A key portion of the interior scenes involved the dangerous escape of the house using a creaky rose trellis as well as the last minute return to the bedroom at the end of the night using a treehouse fort that shudders its way onto the roof. Stunt coordinators Charles Croughwell and Mika Saito made sure each actress was schooled in every stunt, many of which were done by the actresses themselves. In fact, much of Julie’s acrobatics on the skateboard were done by Alexa Vega, though a stunt performer stood in for the more dangerous portions such as jumping a Great Dane or careening downhill.
“You’d be amazed at how well Alexa rides that skateboard,” says Nussbaum. “She also did some other great stunts, like hanging upside down on the trellis and the rope between the house and the falling fort. The girls got really excited about the stunts. They even got to drive a lot in our little electric car.” Because Kallie Flynn Childress had her learner’s permit, she got to drive the tiny Nissan hybrid car used by the girls in the film to whiz around during their scavenger hunt.
“This little electric car was the cutest thing we had ever seen,” says Childress. “I want that car so bad! It’s this little green plastic-like ball of metal meant for two passengers. But of course, all four of us have to cram ourselves into it all night. We were sitting on top one another and laughing hysterically.”
The lack of room almost caused a potential mishap, as Scout Taylor-Compton’s foot got wedged under the brake during a chase scene and Kallie Flynn Childress was unable to stop the car when “cut!” was called.
“Kallie was screaming at me: ‘You gotta move!’” recalls Taylor-Compton. “My foot had slipped under the brake and I could not budge it. We were heading for disaster. That was too exciting!” Fortunately, she was able to wriggle her foot free.
For Mika Boorem, however, the toppling backyard fort presented the biggest danger.
“The first time I went up there I thought, ‘I can’t believe how high we are!’” says Boorem. “We were at least twenty-five feet straight up in the air on this soundstage – I was scared. The stunt directors calmed me down and showed me how the fort would go down pretty slow, but when we were rolling film, it went really fast and jerky. It was scary, but it was fun!”
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