-We recently had the chance to chat with the adorable Madison Pettis about her new movie Free Style which opens this Friday, October 9th. Find out what it was like working with Corbin Bleu, her upcoming projects, going to public school and more.
What drew you to this project?
Madison: I met Corbin before I started filming and he was so sweet. He was just like a brother to me and a really nice guy. I was really excited when they offered me the role. I saw him in High School Musical so I was a really big fan. But now we’re closer. I always thought we had similar hair and I wanted to play his little sister in a movie and it happened.
Are you similar to your character “Bailey”?
Madison: I think I am. I have an older brother who is two months age difference from Corbin. In the movie, Bailey sort of idolizes Cale and he’s her hero. My brother is in the Army and he’s my hero too. I think it’s the same kind of relationship I have with my brother.
Any funny moments on set?
Madison: It was freezing when we filmed it, so there were a lot of opportunities for snowball fights between takes.
Do you have a favorite scene?
Madison: I think that the relationship between Cale and Bailey is just really really sweet. The brother/sister relationship. I love all the little moments like when she comes in after Cale and our mom have a little fight. And she just [peeks around the corner] and he goes “c’mon” and he already know what she wants. She just wants to snuggle with him and she just tells him she loves him. It’s just a really sweet relationship and all those little moments are really sweet. You can see the clip below.
Did working on this movie make you want to take up any extreme sports?
Madison: I’m not athletic. I like dance, I have good rhythm, but I’m not athletic at all. I think doing motocross would be a little too extreme for me.
Did you get to try it?
Madison: Nooo. The bike weighs like 250 pounds. Corbin was wheeling it up the hill and I was like, “How heavy is that?” He was like, “It’s really heavy.” I said “you make it look easy” He was like here and leaned the bike on me. It was way too heavy.
The movie actually deals with some heavy issues that viewers might be surprised about. Can you talk about those?
Madison: I think that’s what makes the movie so relatable is that it has all issues in it. It’s not just motocross because it’s not a very common sport. I think that part of the issues of how the family is black and white and she’s asking why are people saying I look different. Or that their parents are divorced or struggling or that he is the man of the house. It has a lot of different storylines that are relatable. I think that’s what makes this a good movie and people can relate to Corbin.
Any pranks on set?
Madison: I’m not the biggest prankster. I’ve taken some lessons from my brother. I think it was mostly just dropping snowballs on each other’s big giant coats. Corbin was pretty good at it. He’d get chunks of ice and just drop them on us. That was [laughs].
What was it like working with Penelope Ann Miller?
Madison: Penelope is very sweet. She’s such a talented actress and experienced. She really helped me a lot during the movie. She helped me learn. I’m young and still learning so I really appreciated her help. She’s so sweet.
Is there anyone you’d like to work with in the future?
Madison: I’d love to work with Reese Witherspoon. I think she’s such a great actress. She can do comedy, she can do drama. She’s won an Academy Award. She’s funny and beautiful. I’d really love to work with her one day.
The film shot in 21 days, which is very short. Did you find any challenges in that?
Madison: I don’t think so. I think the whole cast was really close so we would have loved for it to be longer. We all spent so much time together. It was a small town, a small amount of time we had to film it, so we all became close in the short amount of time it did take to film it. We actually did go back to Canada after and filmed more scenes.
Any favorite outfits from the movie?
Madison: I liked the ones that were warm. [laughs] That had lots of layers and heat packets stuffed in them.
Was there a turning point in your life when you decided you wanted to become an actress?
Madison: I was 5, so I don’t really remember a turning point. I think I just kind of liked it. [laughs] I’ve been dancing since I was 4, performing since I was 4. So, I think I just loved it.
Any upcoming projects?
Madison: I have episodes of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” airing on CMT. Monday through Friday, two episodes a night. I’m also on the new Playhouse Disney Channel show called “Team Pirates.” It’s animated. I’ll be a regular on that. It’s a little girl pirate and she’s in a group of all boy pirates. It’s really cute.
What do your friends think of you being an actress?
Madison: I go to regular school. I’m in middle school now so a lot of the 8th grade boys have been excited. They go, “Hey it’s the Game Plan girl.” That’s my nickname now. I’m the cool 6th grader named “The Game Plan Girl.” All my friends are excited too. They all love Corbin and he’s such a sweet guy. He’s met some of them. He takes the time to meet every fan. He makes you feel like you’re the most important person at that moment. I was excited too.
What are you studying that you like?
Madison: I love creative writing. That is probably my favorite. But I’m also good at math so I like it because I’m good at it.
Did Corbin tell you any funny HSM stories?
Madison: When you work with him every day, you being to not think of him as Chad, you think of him as Corbin. I was trying not to be like a starstruck fan every second. We mainly talked about funny stuff with him. Many people don’t know that he likes to do funny voices. He does “I’m cookie monster Corbin” and Elmo voices. We talk about Spongebob. He’s such a goofball.
Any message for the fans?
Madison: Go see the movie. And thank you of course. Follow me on twitter: madisonpettis22. I think that this movie is really relatable. It has a lot of genres put together in one. It has drama, it has action, it has comedy, it has romance. I think that everyone has a little genre that they are more favorable to. I think it has all of it so go see it. =)
Any advice for girls that want to get into acting?
Madison: Acting is hard. It’s challenging. A lot of kids don’t realize it’s not just standing in front of a camera. It has a lot more to it. I think taking acting lessons. I stil ltake them. There’s so much to learn and I’ve been taking them since I was 5. Just have fun. I love acting but if you don’t love it, it’s hard work and it’s not fun. Make sure you love it, take acting lessons and stay with it.
Be sure to go see Free Style when it hits theaters October 9th.
