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Using Social Media for Good: A Conversation with Bella Thorne


The DUFF
06 April 2015

Bianca is a content high school senior whose world is shattered when she learns the student body knows her as ‘The DUFF’ (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) to her prettier, more popular friends. Now, despite the words of caution from her favourite teacher, she puts aside the potential distraction of her crush, Toby, and enlists Wesley, a slick but charming jock, to help reinvent herself. To save her senior year from turning into a total disaster, Bianca must find the confidence to overthrow the school’s ruthless label maker Madison and remind everyone that no matter what people look or act like, we are all someone’s DUFF.

The Fan Carpet’s Melanie Crossey in association with ActingHour sat down with Bella Thorne ahead of the release of The DUFF, Bella tells us about her initial audition, her relationship with Snap Chat and using Social Media for good…

 

 

What was it about The DUFF, that first appealed to you?

I like comedy, I hadn’t read a script in a long time that was so funny. Te dialogue, it’s hard when you read a script, usually a lot of the comedy comes when you’re in the moment doing it, acting, physical comedy and everything like that.

In the script there was no physical comedy or anything like that, it’s just in the writing that’s just naturally funny. One of the funniest parts that I read was where she (Bianca) pulls up and she’s feeling all bad ass and she parks in-between these two really nice cars and she says ‘even my car is a DUFF. [laughs]

 

Did you originally audition for the part of Madison or did you go up for different roles?

I auditioned for Bianca, that’s who I wanted, Ari loved me but he said I was not going to be Bianca and so he asked me to look at a different character and he gave me Madison.

 

After looking at Madison, was there anything in particular that you liked about her?

Just the fact that I can make today’s mean girl different from what everyone else thinks of a mean girl, as like the dumb, ditzy blonde with the big boobs and the pretty face that’s kind of all they think of her so I made her very different.

 

You could really feel the insecurities, I think that was quite important, you can see that she’s not just mean…

Thank you, there was another part that they cut out of the movie which I wish was in there because it kind of shows that more, made her alittle more likeable  I think the problem with Madison is that I’m so unlikeable in the film, because I’m just so mean the whole time. Like everybody else has their moment in the sun and my character doesn’t; she’s just so mean. [laughs].

 

You said you’re character is so different, but did you look at any mean girls from the past for inspiration?

The main inspiration was Rose McGowan from Jawbreaker, I thought that that was the closest to my character. All the others, you know like Regina George – people compare my character to her a lot, but she’s really not like her. Regina George is nice to your face and bad behind your back and that’s not my character, she’s just mean.

 

Was there anyone in real life that you based Madison on?

There’s someone, I can’t tell you her name though, she hates me for no reason, I literally have no idea why she hates me, I’ve only talked to her once in my life but she hates me with a passion, no idea why.

 

When watching it, it felt like the teen movies were back with a bang, did you think when making it, that you had something special on your hands?

Oh yeah, no, even just reading the script we knew we had something special on our hands, We just took that we’ all be good enough to cut it together and make sure that it came out well. When you film a comedy, it’s so difficult because you do it so many times and Ari did it every way in the book, if you can think it, we did it. And with comedy, when you do it that many times, it’s like beating a dead horse and it’s really not funny anymore, and there’s no one laughing, you know it’s not funny so it just kind of brings down the whole vibe, it’s difficult to keep that momentum, and so when I watched the film, I was like ‘this is really good!’ [laughs]

Just from our DP to our Editor, to Ari, even our actors, everyone did a really great job in the film.

 

Obviously there’s been a lot of comparisons to classics, what do you think will make this film stand the test of time?

I think they all had their moment in the sun, each film, and this is hopefully that of our generation. I think where it stands out is because it really talks about labels and films although it’s in there, they don’t really nail it down, they don’t really discuss it, and really don’t get into it, but in our film that’s all that it’s about, every character starts out with a label; we tear it down with each scene, we have the mean jock who ends up being a nice guy and the DUFF who doesn’t turn out to be a DUFF, and you have the best friends who you think would be horrible to Mae and they end up just really loving her and then there’s my character. [laughs]

 

 

The DUFF has some pretty universal themes that stands the test of time, is there the hope that in twenty years time, people will still watch this like they do with The Breakfast Club?

Goodness! I can only hope. I didn’t know what The DUFF was going to do, obviously we knew it was a great film but I had no idea it was going to do this well. I didn’t expect that at all. So I can only hope that we would be compared to these other crazy classics  and hopefully we do stand our ground.

 

I didn’t know what DUFF meant before I saw this, is it a famous expression in America? Did you know what it was?

No, I had no idea what it was, I didn’t know it was a book before I read the script, and basically The DUFF is just a bunch of letters thrown together to make a mean word.

 

You talked about the atmosphere on set, does the narrative inform the atmosphere on set; like when you’re making a comedy does that mean that it is more of a happy set?

No, not true at all. People ask me ‘do we pull pranks on set’ on comedies but really on Horrors you make more jokes so it’s a really different atmosphere – at least the two that I’ve worked on have been so tricking awesome, one time our first AD on Home Invasion was spraying me down with water, it’s snowing out and I’m in little shorts the whole movie because I’m just waking up, and I have to be really sweaty and wet. I’m sick, I had been throwing up all day and he’s spraying me with water and he thinks it’s funny.

They’re putting blood on me and they have the big sugar based blood that comes in a cup and I literally took it and with the paintbrush I went right across his face, all over his face – blood. I like working on Horror because although it’s scary, we’re all like joking and laughing in-between takes, I’m all like crying then laughing and they’re like ‘this girls gonna be emotionally wrecked by the time we’re done.’

 

Touching on Horror, is there anything you can tell us about the Scream TV Series?

It’s gonna be good, it’s gonna be real good! [laughs] Filming Scream was so interesting because I had so much to live up to from Drew, and the scene; it’ll be the most you have seen of me – body wise and I’m wearing a little black bikini the whole time and I have to do these sexy things. And my character is mean… again!

You know her pretty ritual, she walks into the pool and I have to do this whole rope thing and get into the pool and it was very cold, and it just goes down hill from there.

Snap Chat is very big, and how they use Snap Chat to mess with my character is so beyond messed up and because I’m a big Snap Chatter, it really freaked me out!

 

Talking about Social Media, the film showcases how powerful Social Media is today. What do you think of that power? Do you think it’s a positive thing, a negative thing?

It’s really like anything in the World; a knife can be used for cutting or slitting someone’s throat, it really depends on the kind of person you are and what you’re using it for, and your power.

Social Media can be great in the way that we use it, Do Something dot Org uses it to get people involved in charity and find your park and everything like that and you have people that use it for mean and demeaning ways, there’s just nothing we can do about that.

 

Touching on that, because the film does deal with Cyber bullying quite heavily, did you realise that this could be a good educational tool for kids to how the effects that Cyber Bullying has?

Oh yeah, when I read the script that’s why I wanted to do it because I identified with this character; I’ve been bullied growing up, so I understood Bianca and hopefully this movie will change people and make them more aware of what they’re doing.

Although, I’m not really sure it will because I do so many anti bullying campaigns and I’ve visited schools and I’ve talked to kids, I see no difference, I see people getting bullied all the time, I see kids committing suicide from bullying, it’s like we can’t change it, it’s just too bad.

 

You seem to do a lot of campaigning, you have six million Twitter followers, more on Facebook, do you feel you’re in a position with quite a lot of responsibility to set an example to kids across the world?

Yeah, I can definitely set an example, although it’s not my job, I think some people mistake that. A lot of people want to write up about me and why am I doing this or why am I wearing shorts that are high waisted and all that stuff, but people have to remember that although I am doing a bunch of charity work, and I am trying to change the World little by little, I’m still me, I’m still a teenage, I’m still seventeen, I’m still going to make mistakes people, my whole life can’t be about trying to make other people happy, sometimes I have to make myself happy too and I think some people forget that.

 

So Bianca accepts herself really early on in the film and Madison shows a lot of confidence, have you had a moment in your own life where you have just accepted yourself?

Oh yeah finally, when I was growing up I felt the need to constantly please people and constantly felt the need to make people happy, and I really didn’t know who I was, and I wanna say that I’m so happy to say that I do know who I am now and that I’m very comfortable with myself. Before I wasn’t, I was so insecure and everyone put Zendaya and I against each other and battle each other out, when all we wanted to do was be co workers and friends and having someone constantly be pushed against you can give you a lot of insecurities.

Somehow we just worked through that, and somehow after I had got off Shake It Up! I kind of just fell into me, I think that happens when you work so much and by tiring yourself down in a way that you don’t try as much anymore and you end up finding yourself because you’ve stopped trying to impress people, you’re like ‘I’m tired, I’m not gonna do that right now’ and I some how fell into this person.

 

With the success of The DUFF, theres bound to be a sequel, would you return for a sequel?

Gosh, I don’t know if there should be a sequel, yes Hollywood does love sequels, although I think they should just leave it. But if everyone else agreed to do it then I would too, but I think once you have something so good then you could ruin it. But I guess if Mae and Robbie wanted to then I would, but I also don’t want to alway play these mean characters; it’s not what I’m going for.

 

 

Bella Thorne Photos | The DUFF Film Page | The DUFF Review | The DUFF on Facebook and Twitter

THE DUFF IS OUT TODAY COURTESY OF ENTERTAINMENT ONE

 

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