Janel Parrish

So how did you get into acting?
I got into acting when I was really little, I was in Hawaii and I was about five, and the Phantom of the Opera Musical came to Hawaii, and I remember seeing it and telling my dad that I wanted to be on stage. So it kind of started out with me being on Broadway, the theater was always my first love, and then acting came from that

So do you prefer theater or movies?
Both, I actually like both, but I definitely would love to get back to musical theater.

What are the best and worst parts of the entertainment business in your opinion?
The best is that it is something I love to do. I’m very passionate about it, I love being able to sing and dance and making people smile. But one of the worst parts of it is that it is a very competitive business. You always have to believe in yourself and not let it get to you.

What future projects can we expect you in?
Right now I’m going to be working on my record, I’m signed with Geffen Records and it’s going to come out sometime next year, and anything else that comes my way.

So you’re a singer and an actress?
Yes I am both a singer and an actress.

Do you prefer one?
No, I definitely can’t see myself without the other. A musical movie or something would be amazing.

Who’s the coolest celeb you’ve met?
I’ve recently met Kristen Stewart at an audition and I absolutely love her.

Who do you most want to work with?
Edward Norton is my favorite actor. I would die if I worked with him.

Have you ever had any embarrassing moments with fans?
It’s always kind of embarrassing when you’re signing an autograph and you spell the person’s name wrong, and they always continually try to tell you how to spell it, but you’re overwhelmed with all these names that you continuously spell it wrong.

How do you balance your acting career and your regular life?
Well during the week I’m always doing auditions, writing, dance classes and all that. So I usually try to just work hard during the week and then kind of play on the weekend with my friends. So I keep it balanced, I separate my work from my play life.

But does it ever get overwhelming to the point that you don’t have any time to yourself?
Sometimes, when were travelling with Bratz, we were travelling to meet all the fans and everything, so we were really busy doing that, so when the weekends I’d just sleep.

Do you get bothered if you read bad things about yourself in the media?
I think everybody does, you know. No one likes to hear bad things about themselves, but you kind of have to brush it off and know that it’s just people talking and you just have to believe in yourself.

What’s the key thing to success in your opinion?
Confidence; believe in yourself and not let any rejections get to you, because sometimes you’ll be going out for a part and you won’t get it, but you always have to take from that learn from it and just move on to the next thing.

What would be your ideal role in a movie or in the theater?
Miss Saigon is a Broadway musical and if they ever brought that to the big screen as movie musical, my ideal role would be to play, Kim, who’s the main character.

What was your best moment during the filming of Bratz?
Probably filming the talent show, just because it was everything I’ve always worked for, the acting, sing and dancing all together. It was amazing; I got to singing and dancing all day for two days.

Were there any bad moments?
No, absolutely not. It was the best set ever, with the best people, so I enjoyed every single moment.

Did you have to wake up early?
I did, yeah, maybe that was the only downside, but I woke up happy to work. The earliest I had to wake once was like three in the morning.

Did you sleep at all then?
Yeah.

Janel Parrish

Any embarrassing moments on set?
I think right after the food fight. We had this huge food fight, we were covered in Spaghetti, pie and we smelled horrible and we had lunch like that and nobody wanted to set next to us.

I think I can understand why. Did you have a crush on someone on set?
We were all just really good friends, so actually no. It was a very undramatic set, there were no crushes, and we were all just one big happy family.

That’s probably better, less drama.
Its way better, no distractions.

Who was your favorite person to work with on Bratz?
I could never choose one, they were all amazing people. I made such good friends on that movie.

Which was your favorite scene to film, I’m guessing the talent show?
It would have to be the food fight actually. It was extremely fun. For two days just throwing food at each other. It was awesome.

A child’s dream: a food fight.
Exactly and you had like adults encouraging you, “hit her in the face.” It was fun.

If you could change something about Bratz, what would you change?
We’d all have super powers.

What super power would you have?
I’d like to be able to fly, that would be awesome.

Ah, yes. I think flying would be amazing, and teleporting. Being wherever you want, whenever you want.
Absolutely.

What’s your favorite food?
Pepperoni pizza, I can eat a whole large one by myself.

What about your favorite soda?
Gotta go with Coca-Cola, it’s a classic.

Candy?
Well I’m from Hawaii, so Hawaiian candy is the best. We have this gummy candy with this powder on it called li hing powder and my grandma frequently sends me packages of it, I can’t get enough.

No coconuts for you?
I’m not a big coconut fan.

You’re Hawaiian and don’t like coconuts, now that peculiar?
Sometimes I’ve had a full coconut where you just eat the meat from it and I don’t really like it that much.

It has a peculiar taste, I guess.
Yeah.

So if you’re from Hawaii, how did you end up in Los Angeles?
About five years ago my parents decided that if this was what I really wanted to do then they’d move here for me.

Favorite ice cream?
Cookies and Cream.

Your favorite TV show?
Right now it’d have to be “Heroes” and “Lost.” I love “Lost.”

Your favorite website?
Facebook.

It’s so addictive.
Very addictive, it’s really bad.

Your favorite book, if you like to read.
I do, I love reading. Right now I’m reading the “Twilight” books. I am absolutely addicted to it. I’m on the third book right now, but Stephanie Meyers is my hero.

Eclipse is the best book; you’re going to love it.
I’m on the third chapter and I’m already biting my nails.

What’s your favorite movie?
I would have to say Moulin Rouge. Well it’s a tie between Moulin Rouge and Rent, because I just love musicals.

Your favorite singer or band?
Right now I love this band that no one seems to know about called This World Fair. No one seems to know who they are but they sang on the Disturbia Soundtrack. So I’m love with them.

What kind of music is it?
It’s hard to explain, they’re a band and they have strings, piano, guitar. It’s just really beautiful music. It’s kind of alternative, but leaning more towards pop.

Your favorite restaurant?
I love pie. I usually have pie at least twice a week and there’s this pie restaurant near my house that I love.

What’s Hawaiian food like?
We have this thing called Kalua Pig, which is so good. It’s kind of like shredded pork smoked.

What’s your favorite vacation spot?
Italy was beautiful, I would choose Italy.

I’m surprised you didn’t say Hawaii.
Hawaii is my home still; I go back once or twice a year.

What’s the last dream you had?
My friends always tease me because I always seem to remember my dreams and they can’t. In my dreams I’m always flying, it’s like my mode of transportation. But I was flying through the jungle with my mom and then it like morphed into my old house in Hawaii randomly. I always have weird dreams I don’t understand.

Maybe you should get that flying thing checked out; maybe it means you’re going to fly in the future. What’s the last movie you saw?
Last night my dad made me sit through Live Free, Die Hard.

Do you like those kinds of movies?
I’m not particularly an action fan, unless it has love in it, because I love romances. I’ll watch something that has action in it as long as it has a love story and there really wasn’t a love story.

What’s the last song you heard?
The last song I heard is actually my favorite song right now called “Beautiful Disaster” by John Mclaughlin.

What was the last book you read?
New Moon by Stephanie Meyers

The last person you talked to?
My manager.

The last thing you wrote down?
A song that I’m writing right now.

When can we expect a CD?
Sometime next year, I’m currently writing right now.

So do you write your own songs, or do songs someone has already written?
Mostly I write my own songs, but I’ll be co-writing with some people as well.

Do you have a music MySpace or somewhere people can listen to your songs?
I don’t have a music MySpace, but they can pick up the Bratz CD which has my song on it. My song is also on iTunes and it’s called “Rainy Day.”

What do you look for in a guy?
I look for somebody who’s down to earth, makes me laugh, adventurous and very loyal.

Are you currently single?
Oh yes. Boys are a little disappointing right now.

Yeah, I think it’s easier to just concentrate on your work right now without any distractions.
Absolutely.

Describe your ideal date.
I like to do really fun things on dates, because it’s really important to me that a guy has a sense of fun. So I’d say somewhere fun like Disneyland or something.

Who would be your perfect date or celeb crush?
I have a celebrity crush on Brandon Routh, who plays the new Superman. He’s like the most beautiful person in the world. I saw him in person at a premiere and I almost died, because he is so beautiful.

Describe your style.
It’s kind of weird, but my style sort of changes every day. I have no distinct style; I’ll just wake up in the morning and just decide that today I want to dress girly.

Your wardrobe must be full of different clothes then.
It is I like really different stores and little boutiques.

So what’s your favorite store?
I don’t think you can ever go wrong with Forever21.

Have you ever had any fashion disasters?
My dad tells me I secretly mismatch things, I wear colors that don’t match together, but I never really notice.

Do you have any beauty tips to share with teenagers?
I believe the more natural the makeup, the better. I’m a big fan of mascara, I’m not a big fan of eyeliner, and I think it looks a bit fake. It kind of tampers with the shape of your eye, but I love mascara because it opens up your eyes a little bit.

Do you prefer colored or plain mascara?
Plain.

Describe yourself in three words.
Passionate, feisty and weird.

How about unique, that might sound a bit better. If you were a superhero, who would you be?
I would be superman, so that I could have all of his super powers.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I would go to Spain, because my sister’s been there and said it beautiful and I always wanted to go.

Do you take any foreign languages?
I took Spanish when I was little, don’t remember any of it. I took Japanese in Elementary school, don’t remember any of it.

So what are your hobbies, apart from acting and singing?
Anything fun, I like to hang out with my friends. I like to go hiking. I love nature, going to the beach. Amusement parks, me and my sister always go to amusement parks and ride the rollercoaster’s.

Describe a typical day in your life.
It’s kind of different from day to day, but it usually consists of any auditions that I might have, studying music, going to dance classes, acting classes, voice lessons just working on my skills.

Oh, you dance?
Yeah.

That’s awesome, what kind of dancing do you do?
I’ve done every kind of dance since I was like six; I started out in ballet, then jazz, hip-hop. I did the hula for a little while.

So which dance do you prefer?
I’m a big fan of hip-hop and lyrical jazz.

Assuming you had food and water, if you were stuck on a deserted island with only three things, what would they be and why?
My laptop, because I could communicate with all my friends around the world and find out what’s going on in the world.

And have Facebook?
Assuming there is internet connection on the island. My sister because she’s like my best friend in the world, and a dog so that I could have a companion.

Are you an animal lover?
Yeah, I’m a huge animal lover.

Do you have any pets?
I do, I have a golden retriever dog.

They’re the cutest dogs ever.
Yeah I grew up with golden retrievers, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to always have one.

What are your concerns for the world?
Well obviously the war is going on, but right now pollution and everything that’s happening with Global Warning.

Tell me a random fact about you that nobody knows.
I played with Barbie’s until I was 14. And I still have them somewhere, but now Bratz has taken precedence of course. And now I play with Bratz.

How can fans contact you?
At my MySpace, I check it every single day; I try to respond to every message. And it’s http://www.myspace.com/janelparrish