Meet young star behind ‘Max’

The new family adventure film “Max” represented several firsts for 16-year-old star Josh Wiggins.

It was his first time in a major studio film; it led him to his first visit to Charlotte (where the movie was filmed last year); and it was his first time working opposite a creature with four legs.

“Max,” in theaters Friday, centers on a military working dog whose Marine handler is killed in action; the dog is retired and then adopted by the fallen soldier’s family, played by Thomas Haden Church, Lauren Graham and Wiggins. Boy and dog are hesitant toward each other at first, but later forge a strong bond and team up to take down a group of local criminals.

The movie, directed by Boaz Yakin (“Remember the Titans,” “Now You See Me”), is set in Afghanistan and Texas but was filmed on location at Crowders Mountain State Park, DuPont State Forest and other sites in North Carolina.

“Max’s” primary canine star was a Belgian Malinois named Carlos, although the film also featured identical dogs for action scenes and relief on hot days.

In a joint interview with the Observer at the Ritz-Carlton hotel last week, Wiggins and Yakin spoke about the extraordinary challenges of working with the animals over the course of last summer’s shoot – but also pointed out that trainers and inanimate stand-ins were a big help.

Said Yakin of the animal trainers: “They know how to get the affects that you need in such a specific way. They’re pretty amazing.”

Wiggins, meanwhile, noted that there were times when Carlos wasn’t even there working on the scene with him.

“If the dog gets overheated, they’d have to put him up. So they’d bring a stuffed animal out on two-by-fours as a stand-in. Those scenes where I’m yelling at the dog, I’m really yelling at this stuffed animal in front of me. I feel like a crazy old man. ... I haven’t had to focus this much on a movie before,” said Wiggins, who grew up with two Rottweilers – and his father trains bomb-sniffing dogs for the Houston Police Department.

Yakin said he was extremely pleased with how well Wiggins was able to interact with Carlos and the other dogs.

“Everything else, whether the action or the comedy works, all of that’s important, but it’s like icing,” Yakin said. “That core relationship had to work, and I feel very good about it. Seeing that Josh’s (character’s) relationship with Max comes across and has an arc and an emotional feeling – to me, that’s the biggest success.”

As for jumping straight from a small indie to a major studio film, Wiggins said he’s taking it all in stride.

“It’s different for sure, but you just can’t think of it as ‘I’m in my first studio movie’ or about the wide release. You have to treat it just like you would any other movie,” said Wiggins, who fell into acting after gaining recognition through YouTube videos he and his friends began making in fourth grade. (Last year, he made his film debut, the indie thriller “Hellion” alongside Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis.)

When asked if he’s starting to feel like a movie star yet, Wiggins chuckled and noted that he’s no stranger to fan mail. “I’m pretty sure I still have the letter. It was 12-year-old handwriting, and it was like, ‘I loved you in ‘Hellion.’ Can you sign this and return it to me?’ It was really cute.” (Yes, he did sign it and send it back to the fan.)

Filming in North Carolina

Both Yakin and Wiggins said being in the mountains was their favorite part about filming in North Carolina.

“It’s gorgeous,” Wiggins said. “I live in Houston, so there’s not exactly good scenery to look at. It was really cool being somewhere that we could go in the mountains and little ponds and stuff.”

Yakin was shocked at how many locals hadn’t been to DuPont State Forest, his favorite shooting location. “I feel like, it’s two hours away – why aren’t you going there? It was so beautiful. DuPont really opens up, and you have those amazing waterfalls. That was my favorite part.”

The summertime temperatures were characteristically hot and were both a curse and a blessing for the production.

“The heat was very, very challenging, but it was also reflective of the style of the movie,” Yakin said. “On the one hand, we had to deal with the heat; on the other hand, the heat kind of gave us a lot of what we needed in order for the feel of the movie to come across. So it sort of worked for us in that way.”

But in general, the director was thrilled with the location and the Southern hospitality.

“That was a big reason why we came here,” Yakin said. “We just felt welcomed, and we just felt like Charlotte wanted us here.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Meet young star behind ‘Max’."