|
Drake Bell: Life after "Drake and Josh"
By Michelle
Drake on the red carpet at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards |
Drake Bell has been busy since the last time he was featured in Portrait Magazine (read the article here). The 22 year-old actor and musician has been hard at work on movies, his third album, and has been touring around the U.S. doing various concerts. He also had major roles in two movies and recorded songs for a few soundtracks. "I just want to be happy and make other people happy," says Drake. "That's why I play music and act. I love all aspects of entertainment, playing music live, doing movies. Probably when you have a live audience on television is the coolest. You get the reactions to your jokes and see how people are responding."
Drake at the 2008 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards |
After Drake released his sophomore album "It's Only Time" in 2007, he went on tour with sisters Aly & AJ and High School Musical star Corbin Bleu. On October 16, iTunes released a Radio Disney version of his song "Makes Me Happy" off of this same album. "Fool the World" was also popular, making it Drake's third single off of "It's Only Time". Drake also won a "Favorite TV Actor" Kids' Choice Award for his role in the TV show "Drake & Josh". He also co-produced and starred in his TV movie "Drake & Josh: Really Big Shrimp". He also managed to co-write and sing the theme song for the TV show "iCarly", which stars Miranda Cosgrove, his co-star from "Drake & Josh". The two sang the song "Leave it All To Me", which was later put on the "iCarly" soundtrack.
Drake presenting with Sophia Bush at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards |
2008 has been a busy year for Drake too. On May 24, the official music video for "Leave it All To Me" aired, and Drake starred in the video along with the cast of "iCarly". Drake also had a lead role in the movie Superhero Movie which was released on March 28, playing character Rick Riker. He and co-star Sara Paxton recorded the theme song for the movie, titled "Superhero! Song". Drake also won another "Favorite TV Actor" Kids' Choice Award for "Drake & Josh", making it his third consecutive year winning the award. He also won a "Favorite International Artist" Kids' Choice Award at the Kids' Choice Awards in Brazil. Recently, Drake also won the “Choice Movie: Breakout Male” award at the Teen Choice Awards in August. He is also planning to go on tour in Mexico in mid-October.
Drake Bell and Melissa Baldwin at the Nickelodeon's 2008 Kids' Choice Awards |
Drake has just finished filming his role in the movie The Nutty Professor 2: Facing the Fear, and is currently filming his TV movie Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh. "‘Merry Christmas Drake and Josh’ [is] going to be airing in December," says Drake. "It's awesome. We've been done [with the show] for two and a half years so to actually be back together with everyone is like a high school or family reunion." It is also rumored that he will be filming another “Drake & Josh” TV movie, Drake & Josh in New York!. Drake’s movie College hit theaters on August 29, 2008. He played character Kevin Brewer. You can catch Drake in the movie Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare voicing character Butch Hare. It will be released to DVD on September 9, 2008. The movie “puts a modern twist on the classic Tortoise and the Hare story with help from a voice cast that includes Jay Leno, Danny Glover, Vivica A. Fox, Keke Palmer, and of course Drake Bell”.
Drake Bell and Ryan Hansen at the Superhero Movie Premier |
Drake’s third album is scheduled to be released in the spring of 2009. He has already performed two of the songs from this album, one called "She's On Her Own", and another one which is untitled, but it is commonly known as "All Alone at the Disco". "I'm working on a new record right now for Universal…and we're doing some songs for the Drake and Josh movie," Drake says. "It's kind of a conceptual double album. The first record is kind of like…a 1960's Pan Am flight with all this cool orchestral music and if there is turbulence on the flight, there will be a cool rock and roll song or if there's a special thing we're going through then you'll hear like Mr. Kite type music. And the other side is all about the sea. It's a story…where a guy leaves his girl in a town and goes off to sea and crashes on an island and all these legends come back about him becoming this great pirate and ruling the seas. She thinks 'Oh, man. He left me!' and really he's just on this island trying to get back to her so it's this back and forth love story about love lost and all that." Is it autobiographical? "I’m not the Zack Morris cool guy who gets all the ladies," Drake laughs. "I’m much more mellow."
Drake Visiting TRL on March 18th |
Drake also has some dating advice for girls on how to make a move. "Eye contact is key," he says. "If you’re looking at a guy from across the room and you smile, he’s obviously going to say hey. It’s charming and is shows that you have confidence in yourself, which says a lot about someone. Sometimes I feel like we have a whole generation of Chihuahua-carrying, big sunglasses-wearing girls who are aloof all the time. But you should be more genuine and true—stop and take the time to say hi."
|
