When I mentioned to my kids and the kids that I teach at church that I would be traveling to Los Angeles for a press day for Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, it was very clear who they were most excited for me to meet. Have I ever mentioned that my kids like to live vicariously through me and think that I am the ultimate cool mom when they can brag to their friends that I’ve met so many of their favorite Hollywood stars? This time around, the kids were all thrilled that I got to interview Bella Thorne, best known for her role as Cece Jones on the Disney Channel’s show Shake It Up.
While the trip (travel and accommodations) were covered by Disney, all thoughts and opinions are my own. All photos in this post are courtesy of Disney.
Bella Thorne, who just recently turned 17, has accomplished quite a bit for a girl her age. Not only has she maintained a successful acting career in the movies and on TV, but she is soon to be a published author, with her debut novel, Autumn Falls, coming out in just a few weeks (you can preorder Bella’s book HERE). I’ve been reading an early copy of Autumn Falls this past week and I am surprised by how much I’m enjoying it.
When we asked Bella what attracted her to be a part of Disney’s newest movie, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, she didn’t hesitate to say that it was largely for the opportunity to work alongside Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner. She was also very attracted to the script and really liked what the movie stood for.
Bella’s Favorite scene in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day:
Bella: “The most fun scene to shoot was probably when we were in the car with Steve and everybody’s making those loud noises. It was cool, because Steve’s obviously funny, but in this scene, it was just so weird and so funny. It was so weird that I’m sitting in a car with Steve Carell and he’s just being ridiculous.
And it’s so funny. And I’m the one that’s supposed to not be laughing, and…Dylan starts laughing. He starts cracking up. Then Ed. And then comes me laughing — because they’re right next to me, and I just can’t help but laugh now. And I was like guys, stop, stop, you’re making me laugh. And it was so funny. It was actually really fun to shoot.”
About Celia, Bella’s character:
Bella said that Celia’s character is somewhat misunderstood. Instead of viewing her as a “mean girl” she says that Celia is just a perfectionist who gets upset when things aren’t perfect.
Bella: “You can’t think of Celia as a mean character, because she’s not. You have to think of Celia as a perfectionist. Now, you guys are all moms, so let’s say I’ve completely organized these phones all in a very great order, very straight, and somebody comes in and knocks this water over all your phones. Are you guys gonna be mad? Probably.
And so, Celia’s a perfectionist, and when things don’t go her way, she wants to make them perfect, and when someone keeps messing that up, she ends up getting angry. That’s understandable.”
Someone in our group asked Bella to name three words to describe Celia. Bella answered, “Funny, interesting, and not-so-forgiving.”
The hardest scene for Bella to film:
Bella said that the hardest scene for her to film was… “the dinner scene when Steve gets lit on fire. It’s so hard to film a scene with stunts, you know, it’s very hard when you’re doing stunts and tricks. And, you know, everybody’s great and has awesome energy, but I was called in at 4:30 am, and my coverage ended up being last. Because you have to get Ed and some of the kids that are younger than me in the film out earlier than me, they can keep me.
So, my coverage was last, and it was like 11:30 pm, and I was tired. I was tired, and I’d been doing this scene all day long. There’s a word in the movie and it’s the name of the place that they go do dinner…that weird, weird name. Why couldn’t I have just said Benihana’s?
I had to say this name, and when you’re dyslexic, you’re usually really good at memorizing, so I’ll read something once and I have it completely memorized. But that word when I first read it, I didn’t say it correctly, and so I was on set and somebody said, no, it’s actually like this. So, I had already memorized it wrong. And they kept trying to get me to do it right. I did maybe 25 takes of that same exact line over and over and every time I got it wrong.
Finally, the time that I got it right, Dylan is so overworked, ’cause he’s the other actor in the scene, so it’s just as bad as it is for him, and he looks at me and he starts bursting out laughing– ruins the whole take. And I said, ‘Dylan, I might punch you in the face right now.’ And he just could not help it. So, every time I got it right, he was chuckling, because it had just been such a long day.”
Bella’s interesting school obsession:
Because Bella Thorne has not gone to public school since 3rd grade, playing a high school student was especially fun for her. She surprised all of us by telling us a little secret obsession she has…with lockers. Yes, she LOVES lockers.
Bella said, “Man. I love me a locker. Oooh. I love looking at those lockers. I love looking at kids turning those little things on it. Ooooh. Ooooh, it gets me going. I really like looking at those lockers.”
Wondering why she loves lockers so much? Bella answered, “Because, you know, as a kid, okay, so I’m dyslexic. My first language is Spanish. I had to drop Spanish to learn English to then learn how to read. You can imagine how hard that must’ve been. I was bullied so much in school.
The only thing everybody would tell me was ‘you’ll probably be popular in high school,’ so I was always looking forward to high school growing up as a kid…and those lockers. You didn’t have lockers in third grade. So, when I looked at the kids that were older than me and they had lockers, it was really cool. It was so cool to have those lockers. And I was just like, I can’t wait till I have those lockers. And you know what? I don’t have those lockers. I’ve never had those lockers. I’m still angry about it.”
Bella’s perfect prom:
When Bella was asked about her perfect prom, her answer might surprise people. “Well, you know, I’ve been to school dances. And what’s really weird is they have you go there at six and then you can’t leave till 12. I go to bed every night at 10:30. Okay? I’m not a night owl. I don’t like staying up at night. The only reason I’m up at night is to watch Netflix or read a script. That is the only reason. I don’t like to go out.
And for these kids, they love getting dressed up and putting on heels and hair and makeup, but I do that every day. It’s not special to me to wear a big dress and heels and a lot of makeup and hair spray — that’s not a big deal for me. I’d rather not have all that and be in sweat pants without makeup and without worrying about how I look and what angle I’m being shot from. That’s not what I find necessarily that fun. So, when you’re there from six to 12 — it’s almost like working a long day on a movie set. So, when I went, I was like, oh, my gosh, you guys, can we get outta here? Can we go hit In and Out? …I want it animal style.”
Bella’s advice to teenage girls:
Bella said, “I’m gonna give them a piece of advice that I was given and I wish I would’ve taken it. Growing up on TV — and I really grew up mostly on Shake It Up — and I always tried to be perfect for everybody and I wanted everyone to like me. For some reason, I so much cared what other people thought and I would do anything to get someone’s stamp of approval. And now that I’m 17 I really don’t care. I don’t. And I wish I wouldn’t have cared so much, because I changed who I was as a person to be who everybody wanted me to be, and that’s not a cute look.
And you have to realize that I don’t care who you are; I don’t care if you’re in high school and you have glasses and braces and you don’t think you’re cool, people will like you for being you, no matter what. It’s impossible for people not to like you when you’re just being you. It really is. You will find a branch, and I have. I have a great group of friends now and we don’t have to impress each other. I’m not wearing makeup when I’m with them. I look ratchet. I’m in sweat pants. I am oily, greasy, sweaty. I don’t care. And we don’t have to prove anything to each other. And that’s what’s cool.”
Be sure to check out Bella in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, which is in theaters NOW! Also, be sure to peek at Bella’s new book, Autumn Falls, and come back here later to read my review of the book.
See Bella in this clip from the movie:
See my other interviews and movie review right here: #VeryBadDay posts
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She sounds pretty down to earth! Thanks for sharing the interview!