Josie Loren stars as Kaylie Cruz

Cassie Scerbo regularly appeared on the television series Dance Revolution, based on the video game Dance Dance Revolution.  She also had a starring role in the movie Bring It On: In It to Win It.  Scerbo will also be appearing in the upcoming films Not Another Not Another Movie and Bleachers.

The new ABC Family series Make It or Break It deals with the world of competitive gymnastics.  Loren plays the role of Kaylie Cruz, who is expected by her father to be the perfect gymnast.  While trying to live a normal teenage life with all the pressure she is also hiding a secret relationship with Carter Anderson (Zachary Abel).  Scerbo plays the role of Lauren Tanner, a very competitive and often mean gymnast who is in it to win, but struggling with family issues and her father’s new girlfriend.

The two recently spoke to MediaBlvd about the preparations that going into playing such dynamic characters.

Question> Cassie, how much fun is it to be playing somebody who is so driven to win that they would go to any lengths to do so?

Cassie> Oh my, God.  Honestly, I wouldn’t pick any other character to play.  I love playing Lauren.  She’s got a ton of spice, and I mean it’s really fun just stepping out of the box every day and being able to come to work and be someone completely different.  And, I mean, obviously when we’re off set, all the girls know that I love them and that I’m really not that mean, but I mean I love it, and that’s what it’s all about.  And it’s really fun, and sadly enough, there are people out there that really will take it to that level.  So, I mean, it’s somewhat realistic, and it’s really fun to just step out of the box and become this really mean character.

Question> Are there any plans for cameos by big name gymnasts like Shawn or Nastia in the future?

Josie> I think, well, so far in this series, we haven’t had any cameos.  We hope to have some for the last episode when we actually get to nationals, but nothing has been said and done yet. 

Question> What appealed to you about this show that made you want to be a part of it when you read the script?

Cassie> I think what’s so great about it is that we just got off the Olympics and it’s got a lot of female power to it.  A lot of, you know, I mean, it’s such a great sport for males and females, but I think it really let’s women take a stand, and I think it’s just – I don’t know – it’s such a great script for girls, and, you know, it’s athletic, and I love athletic scripts.  I’ve done two before this, and it’s just really fun to be able to basically work out and act at the same time, and just like all the athletic involvement is really fun.  And, like I said, just coming off the Olympics with Nastia and Shawn being such idols to young teenage girls and to many people around the world right now is just, I think it’s just really fun, I mean, because it’s really cool coming right off the Olympics and being able to do a gymnastics show right after that. 

 And actually, Nastia did stop by the set, so we’re hoping she wants to do a cameo or something in our show, one of the upcoming episodes, but she did stop by the set, which is really cool, and she was a big sweetheart, so hopefully we can see more of her in the future on the show.

Question> What got you started in acting in the first place?

Josie> I started acting when I was like five in monolog competitions at this private elementary school.  Ever since then, it’s kind of progressed.  From there, I went to magnet art schools for middle school and for high school, but I was always involved in musical theater, and I went to one summer camp for TV and film, and that kind of sparked the other direction, I guess, for acting in the TV and film world, and so I’ve just kind of been doing it every since I was little.

Cassie> I really couldn’t tell you when that interest sparked for me because it’s just been something that I’ve wanted to do forever.  Like I literally came out of my mother’s stomach singing before I can talk, and dancing before I can walk, and just, ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to be a performer.  I started in charm schools, I mean, at the age of four or five, dancing, singing, and acting.  And I just, I like telling the story, no matter what it is.  Singing, acting, or dancing, I’ve just, I’ve kind of always been a performer. 

And my parents have always said, well, don’t you have a Plan B?  You have to have something to back it up in case it doesn’t happen, and I was just always like no.  I don’t have a Plan B.  I’m not setting myself up for failure, and I just kind of always stuck with that, and I’ve always just been really driven, and I guess I kind of was just born wanting to be in this industry and tell a story, do what I do, and if I could and can change lives while I’m doing it and throughout the course of everything.  Yes.

Question> The show is supposed to be set in Boulder, Colorado.  Is any of it filmed there, or are you all filming in California?

Josie> Absolutely none of it is filmed in Boulder, Colorado.  We film in Santa Clarita so actually in the middle of the desert, which could not be more different than Boulder, Colorado, but some of it, obviously like the external shots, they get that footage from Boulder, Colorado, but it’s not filmed there. 

Question> For both of you, what’s your favorite part about working on the show?  What do you enjoy the most?

Josie> I think what I enjoy the most about it is the fact that I get to play a gymnast on TV and be passionate about something on television.  I think a lot of the shows right now are a lot of just pretty much revolve only around relationships and drugs and alcohol and sex.  And what I love about it is that we get to show a different aspect of teenage lives and show teenagers who are passionate about something, who are driven about something, and that’s my favorite part of just being on the show, being able to bring a different element to the stereotypical teenager.

Cassie> I used to say one of my favorite things about being on the show obviously is that I get to play the mean girl once again.  It’s really fun.  Like I said, it’s really stepping outside the box, and the cool thing about my character is that when you watch that person for the first, about two to three episodes, you’re just going to think, oh, this girl.  She’s such a big brat, but it’s really cool because you see where it comes from, and a lot of her anger and a lot of her impulses and the way she acts towards people, all her bratty moments comes from a place of pain, which is really interesting.  And, as the show progresses, I think the viewers are going to find it really interesting what’s really going on in Lauren’s life and why she has so many issues.  And I think that really she just masks everything with this huge attitude.  It’s just basically one big façade because she has had so many issues in her life, as all the girls are having issues going on in their lives. 

And it’s so cool because it’s like watching the Olympics, yet a really cool teen drama at the same time.  And I think it just has something for everyone, and I love being able to be a part of something that teens can watch with their friends, and boyfriends can watch with their girlfriends, and mothers can watch with their daughters, and it’s just really got something for everyone.  It’s just, there are so many different life situations going on and different love triangles and relationship drama.  And yet, you still have, like Josie said, a really awesome sport that these four girls are so passionate about that they basically give their lives up for, and it’s just really interesting.

It’s cool that it has all the gymnastics along with all the drama.  It gives it something different and a whole new dimension.  And, like I said, it’s really cool that we have a broad casting of adults.  We have kids, teenagers, and there’s basically just something for everyone, and I like being a part of that. 

Question> What reactions have you both experienced so far after the first episode aired?

Josie> I think we were all very shocked with the exceptional ratings that we got, so just, I mean, a lot of praise and surprise and pleasant surprise, obviously.  So just, I guess, the message that I’ve got in this past week is just keep doing what you’re doing because what you’re doing works.  Basically what my dad says is that the formula that you’re using, you know, it works, so keep doing it and finish off the season with a bang so that you can start – so you can finish just as well as you started.

Cassie> I was really, really excited about the ratings.  I think it’s really cool that we got the second highest ratings for ABC Family’s premieres, for any TV show, and I also thought it was really cool that – I don’t know exactly the age range, but there was a certain age range that we actually got the highest ratings for – I think was teenage girls, somewhere in that age range.  I don’t remember what it was, but I think that really just means a lot to me because it shows that there’s all these teenage girls watching us, and we have to really remain role models and show them – you know, be able to express that we really have this amazing passion for this sport, and anyone can have a passion for what they’re doing and take it to that next level as long as they focus and concentrate.  And, I don’t know, just remain focused, like I said.  I think that was really cool that we got all these young girls, women viewers, so that was one of my favorite things about when we got the ratings.

Cassie Scerbo stars as Lauren Tanner

Josie> I also, I heard a lot of wow, you know, ABC Family has, you know, this is a great, wholesome family show that they, you know, parents aren’t afraid to sit their kids in front of the television to watch, and that’s also really nice to hear because we have the dramatic conflict in it, but it’s not the drama that parents shy away from or is taboo.  It’s something that I think more kids should be exposed to because then they’re kind of channeled to focus on one thing, whether it be gymnastics or whatever sport, or it could be simply baking.  But do something that you love to do, and so that’s like the message that it gives, and I think that’s why it’s such a – parents are really embracing it.

Question> How do you handle the body image pressure of playing gymnasts?

Josie> Well, I think it’s just a matter of, my motto is always, everything in moderation.  I still, I obviously, I eat healthy.  I just have kind of amped up the workouts, try to go a couple times a week to the gym and take, you know, tae bo, whether it be tae bo classes or yoga classes, just keeping very, very active.  I mean, we play gymnasts, so we have to look like gymnasts.  We just do it in the healthiest way possible.

Cassie> I just honestly have been blessed with a really supportive, large Italian family that has always basically supported me and made me feel confident and beautiful no matter what was going on in my life or whatever, and I think I just remained really confident about everything and just staying, like Josie said, just eating healthy and going to the gym and being able to work out on whatever downtime we have.  I mean, yes, there are tons of people that are basically going to be judging us and staring at us, and even here on set, there’s tons of people just staring at us … and I think you just need to remain confident.  And everyone is beautiful in their own way, and I think that we all have been working really hard and training to have the best gymnast body we can possibly have. 

And, yes, I just, I mean, by eating healthy and staying in shape, that’s, I think that’s the best way to go.  I’m not really bulimic like Lauren is in the show, and I do not believe in it, so just embracing what you have and loving who you are and being confident and feeling wonderful in your own skin, and just eating healthy and staying fit. 

Josie> And I do have to say that a lot of people I’ve heard are commenting on the fact that we don’t have the typical gymnast body, and I just have to say that it doesn’t matter how much we work out, because we’re not doing what Olympic gymnasts are doing with their bodies, we cannot do those tricks.  We are not skilled to do those tricks or trained to do so, our bodies will never look like what theirs look like just because that body is a product of, you know, doing this intense, intense physical training and these skills.  So it doesn’t matter how much we go to the gym.  Unfortunately, we’re never going to reach that goal, but we strive to it as much as possible.

Cassie> Yes, I mean, it’s a TV show, and we would just … back to like if people could just understand that and realize that we work as hard as we can as actresses to be gymnasts.  We’re not truly Olympians, so we just try to work as hard as we can to get there, but, I mean, we haven’t been training since we were four years old, so naturally we don’t have, you know, the physique that some of these women have, some of the Olympian doubles on our set and some of the girls.  But we try our hardest, and yes.  We have been definitely telling craft services to not put out as much junk food, although it’s hard. 

Question> As far as the advanced gymnastics moves and everything that we’re seeing on the show, how do those scenes work?  Are there stunt doubles popping in here and there, or how are those scenes filmed?

Josie> We have the most phenomenal stunt doubles ever.  They’re definitely stunt doubles.  Some of them have been in the Olympics.  I mean, one of them was like a three-time national champion.  So basically we do the move, the beginning of it and the very end of it, the landing.  All the dancing of it, like the floor routines, the beam routines that aren’t the actual tricks, we actually do that.  We learn those routines, and we perform them to the best of our ability.  But all of the tricks are done by doubles.  Sometimes they fly them in.  Others they’ve recruited from the LA area, just a great, great team of gymnasts that really work hard to make it all seem realistic and look the way it does.

Cassie> Yes.  If it was up to me, I’m like the biggest daredevil ever, and I’m sure Josie feels the same way.  We would love to be able to learn how to flip and do all these crazy stunts.  I’m not doing it because I’m being lazy.  I know none of the other girls are either.  We would love to be able to learn some more stuff and learn how to vault, but the thing is, you have to also realize there’s liability issues and there’s laws and certain regulations where we can’t get hurt in our contract, so that's the reason why we also need – also because we’ll never be able to do some of the things they can do, but that’s just another reason we need the stunt doubles there, just for safety, and so that none of us get hurt during the time that we’re filming.

 But we do try to learn as much of the routines as possible, and we have all learned a few tricks here and there on the beam and the bars, and we try to do as much as we can to show how much we do respect all the gymnasts out there and how hard they work.  I mean, it is tough.  It’s not easy, so we have the utmost respect for everyone, for all the gymnasts out there.

Question> In what ways are you similar to your characters?

Josie> I feel I have a lot of differences from Kaylie, but also a couple of similarities.  I think Kaylie deals a lot with the internal conflict of wanting to be this amazing Olympic gymnast, and also just wanting to be a regular teenager, and I feel that sometimes, actually a lot of times.  You know, at being a young girl, sometimes I wish I just had the regular college life that doesn’t have a care in the world really, can be a little reckless, and not have as many responsibilities.  But then again, I want to be the absolute best actress I can be and do these wonderful projects. 

So I feel that a lot, so I completely feel for Kaylie and understand where she’s coming from when she’s having this relationship with Carter behind her father’s back because another element of Kaylie, she’s a people pleaser.  She wants everyone to be happy, whether it’s her dad, her boyfriend, her coach, her friends.  She literally bends over backwards to please people, and in a lot of ways I can relate to that.  I do have a breaking point that comes a lot quicker than Kaylie’s but I do try to make everyone around me happy with my performance, with my performance, whether it be as a student or as an actress.  I’m 3,000 miles away from my family, but I try to be the best daughter, sister, aunt I can be.  So I feel for Kaylie a lot because I feel like she’s just torn in so many different directions.  That’s how, I mean, that's how mostly I relate to her with that internal struggle and just kind of being pulled, and not knowing what she wants a lot of the time. 

Cassie> I really don’t have many similarities with Lauren.  I mean, it’s so completely different from my life.  In the show, Lauren plays basically an only child.  She lives with her dad.  She’s daddy’s little girl.  Her mom is out of the picture, and you guys, everyone, all the viewers will come to see why, as the show progresses, but her mom is out of the picture.  And in my real life, I come from a very large family.  I’m a mommy and a daddy’s girl, and it’s just my living situation is so different from the show’s living situation. 

And also, you know, obviously Lauren is this huge brat, and I think it really just comes from holding so much inside that when it comes out, she just acts out on impulse, and she doesn’t really – she doesn’t even realize a lot of the times that she’s hurting people.  She just is so determined to hide her pain and her anger that she just acts out on these impulses. 

I would say the one thing that’s similar between Lauren and I is that we’re very, very driven.  There’s never – I can’t really think of one thing that I’ve pursued in my life that I haven’t given literally like my blood, sweat, and tears.  Everything I do, I become a perfectionist, and I think Lauren is the same way, although she tends to go to the limit and actually hurt people, and I would never do that.  But, yes, there are not many similarities between her and I.

Question> What’s a typical workweek like for you?  Do you film one episode in a week or what’s the schedule? 

Josie> The schedule changes for each of us based on the episode.  We film a one-hour episode every seven working days, so it takes a little bit longer than a week.  Sometimes we have 12-hour days, 14-, 16-hour days, and then other days, you know, it’s one scene, and we’re out of there.  Usually those days are few and far between, but some days we get lucky, and other days we’re just in there forever. 

Cassie> Yes, forever.  We get very delirious.   

Question> What kind of training did you have to go through for this show?

Josie> We started working out with a personal trainer about a month before the show, and we did – I think we worked out like every other day, and we did different workouts.  A lot of the times we would work out on the beach, in the sand, on Muscle Beach in Santa Monica.  Other days we would work out in the gym where we did a lot more gymnastics training, so we would be – we would get a lot more comfortable on the apparatuses.  Other times we did workouts in a dance studio, and our trainer would, you know, put up different sections that each of us kind of rotated through, so it was just a series of workouts that were strength workouts, and also workouts that just gave us a lot more knowledge about the gym in general.

Question> On the show, each character kind of has a different background, and I know you said you’re kind of different from your characters, but is there another character on the show that you relate more to?

Josie> I actually, when I first read the script, I related a lot more to Payson’s character.  I actually was like, oh, that’s so perfect for me.  I’m extremely driven.  I’m one of those people that, like Cassie said, I see something.  I set a goal, and I go for it wholeheartedly.  And I’m very, very focused, and very disciplined, diligent with my work, so I don’t know.  I relate a lot more to Payson.  I’m not Kaylie in the sense that she kind of lets her gymnastics go to the wayside for a boy.  Cassie can tell you.  I’m like the last boy crazy you’ll ever meet.  I’m not a boy crazy girl, and I would never let a boy get in the way of what I want and what I’m going for, so Payson is like that, and that’s why I’ve always just related a lot more to her.

Cassie> I really, there’s no one character, I think, that I relate to completely, but I think there’s a piece of each character inside of me.  I think that’s what’s going to be so important for our viewers is that there’s really something for every single teenage girl, and there’s like every stereotype, every family problem you can think of, and I just, I think I just have a little bit of everyone inside me, and maybe except for Lauren, who I actually have to play, but that’s the best part about it that she’s so opposite, and it’s just really fun, so yes.

Question> Cassie, your character is kind of the mean girl.  Are we going to be able to see her maybe take a turn towards the end of the season, or is she always going to stay mean?

Cassie> You know what, Lauren takes turns throughout the entire season.  She a lot of the time just goes back to her mean, this mean mentality and all her brattiness and attitude.  And, like I said, it does come from a place of insecurity and disappointment and betrayal and abandonment, and just so many different things.  That’s what’s so cool about Lauren is that, as the show prevails, as the show progresses, people are going to see that a lot of her anger and a lot of her impulses come from a place of pain, truly, and she just tries to mask it and always wants to act like she’s perfect and everything is okay.  And that's why everything comes out so awful, and she looks so mean.  And she is really mean.  I’m definitely not making excuses for her.  She’s a huge brat, but it’s really cool because she takes tons of unexpected turns, and there is a reason that she is so mean, and that's what’s so cool about her.

And I hope that it shows teenage girls out there that are getting bullied or that have that annoying click in their school, that mean girl click.  I hope it shows these girls that maybe those mean girls just have insecurities of their own, and to not let these bratty girls’ insecurities hurt them when they act out impulsively, and that every girl has their own problems and situations.  So if it can teach anybody anything, I hope that I can do that for young girls out there.

Question> You’ve both done a lot of work in TV, and you also did movies. Cassie, you were in Bring It On, and Josie, 17 Again.  What’s the biggest difference between filming a TV show and a movie?

Josie> Personally, I enjoyed filming.  Obviously I enjoy any project I get to work on, especially films, but it’s been so nice being a series regular just because since I’m Kaylie all day, every day, I don’t have to work as hard when it comes to like an emotional scene or scene work with the other girls, like my relationship with other girls because, after a while, after you’ve played this certain person all day, every day, you just start to believe the circumstances.  Where before, if I was on a film, I would have to really work on like emotional triggers to get emotional in a scene, or I’d have to really, really analyze the relationships, which I did all of that with Kaylie, but I did it more in the beginning, and now, as we’re – more in the beginning and the middle, and now as we’re ending, we’re closing the season, it just comes naturally to me. 

I don’t have to work so hard in emotional scenes because I just believe my circumstances so much more, and that just comes from being this character so often, so that’s just been something kind of nice that I’ve noticed and I’ve never experienced it before because every project for me has either been a film or a guest starring role.  It’s like, wow, this is so much easier when you’re doing it every day.

Kaylie is just, it’s something that I can just snap into.  I’m not a lot like Kaylie, but I understand where she is coming from, so it’s a lot easier for me to tap into now, which before was a lot more difficult just because she is very, very different.  And also, the fact that we get to bond with the people around us because we’re with them all the time, so when Cassie and I are in a scene today and we’re laughing, we’re not fake laughing.  Like we don’t have to work hard to be friends.  The friendship that you see on screen is real because we’re together all the time and, fortunately, we all get along so, so well, and that’s just another blessing of being a series regular on a TV show brings to you.  Your relationships just become real, and you don’t have to act it or try so hard to achieve that.

Cassie> Yes.  Sorry, guys.  No gossip.  We actually get along for once, like, in a TV show, especially with four girls.  We get along so well, it’s honestly unheard of and such a blessing.  And, for me, I would just say, like Josie said, being on the set all day, every day, like, people just call me Lauren now, and I do something like, oh, yes.  What’s up?  Oh, we’re ready for lunch.  You just really become like your character as well. 

You’re with these people all day long.  You become one big family.  You learn each other inside out, and I feel the exact same way.  Sometimes I come onto set, and if we have a short scene, I’ll just learn it here in my trailer because all I have to do is learn the words.  The emotional placement is already there.  I already, you know, have relationships with all these girls, have a special bond with all these girls, and when I’m in a scene, it really, just like Josie said, especially an emotional scene, it’s just, it’s so real because we know each other as people, not just actresses, and we love each other as people, and we understand each other as people, and it makes it so much easier in a scene. 

It makes it so much more realistic, and it really does trigger those emotions so much quicker just by being with these people all day, every day, and just knowing them inside out, their families, their situations.  It’s just, it’s really beautiful being on set with these people all the time.  It makes the job so much easier.

Cassie> Yes, I agree.

You can catch Josie Loren and Cassie Scerbo on Make It or Break It Monday nights on ABC Family.