User blog:TinistaGabriela/Dove Cameron Interview

Amber Jennings is a big fan of Disney Channel's Liv and Maddie, so she was excited to get the chance to interview Dove Cameron about her new movie Cloud 9.



By Amber Jennings, age 10

I am a big fan of the Disney Channel, and love to watch Liv and Maddie. Imagine my delight when I went to interview the star of the show Dove Cameron.

Dove Cameron stars in the Disney Channel show called Liv and Maddie.

It's about identical twins who have totally different personalities. Maddie is more academic, girl next door, and Liv has been living in Hollywood filming a television programme, Sing It Loud! and returns home after spending time there.

The show follows Liv and Maddie along with their family, two brothers, Joey and Parker, mum, Karen, and dad Pete, both parents work at the school.

Dove Cameron plays the twins, and has to record all the scenes twice!

Cloud 9 is set in the world of competitive snowboarding. It tells the story of two snowboarders who must overcome self-doubt to learn that achieving their dreams is possible.

Kayla Morgan (Dove) is a prima donna snowboarder who has just been dropped from her competition team. Will Cloud (Luke Benward, who plays Beau in Good Luck Charlie) is a former snowboarding champion who is struggling after a career-ending wipeout.

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'''I interviewed Dove and she was lovely to talk to! Read the full interview below.. How did you get the part in Liv and Maddie?'''

It's a funny story, originally I auditioned for another Disney show called Bits & Pieces which was a completely different plot line but the same cast and I only played one girl, there were no twins involved. Her name was Alana Thickman and throughout the process of testing, I don't know if you know, they put a bunch of kids in a room and have them watch the pilot which is the first episode and have them say what they do and don't like to sort of make it fit exactly to what the fans want which is something I love so much about Disney. Throughout that we waited 9 months and finally got the call that was like "Hey your show got picked up and by the way, you're playing twins, ok bye!" it was like 'What'! I had never auditioned for Liv or Maddie so it was a kind of a crazy process but we're here and it is what it is and I couldn't be more grateful than it is what it is today.

Is it hard playing both characters in Liv and Maddie?

I think it was harder in the beginning than it is now. It was more ground work than it is like continual work, you take a long time to set up so that it flows smoothly later. It was a lot of work cos if you think about it you can watch the show and you could sit there with a journal and you can say the differences between Liv and Maddie. One is very loud and one is very quiet and one is a girly girl and one is a tom boy. But the real differences that make up a person, think of your mom, what are the little things that you know about her that no one else knows. Cameras pick up on that and so you know you think about things like the way like Maddie would hold her cup like this (Dove holds cup around the handle) cos she doesn't know, that just doesn't register with her she's holding a tea cup and Liv, she's pinky out and she knows how everything goes cos she's been on camera all her life and she's like 'oh isn't that wonderful' and it's those little things like laughs and ticks, who bites their lip that make up a character. So that was most of the work and that was mostly in the beginning.



Are you like Liv or Maddie in real life?

I wish I had an answer for this, I could never ever choose cos I'm so similar to both in so many different ways. Like Liv, I'm energetic, there's a lot of things about the world that I don't understand because I've been touring all the time that I have a very naive approach to the world. I have a lot of affection to give and sometimes I'm a little over bearing. I like to perform and so in a lot of ways it's easy to portray Liv, but then in a lot of other ways, truthfully I'm incredibly shy and I'm very awkward around boys. In my spare time, I'm usually wearing jeans and a t shirt, I wear glasses and I snort when I laugh - that's a real thing by the way, and yes I have a lot in common with both of them and I think I'd be friends with both of them too so I could never choose.

How was it living in L.A. at 14?

Crazy cos I moved there and it was a very different pace from where I was from. I was from a tiny little island which I always say is one corn field away from a horror film it was like isolated and everybody knew everybody and you go to school with the grandkids of the grandparents that your grandparents went to school with. It's like that kind of school where like nobody leaves. I grew up without a television, so when I went to LA it was sort of you know a lot to take in, but it actually suited me more than where I was from so I sort of had that home away from home feeling and LA is definitely home now.

In one word how would you describe Cloud 9?

Epic! It's got such a 360 appeal for boys and girls because it's action packed and it's sports orientated which could be for guys or girls, I'm sports oriented or on the other side, it's extremely romantic. I hesitate to say it's like the most romantic movie that Disney has ever done. It's incredibly funny. It will make you cry, it'll make you laugh. Parents will love it, kids love it, I love it. I'm very proud of it. I loved it when I saw it on paper and I love seeing it come to life. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Did you enjoy filming Cloud 9, did you enjoy the snow?

I love the snow! I actually cannot stand the beach. I hate the beach, because I'm the colour of the snow so every time I go out in the sun I either melt or I turn the colour of your mothers scarf (mum wore a red scarf) it's like so bad. I once went out in the sun for like an hour in a pair of shorts and I had a shorts mark, I kid you not, for 10 and a half months, I could do nothing to get rid of it! I'm meant to be pale, I'll never be tanned and the snow is really romantic, I would much rather be cold wrapped up in loads of sweaters holding hands with someone drinking hot cocoa than like, you know, rubbing sand off my leg for the 3rd day in a row!

Have you ever been snowboarding before?

I actually started snowboarding when I was 7 years old so I felt very comfortable auditioning for a snowboarding movie and I thought that would give me some leg up. I was like I'm gonna beat the competition cos I can actually do all these stunts and little did I know they weren't gonna have us do any of the stunts cos of course they want their cast members to be alive while shooting. So I didn't do any of the stunts but I think if you slow it down, you can see me snowboarding in Cloud 9 for about 2.5 seconds. If you like go frame by frame by frame and you're like that is Dove's face maybe but I was grateful for those glorious 2.5 seconds.



How much do you like playing your character in the shows?

I love playing Liv and Maddie. I love playing them both and I don't think I like playing one more than the other. I find them very relatable, aspirational and inspirational. It's a very odd niche to play both inspirational and aspirational cos it's usually one or the other and I learn lots about myself through playing them, Its always a new challenge everyday. We did a new episode where each of the girls dress up as each other, and it was called Switch-A-Rooney, so I was playing one playing the other twice back to back so that was interesting, there's more of that coming. I actually hear a very interesting Halloween episode where I will be pulling off something crazy, even crazier than before, so it's always fresh and difficult on Liv and Maddie and it's something that I love very much.

Did you go to acting school?

I did not, I don't think I've ever taken an acting class, I took one acting class then I realised it wasn't for me as it's not for everyone and actually my belief on acting is the best actors and the most convincing style of acting come from people who are very observant of other people. There are 2 different styles of acting like portraying a part of yourself and then portraying someone you know in your life. So I've never been taught and I definitely don't have a method that I stick with. So I hope it's good, I don't know, no ones ever told me, acting school is good for some, it wasn't for me.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I'm really boring. I like to bake, I have different dietary needs, I have sugar free, gluten free and dairy free so I have like the worst, I am terrible when you take me out to a restaurant. I'm like 'Do you guys have anything that fits my needs' like no. So I make a lot of my own food. I make a lot of my own recipes so a lot of the things that maybe you'd like to eat I can make, I could change up the recipe to fit what I need and my boyfriend is the same and my mother too actually so I'm constantly making all kinds of different baked goods and also I sew a lot of my own clothing and I like to write my own songs so I'm a home body. In my free time I'm sleeping or running round the house like an elf.

If you could travel back in time who would you most like to meet?

Edgar Allan Poe, I think he's a brilliant poet. I was actually given a copy of his work when I was like 8 years old that was my grandfathers and I still carry it around with me. It's like this old tattered green thing that I think used to be a different colour and I have all the pages marked, I know that page 26 is Annabel Lee, I have them all memorised I love his work, I think he's brilliant.



Is this your first time in England?

This is my first time in England, yes, before this I was in Paris, it's my 3rd or 4th time in Paris but surprisingly this is my first time ever coming to England and I love it.

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you take with you?

Oh gosh, my journal to document probably my spiral into insanity, my big lifetime supply of coconut water gotta get my vitamins guys, you can't drink the water that's around you so coconut water and oh gosh I don't know, that's a difficult question cos I'm think all logistical. My big backpack full of all kinds of things since 2007, that has something in it that would help me survive.

How did you celebrate your 18th birthday?

I am actually a really shy and quiet person believe it or not and I don't like big scenes, I don't like big parties like I don't even like caffeine. I'm very sort of quiet and I like more internal celebrations and so I got my boyfriend, my sister and my mother and we all went out for a nice dinner and we went to see Disney's Frozen for the second time and then a few days later I went to Disneyland, so I guess I'm just a Disney girl living in a Disney world. And it was absolutely fantastic and it was exactly what I wanted, it was beautiful.

Where did you get your heart necklace?

I have actually been getting a heart necklace every year for my birthday since I was born and it's a little locket. It always has a different picture in it at the start of each year sort of what's going on with me at the moment. And it was a tradition that my dad started. It started where the locket was small and you couldn't fit anything in it, I still have that somewhere and it has my name on it and throughout the years it's had short little quotes that mean something for me. On the back right now it has 'Love and Light' which is something I always sign after I autograph something cos I think that's such a lovely message to leave someone with you know, love and light. Isn't that what you would wish on everyone?

How much has your life changed now you are famous?

Massively, massively! Well it depends, I have not changed at all, and it's always been my goal that if this were to happen to me, for me, that I would always try to retain the most normalcy that I possibly could. Because the real job of course is the actual job, it's the filming, it's doing the ground work, it's doing the character work and all the writing, participating in all that kind of thing. And everything that comes along with something such as fame, is not the job, it's like an accessory to the job, and so it's something you sort of have to learn to keep your wits about you. It's definitely come with a lot of upsides like all the fan interaction is wonderful and beautiful and I always love talking to fans. It's still strange to me that I even have fans! But honestly my outside life has changed, when I walk down the streets it is different, when I'm at home it's just the same, nothing is different!

'''Stars of Disney's Cloud 9. What's your favorite type of music and what artist? '''

Ooo, I have a very eclectic iPod, it has such a wide range of artists. My favourite song of all time is Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller which is something I think you might not know. It's a really old song and it's really beautiful and it's followed only second by Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. Got a thing for moonlight! I mostly like things that I can write, read, or cook to, and I won't be distracted cos all the things I do in my spare time are therapeutic for me because it's sort of my way of getting out of my brain. When I'm working I'm so in my brain and so most of my music is not lyrical. But in terms of an artist, I really love Lykke Li, she's so strange and interesting and different and she's got such a interesting vocal quality. She's sort of a jazz, baby, she's like a baby jazz, pop, R&B, folk singer, she's very hard to describe. I don't think I could put her in a category but I think she's great, I think she might be my favourite.

What would you like to be if you weren't in acting?

I actually have a plan B, I told myself that if I didn't make it anywhere by the time I was 18, that I would go to fashion school because I've been sewing mostly my own clothes since I was 7, and I've always had a huge interest in fashion. I would definitely like to have a fashion line one day.

What are your career aspirations?

I love fashion, so I would love to have a fashion line one day. I still very much wanna be on Broadway one day, if Broadway will have me. I would do anything to be on Broadway, that's where I feel most at home on a stage. Have you seen Disney's Frozen yet? Did you hear it's going to Broadway! It's going to Broadway and I'm ready to die, I would do anything to play either character, I've been covering all the songs and putting them on YouTube just because I'm like, I can't stop, I'm obsessed especially "Let it Go" by Idina Menzel, it's to die for! I love her, so yes career aspirations, fashion line, Broadway, more movies, more television for as long as anyone will let me do what I hope to do, I will be doing what I love to do.

How many hours do you rehearse during the day?

Oh, it depends, we have a very interesting schedule. Usually what we'll do is we shoot Tuesdays and Wednesdays and rehearse the next episode Thursdays and Fridays. On Thursday and Fridays we'll show up at work around 8am, and then we'll go into a room and do a table reading where we all sit round a gigantic table and we just sit with the scripts and we don't perform. We don't do hair and make up or anything and it's sort of our way to test out the funny lines on everybody else to see who laughs and who doesn't. Then we'll rehearse from like 10am until 4pm, then we'll do something called a run through where all the executives will come and will hop from one set to set to set cos it's all in one big building sort of like a play but with all different sets all over and it's like a mini performance so we'll do that for like an hour. So yes it's a good full day, we go until about 4pm.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/interview-dove-cameron-star-disney-3184984