AnnaSophia Robb spent part of a new interview fact-checking her own IMDb trivia, and when the questions turned to Bridge to Terabithia, she confirmed the story fans have repeated for nearly two decades: she really did write her way into Terabithia.
In the CBR interview, the host read the claim aloud. After discovering the film was being made, Robb wrote a letter to director Gábor Csupó expressing her love for the book, and it helped her get cast as Leslie Burke. Robb confirmed the story is true, and explained the deep connection to the material that moved her to write it.
Her path to the book started with a gap. Robb was homeschooled in fifth grade, the year her school read Katherine Paterson’s 1977 novel, so she came to it late. She read the book as soon as she heard it was being turned into a film, Disney and Walden Media’s 2007 adaptation, and it stayed with her. Rather than simply audition and hope, the 12-year-old wrote to Csupó herself.
The letter landed exactly as she hoped. Csupó has said the production had no actors in mind when casting began, and Robb became the first person cast in the film. He described what she sent as “such a beautiful, heartwarming letter,” and said he cast her because of “her letter, her enthusiasm, and her love of the material.” She also spoke with producer Lauren Levine before casting began, and Levine came away just as sure, later saying that talking with Robb felt like “basically talking to Leslie,” and calling the match “a match made in heaven.” Her devotion ended up on screen, too: she sang “Keep Your Mind Wide Open” over the film’s end credits.
Being cast first quietly shaped the rest of the film. The search for Jess Aarons took longer, and Csupó has said that Josh Hutcherson, who was not his first choice for the role, won it because of the chemistry he had with Robb.
What makes this week’s confirmation notable is whose voice had been missing from the story. For 19 years, the letter has been told by Csupó and Levine. Robb’s own interviews over the years covered her love of the book and the role without her telling that part herself. As far as the public record shows, the CBR conversation is the first time she has confirmed it in her own words.
Not every item on her IMDb page got the same answer. The interview actually opened with a different claim, that Robb came up with the name Dark Master for the film’s monster, which had been called the Key Monster during production. That one she could not confirm. She laughed that she does not remember, pointed out that she was 12 at the time, suggested asking Levine, and joked that Levine’s people could call her people. The segment also detoured, happily, into her correcting her IMDb height from 5’0" to her actual 5’2".
Leslie Burke remains the role a generation of readers and viewers knows her by first, even as she adds a new one: Robb plays Sasha Czack in I Play Rocky, in select theaters now and everywhere November 20. Trevor Decker News looked back at her biggest roles earlier this month, from Because of Winn-Dixie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory through Soul Surfer and Rebel Ridge.
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