If the San Andreas Fault finally gave and triggered a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in California, what would you do? Would you cower and freeze up or would you take action, ride on adrenaline, jump from crumbling rooftops and fight for your life by helicopter, plane, truck or speedboat?

Well, Emma (Carla Gugino) and Blake (Alexandra Daddario), the leading ladies in "San Andreas," chose the latter, proving that there are no damsels in distress in this action thriller!

Gugino and Daddario, a mother-and-daughter duo, star alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who plays a search and rescue helicopter pilot in the film. While they don't have the herculean guns like Johnson, their fierce determination and survival skills almost give him a run for his money!

Latin Post sat down with these "San Andreas" starlets -- Gugino ("Night at the Museum," Robert Rodriguez's "Spy Kids" films and TV's "Entourage") and Daddario ("Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" and TV's "True Detective") -- to chat about their empowering roles and action scenes that aren't for the faint of heart.

"I think it was very exciting and it felt like a really appropriate representation of how women really are, which is strong and capable and resourceful," Carla Gugino told Latin Post. "I think to me, more than anything it was just so refreshing to not feel that I needed to make this woman smaller than she was, or that she had to fit into a slot of any sort, but that she could be everything that she was.

"And it was all on the page and that is what was really exciting," she added. "From the beginning our producers, our director Brad Peyton, everybody was just really clear about the fact that all of these characters were very capable and smart and women are so good in crisis. They really are."

After the first earthquake hits Los Angeles, Ray (Johnson) locates his former wife, Emma (Gugino) in "a breathtaking helicopter rescue as the gutsy and determined woman scales the wreckage of an imploding downtown high-rise."

"That whole sequence was amazing," Gugino explained. "In terms of this particular character Brad (Peyton) was very adamant about wanting to do a very large portion of it in one shot, which was extremely ambitious and I think a testament to the producers to allow him to have that creative vision as well.

"It really paid off because it was like a dance and as an audience it makes you feel really viscerally connected to it, and as actor it felt that way too," she said. "It felt like I was on a tight-rope and the stakes were very high and those were very much mirrors for what the character was going through. So it was really exciting."

Together, Ray (Johnson) and Emma (Gugino) are on a quest to find their daughter, Blake (Daddario), in the aftermath of a second earthquake in San Francisco, some 400 miles away. As they forge ahead north, Blake is abandoned by her soon-to-be stepfather Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd) who selfishly disappears. Therfore, "she must rely on her own instincts and resourcefulness to survive" to find safety and higher ground. While she's not alone and is joined by a young man she's just met, Ben (Hugo Johnstone-Burt), she doesn't need a man as she has learned survival skills from the best, her father (Johnson).

"I think you realize when disaster strikes what is more important to you," Daddario told Latin Post. "Getting back to, in my case, getting back to your parents and getting back to your family, that determination is unstoppable. The characters make decisions based on their ultimate goal and there's nothing that can stop them from achieving it and that was really fun to play."

"I love doing stunts... and going up against a challenge and doing well at it," added Daddario. "I think that this movie that was very challenging in a lot of ways and I was put in situations that I hadn't been put in, and I had to do a lot of things that I had not done before."

"Carla's and Alexandra's characters are strong women, not damsels in distress, and that was important to us," said Producer Beau Flynn. "They have a lot of great action scenes and they are really featured doing amazing things in the movie. I have two daughters, so I especially love to see women take on these roles, because the truth is, women are often the real heroes."

While Gugino is no stranger to being in a heroic role, portraying a hero was a dream come true for Daddario.

"It was incredibly exciting to discover that I could work in these kinds of situations and be put in a movie of this scale and accomplish my goal of being part of something like this," she said. "So it was really exciting and extraordinary."

"San Andreas" reunites Johnson with Peyton and Flynn, following their collaboration on the global hit "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island."

The film also stars Ioan Gruffudd ("Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"), Archie Panjabi (TV's "The Good Wife"), Hugo Johnstone-Burt (Australian TV's "Home and Away"), Art Parkinson (TV's "Game of Thrones") and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti ("Cinderella Man").

Check out the official trailer for "San Andreas," which will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures on Friday, May 29, 2015.

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