FACT ONE: Alex Can Be a Boy's or a Girl's Name Nim (Abigail Breslin) is a girl who lives on a secluded island with her father and lots of animals. When her dad goes missing, she reaches out to Alex Rover (Gerard Butler), the hero of her favorite adventure stories. But Alex is really Alexandra (Jodie Foster), a big city author who's too afraid to leave her apartment. So Alexandra must summon her courage to go help Nim, with her imaginary character inspiring her to brave the dangers of the island.

FACT TWO: Big Brothers Are Helpful (Sometimes) Both Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin started working in commercials at age three, after their older brothers already had careers as child actors. At age six, Jodie appeared with her brother Buddy on the TV show "Mayberry R.F.D." When Abigail was seven, she and her brother Spencer played siblings in the movie Raising Helen.

FACT THREE: Some Lions Are Nicer Than Others Having both grown up in big cities, life in the jungle was unfamiliar to Abigail and Jodie. Abigail hadn't been in the ocean before filming, but she learned how to swim, scream, and even get towed by a sea lion underwater. As a kid, Jodie worked with a real lion on the movie Napoleon and Samantha, and she still has scars from where the big cat picked her up like a cub.

FACT FOUR: There's a Dragon With Abigail's Name On It As if swimming (and dancing) with sea lions wasn't enough, Abigail also worked with lizards. Five bearded dragons, a type of lizard found in the South Pacific, play Nim's pet Fred. During filming, one of them hatched several eggs, and the first baby lizards were named "Nim" and "Abigail." The sea turtles in the film were really robotic doubles, because the real animals are too endangered to be in a movie.