Recently in Exclusive Interviews Category

Published Monday, February 16, 2009 10:24 AM ET

Q&A With Spectacular!'s Victoria Justice



Victoria Justice dropped by the J-14 offices to talk about how super excited she is about the Spectacular! premiere tonight on Nickelodeon at TK time. She spilled tons of cool deets about her costumes, her castmates, and more!

J-14: What were the Spectacular! costumes like?
Victoria: All the costumes that my character had to wear were really over the top. They weren't things I would wear hanging out with my friends. When my character was wearing her everyday clothes, she was still really over the top -- I looked like J.Lo in every scene! I had humongous hoop earrings, really bright colors and really flashy stuff. My favorite costume was "On The Wings of a Dream" because I get to rip off this skirt and it turns into a little mini-dress. I thought that was really cool! It had little wings attached.

J-14: How would you describe your personal style versus your character's crazy costumes?
Victoria: My style is definitely more laid-back. I'm the kind of girl that goes to school or hangs out with my friends in sweats and a baggy t-shirt. I love dressing up and looking cute. I'm from L.A., so I never really have to wear that. When I come to New York, I get to wear really cool, layered stuff and it's really fun.

J-14: Have you ever been in a competitive setting like the choir in Spectacular!?
Victoria: Not, but I was in a spelling bee when I was in 4th grade -- I lost. When I was on stage, I didn't let on that I was really upset about it. I shook everyone's hand and wished everyone good luck, but as soon as I got off stage I crawled in my mom's arms and started crying. I wanted to win so badly.

J-14: So who from the Spectacular! cast do you hang out with now?
Victoria: I think everyone was really cool. I'm really lucky because everyone was so nice and we all got along really well. The person I bonded with the most was Simon Curtis. I did every single scene with him and we would have six-hour dance rehearsals together. He's one of my best friends and he's actually screen-testing for my TV show. That would be so amazing to get to work with him every day because we're really good friends.
Read More…

Tags:

3 Comments
Published Tuesday, February 10, 2009 3:48 PM ET

Q&A with Cassadee Pope of Hey Monday

heymonday.jpg

Hey Monday's female powerhouse singer, Cassadee Pope, is fresh out of the water of West Palm Beach, FL! She's been compared to Avril Lavigne and Paramore's Hayley Williams. J-14 spoke exclusively with the spunky singer about being "one of the guys," hanging out with cute musicians and more!

J-14: What's it like being the only girl in Hey Monday?
Cassadee: They treat me like a guy, but they also know what's disrespectful. They let me have my own bed and stuff like that, and they give me enough time in the bathroom in the morning to get ready. For the most part I'm just treated like another one of the guys.

J-14: What's your favorite track off your album Hold On Tight?
Cassadee: "Should've Tried Harder." I like the message it has. Giving a relationship your all and then it ending and the person wants to come back, but why should I take you back when I was the one who was giving and you would just take? There was no give from you, so you should have tried harder when we were together. I like that.

J-14: Who writes the songs?
Cassadee: Me and my guitar player, Mike. Mike writes the music and then brings it to me, and I'd put my lyrics and melodies to them. "Should've Tried Harder" and "Six Months" were the only songs on the record that I wrote completely by myself.

J-14: What's it like being compared to Avril Lavigne and Paramore?
Cassadee: I honestly think that it's a huge compliment. Someone said that they think Columbia found their new Avril Lavigne, and that choked me up because she's a huge inspiration to me. Paramore is a compliment because we like them a lot as a band. But there's a lot of people who just take that and fabricate on it and say that we're trying to copy them. That's not the case at all because we're a lot more pop and mainstream than them.

J-14: You're on Pete Wentz's label Decaydance with bands like The Academy Is... What's it like hanging out with William Beckett of The Academy Is...?
Cassadee: It's fun. William for me is like more of an inspiration then a crush. I think he's amazing and he's like a really cute guy -- tall and handsome. He's a huge inspiration and he's turned into one of my idols. On stage he demands everybody's attention, and he gets their attention. He pulls everybody in. I look up to him a lot.

J-14: You also had a small role on Degrassi. Do you like the acting thing or is mainly music for you?
Cassadee: My first priority and my real passion is music, but I love doing stuff like that.

J-14: Do you have any advice for girls who want to form their own band?
Cassadee: I've met so many girls who've said that I've inspired them on tour and that's awesome, but I always tell them: Don't give up, and if you don't have a band already, definitely start looking for one because you need to start as soon as possible. You really just want to have that solid foundation, like a friend in a band with you. Make sure that you get along with them. Don't be afraid of rejection and don't quit after rejection.
Read More…

Tags:

18 Comments
Published Saturday, February 7, 2009 9:00 AM ET

Jesse McCartney's First Grammy Awards!

JesseRedWallPensive.jpg Jesse McCartney's hitting the Grammys for the first time ever this weekend... and he'll be rooting for Leona Lewis! Why? Although Jesse's hits "Leavin'" and "How Do You Sleep?" are rockin' the charts, it's his songwriting skills that landed him at the big-time award show. Yup, he co-wrote "Bleeding Love" with One Republic's Ryan Tedder... which is nominated for the biggest award of the night, Record of the Year!

J-14 chatted exclusively with Jesse this week to get the scoop about his Grammy adventures!

J-14: How does it feel to be nominated for a Grammy?
Jesse: I'm just so thrilled. It's amazing for us and for Leona. It's the Grammy awards. It's one of the biggest and more prestigious nights for the music industry and everyone and their mother will be there, so it's going to be cool.

J-14: How did you find out about the nomination?
Jesse: It's funny -- I was on tour and traveling a lot with Katy Perry because she was on the same route. We found out simultaneously that she got nominated and that "Bleeding Love" got nominated. It was a big night!

J-14: What does a Grammys mean to you?
Jesse: This is going to be my first time attending the Grammys. I love the Grammy Foundation -- I'm getting more active with them and really trying to give back to the kids out there. I just did Career Day with the Grammy Foundation a couple of days ago. They bussed these kids in from inner-city schools to teach them about music and get them involved in the whole music industry. Everyone over there at the Grammy Foundation is really fun to be around so it's going to be a good weekend.

J-14: What will be going through your head when they're about to announce the winner in your category?
Jesse: I'm sure that I'll be sitting on the edge of my seat a little bit!

J-14: Do you ever wish you sang "Bleeding Love" on your album?
Jesse: No, I don't. I did sing it when I recorded the demo of it, but I don't regret it at all. Leona really owned the song and made it what it is today. Who knows if it ever would have blown up if it was recorded by me or any other artist. It may have had to be for Leona -- and Leona only. I really have no regrets about and I can't complain. She got me a number one hit!

Photo Credit: Joseph Cultice

Read More…

Tags:

71 Comments
Published Wednesday, February 4, 2009 10:29 AM ET

Q&A With Jarvis

jarvis.jpg

Get ready for R&B singer Jarvis! He's currently working on his new album, and just released the first single, "Pretty Girls," (featuring Ludacris). J-14 chatted exclusively with the 22-year-old about his music, his love of tea, missing his prom to hang with Usher and more!

J-14: How would you describe your sound?
Jarvis: I would describe my sound as young with substance, fun, energetic, and sometimes soul.

J-14: What do you do before a big show?
Jarvis: Eat fried chicken! I've got to have some warm tea and pineapple juice -- Also, I always like to be alone, even for five or ten minutes. When you're doing a show, there's a lot going on. There are a lot of people around and chaos. I always get five to ten minutes alone to just think, meditate, and pray. That's probably the one thing that will always remain.

J-14: What do you always bring with wherever you go?
Jarvis: The iPod! I have to have the laptop as well.

J-14: Why did you miss your prom? Do you regret it?
Jarvis: I was at the American Music Awards in Vegas with Usher! I can't be like, 'I regret not going to prom.' Nah!

J-14: What can fans expect from you this year?
Jarvis: Great music. Just because people haven't heard of you, they feel like you came from nowhere or you're an overnight success. I want to shed light on my situation. Let it be known that it definitely wasn't something that was done overnight. It was a lot of hard work and a lot of time.

Don't forget to check out his MySpace page!
Read More…

Tags:

31 Comments
Published Tuesday, January 27, 2009 3:22 PM ET

Q&A with Mark Indelicato

markuglybetty.jpg

Ugly Betty's Mark Idelicato chatted with J-14 about America Ferrera, his dressing room, Broadway plans, and more!

J-14: What's it like to work with America?
Mark: It's amazing. She's the nicest person you'll ever meet in your entire life. She doesn't take anything for granted. We'll tell each other when we think that we're saying something stupid or when we're being totally ridiculous. Then we'll also be like, "Oh my God, you're so funny. I love you," at the same time. When we're not shooting on set, we'll just sit in our chairs and just talk about anything and everything.

J-14: What do you do in between shooting scenes?
Mark: I don't really have a lot of time unless I'm like working on a weekend, which is so rare 'cause I have school. But I hang out in the hair room with the hairstylist, which is so much fun. I might crash in Anna's [Ortiz] room for a minute, it just depends on he mood I'm in.

J-14: What's it like on the Suarez home and Mode office sets?
Mark: My favorite thing in the Suarez house is definitely Hilda Swan. And as far as Mode goes, I love how they designed the new conference room. When you walk down the tube, the conference room is this big glass thing right in the middle, which I think is totally awesome. It's very over the top and it's totally not what an office building would look like. It's the dream office building.

J-14: What does your dressing room look like?
Mark: I got this crazy wallpaper on one wall with orange, green, yellow, blue and grey squiggles. And then on the other three walls I'm going to have three different colors of grey stripes and then on the two side walls and the wall across from the wall paper is just going to be like plain grey. I have two black leather couches facing each other and then a white shag rug and a black coffee table.

J-14: Your character tried out for Broadway. What was it like preparing for that?
Mark: As for me, I definitely have Broadway plans. I will always have Broadway plans. There was no preparation for Justin doing the Billy Elliot episode. It was very fluent and cool and because it's not like Justin had to be good. He had to be really ridiculous, so that was easy for me.

Photo: Startraks

Read More…

Tags:

18 Comments
Published Thursday, January 22, 2009 11:48 AM ET

Q&A with Alyson Stoner

alystoner.jpg

Alyson Stoner recently chatted with J-14 to dish on the Jonas Brothers and what she really hopes to do in the future.

J-14: Did you teach the JoBros any dance moves on the set of Camp Rock?
Alyson: When we were on set we would have dance parties in their cabin. I would do something, and Joe would copy it but make it his own. We even re-enacted a junior high dance where him and I were dancing slowly -- it was hysterical.

J-14: How would you describe the way Kevin, Nick and Joe dance?
Alyson: Kevin knows how to have a good time when he is dancing, Joe is very slick with his moves and Nick has a ton of rhythm.

J-14: You've said in the past that you want to go to college and not stay in the entertainment business. What do you think you'll study?
Alyson: I love politics and law, but I also love cooking. I know for a fact that I don't want to try anything that has to do with the entertainment business. I want something completely separate. Plus, being a lawyer, being able to control a room with everything that I say would be so much fun. I wouldn't ever want to be the president or anything, just a politician!

Photo: Startraks
Read More…

Tags:

69 Comments
Published Thursday, January 15, 2009 12:26 PM ET

Q&A with Brittany Snow

britsnow.jpg

Brittany Snow fans can expect to see a ton more of her this year. Brit's horror flick The Vicious Kind is out now, and she just finished shooting Black Water Transit, which is set to hit theaters later this year. As if her schedule isn't busy enough, she just started filming another movie, Clock Tower -- talk about a crazy schedule! In between the craziness, Brit caught up with J-14 to give us the scoop on her movie Prom Night (out on DVD now) and what it was like working with Zac Efron.

J-14: Are there any special features on the Prom Night DVD that fans didn't get to see in theaters?
Brittany Snow: Throughout the entire movie the director, Nelson McCormack, Jonathon Sheck and myself did commentary to talk about the funny things that happened on set. There's also a gag reel, which is really funny.

J-14: What did you guys do for fun?
Brittany Snow: We made up dances and songs, and we had a handshake! We also had game nights after work, so we definitely bonded a lot. We played practical jokes on the crew by doing a take where we all had different accents, and the crew hated it. They didn't think it was funny at all, so we ended up being really embarrassed.

J-14: What was it like to work with Zac Efron in Hairspray?
Brittany Snow: Zac is one of the most genuine, sweet people that I've met, and he deserves every good thing that comes to him. He really is just a normal, sweet, charismatic guy, and he's very special. He's so busy, and he's all over the place, so when we do hang out, it's him dodging the paparazzi and stuff like that. I don't understand how he does it.

J-14: I know that you were good friends with Amanda Bynes and Sophia Bush. You girls have crazy schedules. How do you keep up the friendships?
Brittany Snow: We make it work. We catch up every once in awhile, and whenever we see each other it's really great. It's great to have girlfriends you can go weeks without talking to and know the next time you talk to them, it's going to be totally normal and back to the way it always is. That's where you know you're really good friends.

Read More…

Tags:

23 Comments
Published Thursday, January 8, 2009 2:48 PM ET

Q&A With Demi Lovato

demidemi.jpg

J-14 recently sat down with Demi Lovato to talk about her new Disney Channel show, Sonny With A Chance which premieres February 8.

J-14: What is Sonny With A Chance about?
Demi: Sonny With A Chance is a show about a girl who gets to be on her favorite TV show. She comes to Hollywood (she's from Wisconsin), so she's kind of like this Beverly Hillbilly-type girl.

J-14: What's with the bee costume we keep seeing you in?
Demi: The bee costume was for one of the sketches. It's a show about a sketch show and in one of the sketches I was a bee that rapped.

J-14: Do you have any secrets from the show you can share?
Demi: Well, there is a love interest on the show.

J-14: Can you share who he is?
Demi: He's played by Sterling [Knight].

J-14: What is your favorite thing to eat or drink on set?
Demi: I'm a big tea drinker. You always see me with a water bottle in my hand or a cup of chamomile tea with honey, or green tea.

Photo: Startraks

Read More…

Tags:

74 Comments
Published Wednesday, January 7, 2009 3:45 PM ET

Q&A With My Favorite Highway

favoritehighway.jpg

Craving some new tunes? Look no further than My Favorite Highway, a pop/punk band from Virginia that's totally blowing up right now! They plan on re-releasing their Ced, How To Call A Bluff this spring, and their single, Say So (about summertime love -- aww!, is being played like crazy on their MySpace page! Check out what lead singer Dave Cook had to say exclusively to J-14 about their fave songs, the Jonas Brothers and more!

J-14: How would you describe your sound for a new audience?
Dave: My Favorite Highway's sound is comparable to a lot of different artists. We take music that's similar to the sounds of bands like Third Eye Blind or Goo Goo Dolls -- bands from the late '90s -- and modernize it with bands like The All-American Rejects and Boys Like Girls. [Our music] appeals to an older and a younger audience. People who enjoy music like the Jonas Brothers also like My Favorite Highway's music. We have a really wide range of age in our audience -- it appeals to a lot of different people.

J-14: Where did you guys come up with the name My Favorite Highway?
Dave: My cousin and I were driving in horrible rush hour traffic in Washington D.C. one day, and someone made the sarcastic remark, "Oh this is great, we're sitting in this horrible traffic, and it's my favorite highway!" And we were like, "Oh my gosh! That's a great band name!" It just stuck. It's completely arbitrary and has no meaning.

J-14: What's it like working in the band with your cousin?
Dave:Every once in a while we'll get in little squabbles and arguments about this and that, but because we're family, we are going to love each other no matter what. That helps when you get into fights, because you get over it really quick. We don't really get in that many arguments or disagreements and when we do, it heals up pretty quickly... You don't feel so alone sometimes. I feel like if I was in a band with three guys that I was just friends with, we'd be falling in and out of friendships. When you're with someone that's family, that person is not going anywhere. There is a really strong feeling of camaraderie there.

J-14: What is your favorite song off of your CD, How to Call a Bluff?
Dave:: My personal favorite is "Getaway Car." It means the most to me. It's just about chasing your dreams -- trusting everything to the wind and going for it. For me, that summarized everything we were trying to do at the time, so that song really resonates with me, personally, and the rest of the guys in the band. It's my favorite song to play live as well. It's a really fun song.

J-14: If you could have any dream collaboration, who would it be?
dave:: I would love to write with Maroon 5. I think that would be so much fun -- they're one of my favorite bands!... We could do a song with the Jonas Brothers!

Don't forget to check out their myspace page myspace.com/myfavoritehighway.
Read More…

Tags:

97 Comments
Published Tuesday, December 23, 2008 1:33 PM ET

Q&A With Bret Harrison

bretcw.jpg

Not enough Reaper in your life? Don't worry -- the season 1 DVD is out now and season 2 comes back with a bang this March! J-14 spoke to the devil's main man, Bret Harrison, about the new season and his friendship with former O.C. cutie Adam Brody!

J-14: What's your fave episode from season one?
Bret: I like the cop episode. [As] a first time series, you're finding the tone of the show, and in the beginning we were finding that. I feel like with that episode we were hitting our stride. Sock was terrorizing Gladys in that episode and ended up falling for her, which I thought was a really funny moment. [Sock] making out with Gladys I thought was the funniest thing I've ever seen. What was really cool was I was rocking a taser, and [my character] Sam ended up tasering the wrong guy, and the Soul had tattoos that he could actually tear off of his body that became real, and he used them as weapons. There were a couple of switch-a-roos in that episode that you didn't see coming. Sam is about to go to jail, and Sock says, 'Lets roll by your dad's place so I can put on suit jacket,' and he pretends to be Sam's lawyer, and he's got a briefcase full of tools. It just tracked really well for me. I love that episode.

J-14: Which was your favorite soul-catching tool to use?
Bret: Anything I can shoot or [use to] screw around with Ricky, Tyler or Missy. I liked the remote control car. I was driving that around tripping people up, and I had a Nerf gun, which was pretty cool shooting Tyler in the face with that. The taser gun was cool, too. I'm waiting for the boomerang.

J-14: Any season two secret you can let us in on?
Bret: I guess a quick secret is that Sam meets a guy [named Allen] who had a deal with the Devil and had gotten out of it. This guy is played by Sean Patrick Harris, and he's a pretty cool guy. Sam met this guy and now he hasn't gotten out of this deal, but he's in the middle of trying to get secrets from Allen. He's trying to get secrets form Allen, but Allen is asking for Sam to put him on sacred ground before he gives up any knowledge about The Devil and how to get out of the contract, so he sent Allen to Vatican City. Allen's asked for first class tickets and a driver and a bodyguard and all this stuff. And then what ends up happening is, his plane gets delayed in Vegas -- Sin City -- and now we're at a stand still.

J-14: What is your relationship like with your co-stars?
Bret: Tyler and I hit it off right away. I flew in and within two hours he was picking me up. He's a Vancouver local, so he was taking me around to all the different places to eat. We shared a love for music, and he's got a little recording studio in his loft apartment, which is cool.

J-14: Have there been any crazy pranks on set?
Bret: The producers got us a ping-pong table, and I don't know is this is a prank, but it really does piss Tyler off -- Tyler and Missy are certainly the most competitive in the group. I'm not that great, but I actually beat Tyler once, and he was in a bad mood for the rest of the day to say the least.

J-14: What do you think of former co-star Jessica Stroup's new gig on 90210?
Bret: I've seen her around the few times that I've been able to go back to L.A., and we have stayed in touch a little bit, and I think it's great. She was one of the best guest stars to come on our show last year. I thought that Sam and her had really good chemistry, and I only hope it helped her. I don't know for sure, but I hope she developed a relationship with The CW through Reaper, and I hope Reaper led her to 90210 because they're certainly behind that show, and I hope it keeps doing well. If those shows do well, it can only do well for Reaper.

The Reaper: Season 1 DVD is in stores now, and season 2 starts on March 17 on The CW.

Photo: Andrew Eccles/Courtesy of The CW
Read More…

Tags:

95 Comments
Main