Daniela does a great job in this Lifetime movie. Anyone
who's seen her in her other roles, like playing Charlie
Sheen's daughter on "Anger Management", knows what a
talented young actress she is! She was very sweet on our
interview.
Here is the our interview. I hope you
enjoy it!
If the audio is not streaming well, please right-click on
this link and save it to your computer. It should work
better that way!
1. So tell us about this movie and your role in it.
It's called "The Cheating Pact," and it'll be on Lifetime
at 8 p.m. on Saturday. It's about three kids in high school
who are all getting pressured to do well on a college
entrance exam. It's from themselves wanting to get into a
particular school or their parents pressuring them to get
into a good college or, in my case, not having enough money,
and therefore, needing a scholarship. So we're all under
severe pressure, and we take it and we don't do very well
the first time. So, for the second time, we actually come up
with a pact to hire a nerdy student, one of our fellow
classmates, to take the test for us, and things do not go
very well at all. So the whole movie is about our
consequences. I don't want to say too much, but it's
definitely a thriller. Your heart will be pounding, and it's
so realistic, that it's scary.
2. How did you get the role; what was the audition
process like?
I went in once, and I met with the director and the
casting director. We basically did a few scenes from the
movie. I think it was one talking to my mom, and another
talking to my best friend, Kylie. We read them together, and
the director gave me a few notes. We talked a little bit.
Then a week later, I got a phone call.
3. Have you personally known people who cheated in
school?
I knew that kids at my school had done it, but it was
never my friends, and I didn't experience it first hand, but
it happens absolutely everywhere. During my research for
this movie, we found out that there's been cheating in
almost every state. Not only in the US, but in Canada,
everywhere, everywhere. It's way too common. With all the
pressure, kids feel that it's their only hope. If their
friends are doing it, and you need it, too, it's hard to say
no.
4. Do you think some teens today get too much pressure
from their parents to do well on tests and get into college?
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. It's always questions: what college
did you get into, what college did you apply to, what did
you get on your SAT? The questions are overwhelming. It
would be scary enough as it is if other people weren't
asking, so you only have your own pressure, but you have
everyone, even on media, everyone saying, "I got into here.
Oh, well, where did you get into?"
5. It seems like Heather got peer pressure from her
friend Kylie as well as feeling academic pressure. Have you
experienced that kind of peer pressure or seen it in your
friends?
I did. I definitely did. Not through middle school, but
in high school, for sure. It's not only difficult to deal
with, but it's also difficult to remove yourself. Even if
you are mature, the people who are pressuring you are
usually the smartest, just like Kylie was, so it's hard to
reason with them, because they're extremely manipulative.
6. Heather is sort of the heroine of the movie because
she seems to be a good person that gets caught up in
something she doesn't expect. Do you view her that way?
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, and that's why I absolutely
fell in love with the part. I believe it carries a really
strong message that you can be the good kid, but you can
easily just by one choice get pulled into something like
what happens on the movie.
7. What kind of preparation did you do for the role?
We did research on cheating and what it takes to get
different scores. I'm from Canada, so I didn't take the SAT,
but I took the version that they have there of it, and it's
crazy. Everything that goes into it. I just really put
myself into that place, and knowing that not only is Heather
feeling pressure from her friends, but it also makes sense
everything that Kylie was saying. Like I do need a good
score, and maybe this is the way, and how you can get
brainwashed into believing that it's the right thing.
8. You're 20 and playing a teenager. Is it fun getting
to go "back to school" in roles like this?
Yeah, it really is. I mean, on "Anger Management" I
actually started playing out 13, so throughout these past
few years, I've been going back a few years, and it's so
much fun. It's easier 'cause you have memories to pull from,
you've been there before, and it's nice to get out good
messages such as this one, coming from experience. I think
they did a great job in this movie, specifically, in that
they put on just the right amount of makeup -- the heavy
eyeliner that most high-schoolers wear. Yeah, it's all very
dependent on the hair and makeup and the wardrobe, as well.
9. You and the other girls seemed to have a great
chemistry. Did you all hang out and get along well?
Yeah, we definitely did, plus the casting was so spot on,
in the sense that we all believed that we could really be in
those positions. It was so realistic and the chemistry just
came completely naturally.
10. Are you staying in touch with them?
Yeah, we are. We actually are all getting together to
watch it on Saturday, so that'll be really nice to see
everyone.
11. Where did you shoot the movie and how long did it
take?
It took about three weeks. We shot it all around LA. We
went all the way from Viola to up by Six Flags for a few
days. We went everywhere, and by Dodger Stadium, all
different kinds of locations. I definitely got to explore
different parts of LA.
12. I enjoy "Anger Management" a lot. Are you shooting
the next season on that yet?
Yeah. I mean, we're not really divided into seasons.
We're on Episode 56 out of 100, so we're well on our way,
and we're not airing in order, so we're only a few episodes
behind shooting live, but we're definitely trying to get all
the 100 up by next year. It's fantastic. It's a lot of work,
but it's really rewarding to see what you shoot. It's such a
fast turn around, and the characters really develop, and
you're growing up really fast on the show, which is so much
fun.
13. Did you have to do research to play an OCD teen?
I did, and I actually went too overboard, 'cause I picked
up some of those things that we do. It's crazy what a lot of
research I did just to audition, and I ended up talking to
the writers beforehand to see exactly what they wanted, and
they ended up toning it down from what I originally had
prepared, but I kept some of the routines, things that OCD
people do, like I can't leave my house without checking my
doors three times at least. Yeah, it was really interesting.
I love playing a part where you have to do the research, and
you really are held accountable, not necessarily by the
viewers, but it's your responsibility to be honest and true
to everything.
14. How is it working with the "new girl" Laura Bell
Bundy (or have you worked with her yet)?
I haven't had a scene with her, but I've met her, and I
am such a fan of hers. I'm a big Broadway girl at heart, so
I was obsessed with her in "Legally Blonde" and I definitely
made sure to tell her as soon as I met her.
15. Do you get more to do the upcoming episodes?
There have been a few episodes that have been all about
Charlie and the family is not really in them, but
afterwards, there's been talk that my character gets a
boyfriend, so that's definitely going to spice things up
with Charlie, which I'm really excited for. It really is fun
working with him. He's such a great guy and he makes sure we
have the best working environment possible. That's one of
the nicest sets I've ever worked on.
16. Anything else you can tell us about the upcoming
episodes of that show?
Yeah, Charlie is gonna be Charlie and so on, with no
censorship whatsoever. Well, a little bit, but it's FX, so
things are about to get spicy. He throws some crazy parties,
some of which have just aired, but the crazy just keeps on
coming. They are really catering to Charlie now, so it's
about to get crazy.
17. Have you learned a lot from him?
Oh, absolutely. I watch his scenes, even if I'm not in
them. With Charlie, you really just have to be super natural
as long as you know your lines. He just makes it look so
easy, but if you watch him, you can see his tricks. He knows
his timing, and now it comes easy to him. I mean, he learned
from Martin, who's also on our show, and he's amazing to
watch, as well. Whatever you see them on the show, that's
exactly how they are in real life, which I think makes it
even more special.
17. Any other future projects you have coming up?
Not yet, but hopefully so. The show is keeping me super
busy
18. What else would you like to say to your fans?
Thank you so much for watching the movie, and I hope you
enjoy it.
Link to our
review of the movie
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