Listen to Anna Maria’s Live Interview

By Kenn Gold & Angela Gold

Photo by KING -- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Anna Maria recently came by the MediaBlvd Pop Culture Hour radio show to talk about her roles in Camp Rock, and Hannah Montana.

Kenn> Welcome to the show!  I think you are best known for your role on Hannah Montana, Ashley DeWitt.  But can you start off by telling us about your upcoming movie, Camp Rock and your character in that?

Anna Maria>  Yes, I play the girly-girl of the main girl clique, Ella.  She’s obsessed with her lip gloss.  Most of all, she talks about her lip gloss 24/7.  She’s obsessed with her hair and makeup and everything, but she’s kind of a ditz, and she’s not the smartest girl out of the group.  But her character changes completely towards the end of the movie.  And the movie stars The Jonas Brothers.  So I’m actually really excited.  The movie comes out June 20^th, so it’s soon!

Angela>  What was it like working with The Jonas Brothers?  Are they as nice as they appear to be?

Anna Maria>  Yes, they are definitely the most down to Earth guys I’ve ever met.  They’re amazing and they’re very humble.  And they are professional, just like you’d imagine.  I have to say they are definitely not bad to look at everyday! 

Kenn> We have a hard question here.  Do you have a crush on the brothers, or any one of them?

Anna Maria>  Well, I can’t really choose.  I always say Frankie Jonas, they call him the bonus Jonas.  He’s the youngest one and I think he’s eight years old.  He’s just a sweetie-pie.  He’s so cute, and I actually just came back from the Disney Channel Games.  He comes up to me, and is like, ‘Can I get your number?’  It was cute, a sweet guy.

Angela>  So what’s it like playing the ditzy girl?  Do you ever worry that you will get stereotyped in that role? 

Anna Maria>  I do kind of.  The fans come up to me and they think I’m really mean.  They come up to me and ask, ‘Are you really that mean to Miley? Why are you that mean to Miley?’  I love my fans and I’m always like, ‘Oh, it’s just acting and what you see on TV is really, really acting because Miley and I are good friends.  I love playing the mean girl though.  It’s a lot of fun.

Kenn> From what I’ve seen of you in interviews, you seem like such a nice person.  How do you psych yourself up to play the mean girl?

Anna Maria>  Oh cool, thank you!  That’s kind of the point.  Hopefully I don’t come off really as a mean girl in person. 

Kenn> Or else you’re just really, really evil and come off as being nice, then turn mean.

Anna Maria>  No, no, no.

Kenn> Where was Camp Rock filmed?

Anna Maria>  We filmed in Toronto, Canada.  Then we filmed a lot of the camp scenes in a remote place three hours away from Toronto called Halliburton.

Angela>  How did you like Canada?

Anna Maria>  I liked it, it was my first time in Toronto, and it was cool because our hotel was right across from one of the biggest shopping malls.  So every time we’d end filming, all of the cast would go shop.  We’d literally walk a mile, and it was right in front of us.  It was fun. 

Angela>  What made you decide to go into acting?

Anna Maria>  It all kind of started when I was a junior finalist on a show called Star Search.  And I’m originally from the Bay area, and so that’s where I started.  I did a lot of musical theatre, and from Star Search I got an agent.  I did modeling and commercials and print work here and there.  Then all of a sudden my agent said why don’t you try out for this show called Hannah Montana, so I did.  And before I knew it, they were flying me back and forth from the Bay area to LA.  And then Disney called and said you got the role of Ashley, so we highly recommend you to move to LA.  So that’s when I packed up all my stuff and moved the next day, because I really wanted to do acting.  Now I’m here!

Angela>  How do you like LA?

Anna Maria>  I love it!  It’s different from where I lived before, I used to live in San Jose and it was more like everyone knew each other.  It was smaller obviously, but in LA there are so many things to do, and so many places to go.  It’s a lot of fun for me, and I always pictured myself being here, so I’m glad.

Kenn> So what’s it like being a part of this phenomena?  Hannah Montana is so popular now and seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

Anna Maria>  I’m very honored and very humbled to be a part of the show.  Seriously, none of us knew this show would be that big.  I understand now, it’s just an amazing show and it’s literally like my second home.  I’m always there.  It’s a big party and we’re going to start filming season three soon.  I’m excited for that.

 Kenn> What’s your relationship like with Miley in real life?  I take it you guys probably aren’t enemies?

Anna Maria>  Definitely not.  We’re really good friends and I love her a lot.  She’s an amazing girl.  She’s like a big ball of energy and it’s kind of contagious. Every time she’ll walk into the room and literally make everyone smile- hence Smiley!  But I love her.

Angela>  Do you ever go online and check out your fan sites and what people are saying about either you or the show?

Anna Maria>  I do have one fan site I go to.  It’s called AnnaMariaFans.com, and I lend my pictures and contribute that.  But I think it’s really great because that was my very first fan site, and I know the girl who did it.  She was very sweet, and I’m actually going to be able to see her in New York for the premiere of Camp Rock.  I think that’s the only fansite I got to.

Kenn> Do you have an official MySpace Page?

Anna Maria>  I do not.  I think I’m going to come up with a music MySpace page, but not currently. 

Angela>  We always like to ask that question because some people don’t know if there’s a MySpace page out for them already, and say I don’t know anything about it.

Anna Maria>  I know a lot of them are like fake.  I definitely don’t have one.

Kenn> You never know.  The internet’s a great thing, but people can pretend to be you.

Anna Maria>  Yeah, it’s kind of scary.  

Kenn> One question I have to ask, it looks like you have so much going on.  How do you keep it all together?

Anna Maria>  I honestly don’t even know.  It’s pretty crazy how I’m keeping up with my schedule.  It’s getting busier and busier, and I’m actually enjoying it so much.  It’s very surreal for me right now.  I never knew that I’d get this busy.  If I ever need a break, or if it’s getting kind of crazy, I have to fall back on my family.  And I have a close knit family.  I know that Miley and I have  close knit families.  And to have a great support system is our family.

Angela>  It says in your bio you have two brothers, are they older or younger, and how do they feel about your career? Do they want to get into the same type of thing, or are they doing their own thing?

Anna Maria>  I have two older brothers.  One is 26 and the other is 24.  I’m the baby of the family!  They support me through everything.  None of them are actors or anything, but one of my brothers is getting into photography and is starting to do my headshots.  He’s getting into a little and I guess he was kind of inspired.

Angela>  Are they pretty protective of you?

Anna Maria>  Yes, both of them are very protective, even more protective than my dad.  It’s pretty crazy because it’s like they are eves dropping on every single thing I do.  But I love having the protection and I know that I’ve got security with me.  So it’s great.

Angela>  How did your parents feel about you going into the acting?

Anna Maria>  At first, they were kind of apprehensive because they know that show business is really hard, and there’s going to be rejection.  They were like, “Are you sure?  Can you handle rejection?”  And I said, “Yes, let’s move.  I want to be an actress, I want to be a singer, and I want to be in the business”.  I love what I do.  Now they are just supporting me 24/7 and they are always there for me.  I just love them for that.  I love my family for that too.

Kenn> What’s been your most disappointing or worst part of this experience for you? Have there been parts that were bad?

Anna Maria>  I probably have to say no.  Part of the business is that you’re not going to get everything that you go out for.  So I’m happy to be on the show Hannah Montanan, and happy to be on Camp Rock.  I’ve also had another show called Cake on CBS, and I’m just happy for that. If I don’t get a job, it’s like “Next Project or next audition!”  I’m strarting to build my skin and have thicker skin; definitely nothing too bad. 

Kenn> What’s your favorite thing that you’ve done so far?

Anna Maria>  I would have to say Camp Rock.  Out of all things, I love it.  It was my first Disney Channel movie, and it it was great working with the Jonas Brothers.  Demi Lovato is in the movie, Alyson Stoner, Jasmine Richards, everyone in the cast was amazing.  We’re all really good friends now, and I’m happy to have them as hopefully lifelong friends.  I think Camp Rock was probably the best thing so far.

Angela>  How was it different doing the movie compared to the TV series?

Anna Maria>  For Hannah, it was different because there was a live audience.  So there were lots of kids watching and if we had a funny joke they were laughing out loud.  So we would feed off of their laughter, and they loved the show.  For Camp Rock, it was kind of more straight forward.  We had to get things done because we were in the woods, and we can’t stay till night because it would be pitch black by eight o’clock.  We had to work a little faster.  Plus the weather was different around that time.  It was getting really hot, then really cold and a lot of us got sick.  It was a little bit different.

Angela>  Do you like that instant feedback when you do Hannah Montana, getting the audience’s reaction?

Anna Maria>  I do.  It’s like we feed off of that and get inspired to be funnier and have kids laugh even more.  And I know for Hannah, the mean girls do this little gag, and go “Ooohhh”, every single time that we do that the kids laugh.  And Shanica and I, Shanica Knowles plays the other mean girl, our hearts are warm, and it’s really cool that even though we are the mean girls they still love us.

Kenn> Do you get recognized when you go out in public now?  Has that changed for you?

Anna Maria>  I do.  It’s pretty crazy.  I walk to a mall, and if there are little kids, they will go up to me and go “Ooohhh”, and ask if I’m really mean.  Then when I tell them I’m not really mean, and they see me in person, they ask if they can have a picture, or an autograph.

Angela>  What seems to be the audience age range for the show?

Anna Maria>  The youngest is probably 7 or six even, and the oldest, I can’t say.  The moms know me more than the kids sometimes.  It’s a great family show though. 

Kenn> Can you tell us just a little bit more about the plot of the movie? 

Anna Maria>  Camp Rock is a musical where a whole bunch of kids come to this camp to discover or enhance their talents like singing, acting, dancing, drumming, rapping.  And Mitchie, played by Demi Lovato, is like a turtle.  She’s very shy.  But as the movie progresses, she kind of breaks out of her little shell and shows the camp how raw and how talented she really is.  I think kids will definitely be able to relate to this movie because it’s got good morals, like to always be yourself, and to never be somebody you’re not.  And that kind of happens in the movie.  But I think that’s why kids will be able to tune into this movie.

Kenn> So where do you see yourself being 10 years from now?  Do you think you will keep up with the acting, or get more into singing?

Anna Maria>  I want to do everything.  I want to go to college. I have one more year, I have senior year left.  But after that I definitely want to go to college.  And I do want to do some records, and I’m talking and working with some producers.  For acting, maybe some feature films.  I’ve always wanted to do a drama or a comedy, or even a horror where I get killed off or something.

Kenn> Do you know yet what you’re going to major in in college?

Anna Maria>  I think I want to major in the performing arts, or even musical theatre.  I miss musical theatre so much.  Or even just vocals.  Anything to do with the performing arts.

Angela>  Thank you so much for joining us tonight.  We really enjoyed having you!

Anna Maria>  Thank you so much, I had fun.