Interview: Bella Thorne Gets ‘Blended’ in New Adam Sandler Movie

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – Standing out among the crowd of young actors is a daunting task, but Bella Thorne is up to the challenge, portraying Adam Sandler’s teenage daughter in the new film “Blended,” which also features Drew Barrymore. In addition, the 16 year old actress has conquered series TV, having starred in Disney Channel’s “Shake it Up.”

Bella Thorne Accesses Her Inner Tomboy, with Adam Sandler in ‘Blended’
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Annabelle Avery “Bella” Thorne was born in Florida, and first dipped her toe in show business as a child and teen model. After expanding into acting, Thorne got her first big break in the TV series “My Own Worst Enemy” (2008). After doing some independent films, she got the lead in the Disney Channel series, “Shake it Up,” portraying CeCe Jones. Art imitated life for that show, because Thorne’s character had dyslexia, a condition that Thorne herself has in real life. That hasn’t stopped the ambitious actress from signing a recording contract with Hollywood Records, writing a young adult series of books entitled “Autumn Falls” and co-starring with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in “Blended.”

Bella Thorne was in Chicago on May 16th on a promotional tour for the film. She talked with HollywoodChicago.com about working on “Blended,” and her various multi-media experiences.

HollywoodChicago.com: What did the production team of ‘Blended’ do to make the movie set comfortable for you and the journey of your character Hilary?

Bella Thorne: They were awesome. I worked with very talented people like Adam and Drew – they just kept the set positive and with a good vibe. Plus all of Adam’s producers are just nice people, and they’re all his college buddies. They are always joking around like teenagers, so the set was really funny.

HollywoodChicago.com: One of the elements of Hilary is that she has a hidden glamorous side that is waiting to come out. Did you think in reality you were more in touch with Hilary before she went glamorous or after?

Thorne: Probably before, because at heart I’m a tomboy, but obviously I don’t have the haircut that she had, and I don’t wear track suits. [laughs] But I’m definitely more of a tomboy than a girly girl. I used to be a more of a girly girl, but I’ve gotten so lazy that I decided to become a tomboy.

HollywoodChicago.com: Drew Barrymore also started her career very young. Did she have any specific advice for you regarding your career path from young child actor to teen to hopefully adult roles?

Thorne: She didn’t have to give me any direct advice. She is just somebody to observe and learn from – she walks onto the set and gives everybody a hug, even if it’s 5:30 in the morning. She is always in a beautiful mood. She’s also been on the press tour, even though she just gave birth to her son Frankie. She’s was happy to do it, and she emphasizes that both of her kids are healthy, what does she have to complain about? She thinks that way, and that makes her a beautiful person.

Transformed: Bella Thorne and Zak Henri in ‘Blended’
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

HollywoodChicago.com: The resort in South Africa was a intriguing way to represent the country. Do you think that representation adds appeal to a potential African trip or does a disservice to the true country, in your opinion?

Thorne: Honestly, it does show how nice Africa can be, but you also have to go and experience the continent with your own eyes. South Africa is an alluring country, and the resort is just part of it. We went into Cape Town for day, and it was gorgeous. However, when we were on location three hours outside of Johannesburg, I wasn’t digging the food. My stomach is sensitive, so I stuck to spaghetti and meatballs. [laughs]

HollywoodChicago.com: You have been in the modeling and acting business, two industries in which the way you look is traded for whatever you’re representing. Since Hilary’s transformation in ‘Blended’ is related to that, how did you see it a parallel in your own life in modeling and show business?

Thorne: It depends on who I’m working with, there are a lot of situations where they’ll make you feel like a product, and sometimes my mother has to remind certain shoots or sets that I’m only 16 years old. She adamant about that, and luckily I have her to stick up for me. The character of HIlary in the film didn’t feel the same way, I pretty much saw her as ‘what you see is what you get,’ because that is me as well. Hilary wants to be a girl in the film because she kept getting mistaken for a boy. She’s just dying to get to the next phase.

HollywoodChicago.com: When you’re doing a Disney sitcom like ‘Shake It Up,’ what are you paying attention as far as being true to the character, even though the purpose of the show is not exactly challenging performance nuance?

Bella Thorne in Chicago, May 16, 2014 Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Thorne: Yes, I definitely felt progress with CeCe. Every project I work on, I’m developing through that character. Every character I’ve played allows me to learn more about myself, and who I am as a person, by putting myself in different situations and in different characters. That is really interesting. I don’t like playing the ‘pretty girl,’ there is not enough depth. I want the opportunity to take a character further.

HollywoodChicago.com: When is your first novel coming out? What inspired you to write ‘Autumn Falls,’ and what will the series of books be about?

Thorne: The first book comes out November 11th. There are three books in the series, and they will be published by Random House. The series is about a girl named Autumn Falls, who moves to Miami after her father passes away. In Florida, she doesn’t fit in, she is very pale and has red frizzy hair – in a place where everyone is blonde and tan. Her Dad leaves her a journal to write in during her upcoming high school days, which she thinks is odd.

When she writes in the journal, everything she writes about comes to life. But since she is dyslexic, everything that comes to life is a bit wonky, and backfires on her throughout the series. I wrote it because I’m dyslexic, and wanted to teach people who have the condition that if I can publish three books, nobody can tell them what they can’t do.

HollywoodChicago.com: What do you think people who don’t know the condition of dyslexia will never understand about it?

Thorne: People don’t understand dyslexia whatsoever, it’s very irritating. I’ve been asked if it makes me talk backwards. They can’t grasp the concept that I have difficulty reading. If they can read, why can’t I read? I wrote an episode on ‘Shake it Up’ called ‘Add it Up.’ The character on the show was dyslexic, because I am. But whoever wrote that episode initially got it all wrong, so I rewrote it. I wanted to make sure that any kid who has dyslexia – and struggles with it – could relate to my struggle through that character and in my real life.

HollywoodChicago.com: Since you’re only in your mid-teens and looking to break out even further, was are some of the bummers of the industry that you think might even get more difficult as you become older?

Thorne: I think it will be the press, what they write isn’t that fun. This is fun, this is okay, but when the press try to make you out as somebody you are not, that to me is not fun. The press likes to portray me in a certain way, and they don’t even know me. With the internet, it just gets worse. But I love my fans, and I will be straightforward with them about who I am, I never lie. Luckily I trust that they will know who I am.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com