Ashley,
Teen Angst
and Aliens
by Lynn Barker
 Every
few months we give you an update on High School Musical fave
Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay). The now-brunette actress/singer/songwriter/dancer
is playing the big sis in a fun new film about teens and kids in a family
who, while on vacation in a rental home, have a close encounter with Aliens
in the Attic. Ashley's character Bethany is hooking up with boyfriend
Ricky (Robert Hoffman of Step Up 2) and so not into family bonding.
When aliens invade, take over Ricky and adults can't help, it's up to
Bethany, her tech geek bro, little sis and cute cousin to save the planet.
This is a
first attempt for Ashley to make a feature film and one outside the HSM
franchise and she was lovin' it. We had a chat with her in L.A. recently
at a boutique hotel. The star was casual/cute wearing blue tee, black
mini-skirt, tons of silver chains and bangle bracelets and..... bathroom
slippers? Hey she'd been wearing heels all day and borrowed a pair from
the hotel. Let's get comfy and chat....
AGW: What
was the attraction of this film for you?
Ashley: I
read the script and I thought that obviously it was for the same audience
as the other movies that I come from, it’s a family movie and I
thought it was really great for my audience. I was hesitant at first on
doing it. I kind of was just like, ‘I don’t know.’ I
really wanted to know what the aliens were going to look like and I wanted
to know who was starring in the movie. Carter Jenkins signed on (as her
younger tech geek bro). I loved him in a show called 'Surface' on NBC,
and I was super excited. I think he’s a great actor and so I signed
onto it and it was an honor. Barry Josephson produced Enchanted
and Men in Black so I knew the CGI would be a piece of cake with
him and it’s different from the musical movies, it’s an action
comedy, had a great cast, Doris Roberts, Kevin Nealon, Andy Richter, I’ve
learned so much from them. All that together made me want to do it.
AGW: What
about reacting to all the special effects and aliens who really weren't
there? Was that intimidating or challenging?
Ashley: I’m
never intimidated by that stuff, I think stuff that I’m attracted
to is always challenging, just because I like to challenge myself and
see what I can accomplish. But, with the CGI, I was like ‘How is
this going to work? Are we doing green screen?’ We had a green 'stuffy',
like a beanbag kind of doll, that was (to represent) the alien and they
just move it around and then you react off of it. There were sometimes
where I was nervous just because I was only there for five weeks, I had
to come back for High School Musical 3, where (the rest of the
cast) were there for six months. Because they’re all younger, after
a certain time they were not allowed to work so I would be at 2 o’clock
in the morning reacting off of the Doris Roberts and Robert Hoffman fighting
and I’d be looking at the crew members. So that kind of made me
nervous, but I saw the movie and I think it came together really well.
AGW: What
are some of your favorite alien movies?
Ashley: Close
Encounters. I love Close Encounters. I love E.T.
it's one of my favorite movies. Signs. That’s a scary one. That
freaked me out. I’m a big fan of alien movies.
AGW: Do you
get scared easily at scary movies?
Ashley: I
do. I can’t go watch scary movies right now, because living on your
own, it kind of freaks you out. So I tend to just watch comedies. As an
actress you think I would understand but I have a big imagination.
 AGW:
Did you have any fears about what was up in the attic when you were a
kid?
Ashley: Well,
I didn’t have an attic, I had a basement because I grew up in New
Jersey when I was younger. This is really scary. I thought Chucky was
down there, because my friend, at eight or seven years old, told me like,
‘Let’s watch Child’s Play,’ and I thought
it was like a doll movie (she laughs) so after watching that I was scared,
so scared, so I wouldn’t go down in the basement because I thought
maybe he was roaming around down there, and for a girl who had many dolls
it really freaked me out.
AGW: I imagine
it would! Do you think we underestimate teens? You started so young and
are already such a veteran. Were you just driven to succeed?
Ashley: I
don’t take myself seriously, actually. I laugh at myself all the
time. I’m very driven. I’ve always been very driven. My mom
kind of taught me that. I looked up to my mom, actually. I’ve never
really had a role model that was a celebrity. Mom is a very confident
person and she always taught me to believe and don’t quit and keep
going for your dreams. At a young age I did not know I’d be where
I am today. I was doing commercials and modeling but I always dreamt of
doing movies and TV shows. And so I think that with hard work and drive
that you’ll definitely get there. I think that for me, even though
I’ve been in the business for so long and I’ve had a lot of
success with the High School Musical movies I still feel that
my career has just begun. For me there’s a lot more that I want
to, you know, I want to keep learning about my craft and keep going.
AGW: At some
point there’s a child to professional jump. When was that time for
you?
Ashley: I
think probably when somebody decided to give me a production company.
Then they kind of took me really seriously. Disney actually came to me
to produce a TV show for them. I think I kind of go with my instincts
on stuff. I feel like, nobody tells you what’s going to work, nobody
knows what movies are going to work and be successful. High School
Musical nobody thought was going to be as huge as it was. But I think
that you definitely have feelings. You can feel it. In High School
Musical 1, when we were singing ‘We’re All in This Together,’
there was something in the air that you kind of felt in a way. Same with
the second and third one. So I’ve always followed my heart and instincts
and just go with that, you know?
AGW: Is it
important to not take yourself so seriously given the business that you’re
in?
Ashley: Yeah,
but I don’t know, there are a lot of actors that do take themselves
seriously. I would hope to be very grounded, ‘cause my parents have
kept me grounded, and I’ve had a very normal life even though I
have been in the business since I was 3. I went to regular high school
my whole life and I worked in clothing stores growing up, besides being
in this business so I just think ‘don’t sweat the small stuff.’
I’m someone who just likes to laugh at things. If I look weird in
an interview I’m just laughing at myself instead of ‘Oh my
gosh, I can’t believe this.’ It’s like ‘whatever!’
It’s just funny to me.
AGW: You’re
a role model for a lot of girls. What message do you have for a coming
of age girl or teen?
Ashley: I
think to all the kids out there, especially all the girls, don’t
ever limit yourself. I think that if you want to be an actress, or anything
that you want to do, with hard work, you’ll definitely get there.
But you have to know that it’s not going to come easy. For some
people it does come easy, but those people I think take it for granted
in the long run. Even though I’m really blessed in where I am today,
it’s definitely been hard work. I really had to prove myself to
people. And to keep going no matter what and don’t let anybody tell
you otherwise.
AGW: Your
character actually tells off her boyfriend in this movie because he bad-mouths
her family at one point. How important is it to you that your family likes
someone that you date?
 Ashley:
I can’t date anybody unless I bring them home to meet my dad first.
They’re very over-protective parents. I do like that part obviously
in the movie where Bethany kind of sees his true colors and sticks up
for her family, and I think that I’m someone who always wants my
parents to be really proud of me and so, yeah, I tend to want them to
approve of people I’m with.
AGW: Short
of an alien invasion, what bonds your family together?
Ashley: What
bonds my family? I have an older sister. We like to laugh a lot in my
family and joke around and stuff. Me and my dad are a lot alike. I’m
very outdoorsy. I like to be at the beach, tropical areas. I like to fish
and my dad likes to fish. Usually my sister and my mom will go shopping
while we go fishing. You’d think that I would go shopping with them,
but it’s relaxing for me. But yeah, my family is really close so
anything that we do, we’re always having a fun time.
AGW: Since
you were there for such a short time did you get to see any of Auckland
where you filmed this?
Ashley: Yeah,
every weekend we were going to a different island and going to a different
beach and hanging out, the whole cast would hang out all the time, so
it was definitely a lot of fun, even though I worked in those five weeks
every single day, I was just like, ‘Whoa, I thought I was just like
co-starring in this movie.'
AGW: So, what
was the most fun thing that you saw or did down there?
Ashley: Actually
this is really fun, there’s a band called Goodnight Nurse out there
that I fell in love with. They were with my record label, Warner Brothers
as well, and so it was just really lucky that they were performing the
weekend before I was leaving, so the whole cast, we all went down there
and we got to see them perform and we got to meet them. It was an outside
concert so it was really cool.
AGW: We already
talked with you about your new CD coming out called "Guilty Pleasure"
What is your guilty pleasure?
Ashley: My
guilty pleasure would probably be alien movies and coffee but I do like
designer handbags, that’s a guilty pleasure of mine.
AGW: Which
is your favorite right now?
Ashley: Probably
my Givenchy bag is my new favorite.
AGW: Are you
consciously trying to break out and play more adult roles in films now?
Ashley: I
think that I’m not trying to run away from my audience, but as I’m
getting older, I’m 24 –
AGW: You sure
don't look it.
Ashley: I
will play young in movies for a long time I think.
AGW: So that’s
not the next thing for you?
Ashley: I’m
looking at other projects right now. I haven’t made my decision
yet, but a lot of the scripts are teen-audience movies compared to just
family movies. I definitely want to grow with my career as well, but I’m
not going to run away and do something completely different and scare
my audience.
AGW: You’re
doing an episode of 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'. How did you get
involved with that and what are you doing with the family on the show?
Ashley: Yeah,
the kids really wanted to meet me as one of their wishes, so I’m
going to go and design part of their room, and then also do a concert
with my band. I shoot it next week in Missouri. I don’t know when
it will air actually, I just go with the flow, I just go and do it.
AGW: If you
had to choose which area you would like to pursue in your career what
would you do? Aren’t you interested in writing too?
 Ashley:
I’m not writing anything yet, I co-write my music. [Creative writing]
is like one of my favorite subjects. I think I’m a very creative
person and I’m a workaholic so I like to do a lot of things, I like
to keep busy. I love acting, that’s one of my passions and so is
music, but producing is different for me, but I do come up with ideas
and not just stuff that I would be in. I have a producing partner and
we get together and we get to create it, and it’s a different experience
for me than I’ve ever had before, but it’s a lot of fun and
I hope to be producing TV shows and movies one day. Right now I have a
reality show that E! is looking at. I can’t really talk about it
yet because it’s not picked up, but it’s definitely something
that’s fun, it’s not with me in it though.
AGW: A reality
show?
Ashley: No,
no, it’s not a reality show with me in it, it’s a dating show.
AGW: Ooo,
cool! Your song ‘Switch’ appears on the soundtrack for this
film. Is it something you wrote specifically for this film or did they
just ask you to contribute a song?
Ashley: I
didn’t write ‘Switch,’ but, when I was recording my
album, even though I didn’t write a song doesn’t mean that
I didn’t talk to the producers about what I wanted or picked out
the song because there’s a reason behind it. So ‘Switch,’
I just felt, was perfect for the movie. I 'switched up' a couple of words.
It was 'robot 'at one point, in one of the lyrics and I was like, ‘he’s
not really a robot.’ So we switched it up. But yeah, ‘Switch,’
(laugh) it’s exactly what I pictured for the movie and they really
wanted me to do a song for it. It was kind of perfect.
AGW: Do you
like your summer wardrobe in the film? Keep any of it? Not that there
were a lot of clothes.
Ashley: Yeah
(laugh). We were not actually allowed to keep the clothes but I stole
the bra at the end. It was a really good bra! I got to keep the rings,
actually, the jewelry, so that was really cool!
AGW: We've
asked you before but everybody is interested. In the movie you’re
blond but you are back to darker now. Talk about the hair change.
Ashley: Bethany
was actually more middle blonde. It's a weird different color. I went
right back to platinum blond after this movie for Sharpay. I think for
every character, I visualize them a different way and it depends on their
hair color but this is my original hair color. And now that I’m
not at Disney anymore I just wanted to go back to the dark hair for a
while.
AGW: You did
a guest spot on ‘Suite Life on Deck.’ Any plans to reprise
that role?
Ashley: No,
no, that was just fun, obviously, to go back for an episode as Maddie
but I’ve been really crazy busy since then so I really haven’t
had time. I’m still crazy busy so…I mean, I see the cast all
the time. Brenda comes over. We go out to dinner with the boys a lot.
So it’s really cool.
AGW: Want
to do more stage? You did musicals when you were younger.
Ashley: I
did plays growing up. I did ‘Les Miserables’ on the national
tour when I was 8. Maybe one day I’ll go back to it. But I want
to do more movies just because I think I haven’t really grasped
it yet.
AGW: Will
you be touring with your album?
Ashley: Yeah
I hope to. It just depends on scheduling with other movies. I’ll
probably go to Europe first because the album was released there first.
And then probably do some around the U.S.
all uncredited
pictures courtesy of and copyright 20th Century Fox, 2009
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