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Donning a Green Leotard: Ballet scenes in The Game Plan meant that Johnson had to squeeze his large frame into a leotard. “What’s funny is that I put that outfit on and the moment I put it on, we were about two hours away from shooting, and I was like, ‘Wow, it’s really tight.’ It was made for me, but it was the first time I tried it on. I tried it on and it was very thin and very tight. I was like, ‘Well, this is a Disney movie.’ I went to see Andy and I said, ‘Andy, can you come and look at this really quickly?, because we were about ready to shoot.

And he said, ‘Okay, let me see.’ And then I opened it up, and he said, ‘Can we start to cover this up?’ So, we started to add layers where we had to.”

Fickman said the leotard was a great ice-breaker. “The first version we had wasn’t small enough. We went a size smaller. And that was also the very first day of filming, so that’s a great way to ingratiate yourself with your cast and crew. The very first day, you’re walking around in your ballet outfit.”

Johnson said actually learning ballet was very, very challenging. “I, like a lot of my guy friends, kind of dismissed ballet for years. We were there with the Boston Ballet and I was blown away by the incredible amount of discipline that those little girls, and little boys, had, [along with] the hard work and dedication. There was this amazing respectful silence when we were done. We would rehearse every day for two weeks. We essentially had a ballet boot camp for a couple of hours a day and at the end - six or seven o’clock, they had already gone through school and then they stayed with me and Madison the whole time - there was this respectful silence that would permeate the air.

Then they would all come and individually thank us for our time. I love seeing that in our children today. I love seeing that type of discipline, honor and respect.”

Ballet was just slightly easier for the Rock because he could draw on his physicality as an ex-football player and ex-wrestler. “The incredible amount of body control that it takes to be a ballet dancer was mind-boggling to me,” admitted Johnson. “I never knew. I just didn’t know. So I was very happy that I was exposed to that. It also reminded me just how for some of the greatest athletes in the world, ballet is part of their training regimen. For some of the greatest football players in the world, in skilled positions - wide receivers and running backs - ballet is part of their training regimen.”

Another Film in the Works: Fickman and Johnson are prepping their second film together: Witch Mountain. Fickman joked it’s because The Rock is so dreamy that he wanted to work with him again. “I look into his eyes and I think, ‘That’s The Rock.’ (Laughing] Listen, a director’s dream is to get onto a set and have a collaborator. You can yell action all you want, but at the end of the day you need somebody who is going to be there to work. Dwayne Johnson is an amazing actor because what he gives you is the comedy, the heart and the willingness to do all the things you guys are asking about. That’s not just something where a director can say, ‘Hey, do you mind going and doing this?’ If it’s not coming from that actor, I’ve got nothing to play with. And so when you think, ‘What’s the next movie I want to jump into?,’ it’s a rarity when you can think, ‘You know what? I just spent a year of my life working with this one actor and I had a great time. I want to do it again.’

For us, it was the opportunity to work with Disney, who has been a huge partner for us, and to tackle a favorite of ours growing up - a re-imagination of Escape to Witch Mountain - where we’re going to be able to have a lot of fun with the action and the comedy. I think people that enjoyed The Game Plan are going to get an awful lot out of it. Honestly, for the director, you don’t work with an actor again unless you find that working with him is inspiring. For me, walking onto the set every day I learned stuff, as a director, from him. I would never tell him that to his face, but I learned stuff from him every day that I’ll now be able to use on his next movie to teach him how to be good.”