TRENDING

First appearing in Cheaper by the Dozen, Alyson Stoner has continued to climb the ladder of fame. Dancing with Channing Tatum in Step Up and singing with the Jonas Brothers in Camp Rock, Alyson is now releasing her own movie to DVD called Alice Upside Down (costarring HSM’s Lucas Grabeel!). We were able to catch up to one very busy Alyson for a chat about working on Camp Rock, the excitement of releasing her own movie and her future musical plans. 
 
 
GL:  Can you tell us a little bit about the movie Alice Upside Down?
Alyson: Alice Upside Down is actually based on a book by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  It follows a young girl through her tween and teen stages as she tried to develop and find her way. She’s doing this without a mom because her mom passed away. Her dad is also relocating the family and throwing all these curveballs at her. So it’s just dealing with all the changes going on and it’s really a heartfelt movie.
 
GL:  What are some of the things your character has to go through?
Alyson: Well, the move is a big one and then she’s forced to deal with the uncooperative teacher. She really wants to be in the musical theater play, but she doesn’t get the part she wants. It’s also really hard for her to open up and make friends because she is constantly afraid of moving away again. 

GL:  The movie sounds like something a lot of girls can relate to.
Alyson: It is because there’s a lot of twist and turns, but there’s also a lot of great moments that you’re really rooting for the character and you just want to see her succeed so badly. It’s all about the balance of growing up.
 
GL: You were also in Camp Rock. Tell us a little bit about your experience there?
Alyson: We trained two weeks prior with dance rehearsals. Since my character’s an aspiring music producer, I’m behind the microphone a lot and I don’t have to sing ’til the final where every character sings. So, it was fairly simple for me. Off-set I actually pursued singing more. Since they were all such great singers, they helped me out with my voice. It was a double positive thing for me to do because I was working, but I was also learning and developing off-set.
 
GL:  So you guys did a lot of things together on set?
Alyson: Well, the set was in the middle of nowhere. So, it was definitely a bonding experience because we had nothing else to do. There was no phone service or Internet except for in the lobby so every night everyone was there, and we would go to dinner together every single night. We had dance parties every night, we went golfing and we played tennis. We were just a bunch of friends having a great time.
 
GL: You’re obviously musical with such a crazy dance background. Do musical talents come easily to you?
Alyson: I’m not going to say that I’m some musical genius, but I’ve always loved music. I act like I’m 50, like “Oh yeah, I’ve been writing forever”!  But I’m not necessarily just born with a gift, I’m born with determination. So, I work really hard to get to the level that I’m at.
 
—Amanda Forr and Lauren Linhard

WANNA WIN? Ten lucky ladies will win their very own copy of Alyson's new DVD Alice Upside Down. CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

8/8/2008 10:15:00 AM