PLEASANT GROVE — Danielle Chuchran knows "a thing or two" about causing a ruckus.
The 9-year-old Pleasant Grove girl learned all about it from the Dr. Seuss tale about two urchins who wreak havoc in a tiny replica of a typical Seussville town.
Chuchran is the real Thing One in the new "Cat in the Hat" movie now being filmed in Los Angeles and scheduled for release in November 2003.
As Thing One, the agile youngster is expected to climb walls, hang from ceilings and cavort down streets with abandon. And she does it all while clad in a face mask and a wild blue wig that completely disguises her natural beauty and long blond hair.
But the wacky costume is OK with her. She thinks her job is a hoot.
"It's really fun. It's a lot of work. It's not like you think," Chuchran said during a telephone interview from Los Angeles. "It's memorize the lines and do exactly what the director wants. It's actually more easier than I thought it would be."
The "fun" includes rising by 3 or 4 a.m. to be on the set in her makeup and wardrobe by 5:30 or 6 a.m.
For her breathtaking stunts, she's rigged into wires and a safety harness. Chuchran slides across tables, scoots across floors and does a series of tumbles and rolls. Both Thing One and Thing Two catapult down streets and fly through the air. They cartwheel and leapfrog, dance and spin.
Camera people and cast members are supposed to stay out of their way. "Sometimes, when they run me into a pole, that's not so fun," said Chuchran, who expects to wrap up filming in mid-February. "But I'm finishing all the stunts this month."
Her mother, Sharon Chuchran, says Danielle shows no fear, even though a couple of mishaps shook her up. "I'm starting to understand the term 'stage mom.' I had no idea before," said Sharon Chuchran. "My job is to be a chauffeur, get her to the set, and sit and wait. I'm not supposed to say anything."
Danielle really likes working with the star of the movie, Mike Myers, perhaps best-known for his "Austin Powers" movies. "He tells really funny jokes."
Chuchran brings a new joke to the set each day for Myers. "I'll tell you the one he laughed at the most. What do you get when you mix goldfish and an elephant? Swimming trunks!"
Sharon Chuchran said Danielle "has made some really close ties. The whole cast is like a big family."
Danielle, who won the role after Universal Studios conducted a nationwide talent search, doesn't know if she'll stay in movies full time. She'd like to be a horsewoman, too, when she grows up.
In the meantime, she's having a ball in Los Angeles, auditioning for television pilots, plays and commercials. When not in Los Angeles, she's a fourth-grader at Valley View Elementary.
Her dad, Joe Chuchran, said Danielle has already made enough money to pay for her college education.
Danielle had an impressive resume by the time she tried out for the "Cat in the Hat." She's been in several movies, including "Little Secrets," "Handcart," "Cover Me" and the "Love Thy Neighbor" film shown at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
For her audition as Thing One she created a dance, a character voice, a mannerism and gibberish that the casting director liked so much it was used in the movie.
"Of course, every parent has illusions of grandeur for their children," said Joe Chuchran. "We certainly think Dani can do anything she wants, but she is having fun, really. She hasn't abandoned her childhood. Somehow she's put it all in perspective."
Danielle doesn't usually like to watch what she's done. But for "Cat in the Hat," she'll make an exception.
"I'm kinda proud of it," she said.
E-MAIL: haddoc@desnews.com