a lot of pressure on girls your age?

Jenna: I think there’s a message that says: “This is what you need to look like to be 'in' today, and if you don’t look like this then you’re weird.” It’s just, it kind of puts off that kind of thing, and I don’t think that that’s true, because God created everybody to be individual, and it’s not one look or one specific thing that everybody has to have or look like. And I just don’t like that the world is putting that out there.

IML: Is there a message or a theme in Sisterhood that you want girls your age to get?

Jenna: Of course, the theme is friendship. And I think the movie’s plot has the message: “No matter who you are, and what you look like, and what kind of person you are...you can still have friends and be together with them.”

IML: Cayden, your movie is about Max’s dreams coming to life. What are your dreams?

Cayden: Well, I want to keep acting for a really, really long time. And I want to go to college at Texas A&M University. That’s like my dream come true.

IML: You used to live in Texas. Do you miss it?

Cayden: Yes I do. I miss Texas a whole lot.

IML: What’s different about it, compared to living in Hollywood?

Cayden: Well here in California, a lot of people are just kinda rude, and they’re really impatient, especially on the freeways and stuff. And in Texas it’s not like that. Here, it’s kinda like a “dog eat dog” world. But in Texas it’s really friendly. And all my family is in Texas, so we would visit family more if we lived in Texas.

IML: When you’re shooting a movie like Shark Boy, the special effects are not there yet. Is it hard to pretend that something is there when you’re really looking at nothing?

Cayden: You have to have a good imagination! It was a little difficult, but usually Robert Rodriguez, the director (who also did the Spy Kids movies), would give us a computer drawing or sketch something up so we knew what to picture. Or, if we didn’t understand it that well, or at all, he would go up there and do it for us.
He would say, “Do it like this.”

IML: Was Robert or any of the other directors you’ve worked with open to you coming up with your own ideas?

Cayden: None of the other directors that I’ve worked with have really taken any of my ideas, but Robert, he would ask for some ideas sometimes. And sometimes he would take some of our ideas and he’d put them into the script!

IML: Jenna, do you have a role model?

Jenna: I really want to be like my mom in some ways, because I already take a lot after her already. I really like the way she treats us and disciplines us, and I think that she’s just great because of how she’s balanced us and all of that. And she’s done, I think, a great job of helping us through the acting.

IML: What about you, Cayden?

Cayden: Well, probably Clint Eastwood, and I like Morgan Freeman a whole lot. I’ve always kinda wanted to work with Morgan Freeman, Tom Cruise, and people like that. Probably Will Smith, too.

IML: Guys, thanks so much for chatting with IML! Good luck on both your movies, and on your future careers!

Jenna: Thank you very much!

Cayden: Thank you! Bye!

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