‘Number Four’s’ dynamic duo

Quitting mid-audition isn’t exactly a well-worn tactic when it comes to landing the lead role in a potential sci-fi franchise. But that’s precisely what chiseled-cheekboned British newcomer Alex Pettyfer did when he first read for the part of John Smith in the new movie “I Am Number Four.”

In front of director D.J. Caruso, Pettyfer muttered “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m right for the part,” and walked out of the room, essentially giving up on a star-making turn.

“I was a coward,” said Pettyfer of the aborted performance.

But something about the then 19-year old stuck with Caruso, even after the director scoured New York, Australia and England searching for his main character: a young, human-looking alien who craves a life of normalcy yet must confront his emerging powers and a rival alien gang. Caruso asked Pettyfer to return.

“The fact that he lacked the confidence in the room, I really liked that,” said Caruso, as he sat with his young star for a mid-morning interview on the Universal lot. “Because when you look like that, and you have some vulnerability, that’s really great. Usually, when someone looks like that, you just want to hate him.”

Based on a series of novels by Pittacus Lore, an alias for the writing team of James Frey (the controversial writer behind the memoir “A Million Little Pieces”) and Jobie Hughes, “I Am Number Four” follows Pettyfer’s orphaned John, who, along with his caregiver Henri (Timothy Olyphant), is forced to move from town to town, hiding from the alien marauders who wiped out the population on John’s home planet and are now looking for the remaining few survivors, many of whom possess special powers.

It’s the first film to come from the latest incarnation of Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios, which parted ways with Paramount in 2008 and is now releasing all its films through Disney, and it stands as something of a rare breed in Hollywood, a young adult science-fiction movie that didn’t become mired in a long development process.

The studio bought the property in June 2009 for Michael Bay to produce. Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Marti Noxon penned the screenplay, Caruso was hired in February 2010 and production began in May of that year, nine months before the film’s scheduled release date. The director said he was still finishing the sound mix last week, just in time for the movie’s premiere.

That time crunch — and the pressure of being the first project released from the new DreamWorks — put extra strain on Caruso, a journeyman filmmaker who has turned modestly-budgeted action movies such as the Shia LaBeouf-vehicles “Disturbia” and “Eagle Eye” into breakout successes for the company.

“I felt more pressure to deliver on this movie,” he said. “It’s really important to them that it’s a hit.”

Caruso also had the unenviable challenge of making a $53-million movie that carries Bay’s name as producer but doesn’t feature the same amount of eye-popping spectacle typically associated with the “Transformers” director’s films — though “I Am Number Four” does have its share of complicated visual effects sequences.

“I was a little worried [to work with Bay] because you hear all the stories, but from the first meeting, and maybe it’s because I’m Steven’s guy, Michael’s been very respectful,” Caruso said. “When it comes to visual effects, he’s so articulate. I realized this is a whole other kind of moviemaking and for him, it’s how he makes all his movies. For me it’s a learning curve.”

When it came to working with the teen actors who populate the cast — “Glee” star Dianna Agron as the girl whom John falls for, Australian beauty Teresa Palmer as a fellow alien refugee and Callan McAuliffe as John’s ally, an alien tracker whose father has gone missing — Caruso was more comfortable. His facility with younger actors is one of the primary reasons DreamWorks repeatedly turns to the filmmaker.

“He has a great ability to work with young people — speak directly to them, not condescend — and his action is killer, especially with moderate budgets,” says Stacey Snider, partner, co-chairman and CEO of DreamWorks, which with Reliance Entertainment financed the film. “He’s great at saying, ‘This is where it really matters, this is where we need to pull out all the stops and this is where the suspense of the story will carry the day, not the spectacle.’”

It helps that the 46-year-old director has five children ranging in ages from 16 to 3. “What I found, just like being a father, is you have to keep them focused,” Caruso said. “You have to be more parental than you’d like to be.”

Pettyfer said that Caruso’s guidance was critical in helping him become more comfortable playing John. “I saw this guy as this James Dean-type and I don’t see myself as James Dean, at all,” Pettyfer said.

Pettyfer, a former model who caught Hollywood’s attention after appearing in the British spy flick “Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker” at age 16, received a comprehensive leading man tutorial by Caruso as he prepared for the role. The two ate lunch together numerous times and cased locations together. Pettyfer watched movies that inspired Caruso when he was preparing for “I Am Number Four,” such as “Starman” and “Rebel Without a Cause.”

He also learned that he had a much bigger responsibility on set than just memorizing his lines.

“I think Alex thought it would be a lot easier than it was,” Caruso said. “I wanted him to know that his attitude in how he approached the day is just as important as mine because he’s one of the leaders of this movie.”

Although the movie doesn’t open until Friday, Caruso and his star have won over at least one excited fan: producer Bay’s mother, who attended the “I Am Number Four” premiere with her son.

“She loved the movie, she was talking the whole time,” Caruso said, adding that he took serious encouragement from her rave review. “[Bay] said, ‘Dude, my mom likes the movie and she doesn’t like anything. You did a good job. Trust me. My mom doesn’t even like my movies.’”

nicole.sperling@latimes.com