ABC Family’s Q&A Session with Megan Park – A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song

Moderator So the premise of Cinderella is you can't sing and you need to be dubbed sort of

like the movie Singing in the Rain. Do you sing in Cinderella and what's

happening with your band, Frank and Derol, and how did you team with Codi

Caraco and Brandi Cyrus?

M. Park Basically, to make a really, really long story short, Codi was a good friend of

mine who I met through my boyfriend, and she's a really talented musician. She

went to Berkeley School of Music, and we started playing music together. I play

the guitar and I sing. I've been doing that since I was younger and it just sort of

happened, I guess, organically as a friendship, and we were like, maybe we

should start a band for fun, never thinking anybody would ever hear anything

that we did. And so we started Frank and Derol just the two of us and started

playing shows.

And then I was living with Brandi Cyrus at the time, and she's obviously is a

musician as well as so we were like, hey, come play with us, come—you know

she plays guitar so she started playing as well. And then people started really

liking what we were doing, which was cool, and we put some stuff on MySpace

and everything. And then it was kind of crazy because people started

expressing interest in signing the band and all that sort of stuff. So then, once

we got the opportunity to sign it sort of became—for me, acting is my passion

and my main sort of focus and what I really love and music is more of a hobby.

And for Brandi and Codi it was sort of their passion and what they really wanted

to pursue. So we kind of sat down and had a conversation and I was like, well,

why don't you guys try to do the thing, sign and do the band full on, the two of

you and I'll still go hang out with you guys and write when I can and play with

you.

And it just kind of worked out that way for the best because to be honest it

wasn't something that I wanted to commit to fully, to take away from my acting

because it was just sort of a fun hobby. And for them it was what they really

wanted to do so I guess it was sort of fate that I met Codi and then introduced

them, and we all sort of got to do that together. But it worked out for the best

for everybody and they're still my great friends. And it wasn't like one of us left

the band and it was all weird. It was just like, who wants to commit to the time

of this, and it's not that I didn't want to commit. It's just that I didn't want to do

something half-heartedly that I wasn't going to be able to commit to 100% and

my passion is in acting and I really wanted to pursue that. So that's what

happened, basically, with the band.

Moderator You’re no longer with the band or you're still doing things with the band?

M. Park No, officially the band is Codi and Brandi and they're doing the album. And I

sort of play with them and write with them when I can, and some of the songs

that I was originally writing are on the album. But I no longer am a part of the

band.

Moderator About the premise of Cinderella that you can't sing, does that mean that you

don't get to sing in Cinderella?

M. Park I don't get to, which is such a bummer. I have to bad sing. I have to fake sing,

which is actually really hard to purposefully bad sing off key. But, no, I don't get

to sing in Cinderella Story. Maybe I'll get to sing in something else.

Moderator Who did the band sign with?

M. Park They signed with Interscope.

Moderator We really love the character of Grace and we've actually seen a lot of evolution

with her character throughout the season so could you talk about how you feel

that Grace is going to evolve in the future?

M. Park Grace has kind of changed really drastically. And to be honest, this season is

probably one of the seasons where Grace changes the most out of any year.

There's a lot of like new relationships and some really crazy self-awareness

things that happen to her and some major lifestyle changes so it's exciting. And

I don't really know—what happens with our characters and I never really know

what to expect because I've been surprised before. But from the looks of it

Grace is kind of becoming more independent and really, really going in a

different direction than I thought she would ever sort of end up. So my guess is

probably as good as yours. It's kind of a surprise to me as well.

Moderator What's the biggest character difference between your role in this new film and

your role as Grace?

M. Park Playing Beverley and playing Grace are literally complete opposites. Grace is a

very compassionate person and she really wants to please everyone, and Bev is

pretty selfish and just kind of wants to get ahead. I mean they're both really

good people at the heart of it but Beverley is not necessarily the nice girl. So

they're pretty polar opposites, which was really fun to get to do something so

different than Grace. It was kind of fun.

Moderator You were doing the movie with Lucy Hale. What was the experience like and

are the two of you still in contact?

M. Park Yeah, actually I just talked to her yesterday, I think, or the day before. She's

great. We met years before—we actually met in the audition room for Secret

Life, which is so weird. And I guess you're supposed to be competitive, the

people I auditioned with, but we just started chatting and became friends, and

the she ended up doing Pretty Little Liars and I did Secret Life so it's kind of cool.

And she's just really easy going and cool, and when I found out that she was

doing the movie that was one of the main reasons I wanted to be part of it, was

to get a chance to work with her.

And we bonded pretty much within the first ten minutes of the read through the

first day, and never left each other's side. Every day off we would go shopping

in Wilmington and hang out, and that's continued since we've been back in L.A.

She's just a really sweet girl and she's very easy to get along with and we ended

up having a lot in common. And she's just really fun and dorky and goofy like I

am and doesn't take things too seriously so we got along really, really well.

She's a cool girl.

And we both have major online shopping problems and online shopped

together nonstop when we were filming so that was kind of the only bad part,

that we egged each other on with the online shopping.

Moderator For your character Grace, what can we expect in the new season of Secret Life

from your character?

M. Park Grace changes as a person the most this season than any other season. She

really starts questioning like a lot of major things in her life and really wants to

make some serious changes. And she gets confused and she's not really sure

where her life is headed. So it's like a really big personal discovery for Grace

and new relationships, kind of shocking relationships. There's a lot of growth

with Grace. She really grows up this year.

Moderator What similarities and differences did you find between this Cinderella and the

original?

M. Park The original was more sticking with the traditional Cinderella-esque fairytale,

and this one was sort of like a modern day take on it, which I thought was kind

of unique and creative. Obviously there's only one wicked stepsister and it

wasn't keeping with the fairytale. It was sort of a more relatable story to

modern day teens today, which I thought was really cool. And then, making it

about the music, which is another cool aspect, and the music is so great and it's

so pop-y and refreshing. It was just sort of a really refreshing take on the whole

story.

Moderator Did you draw from the stepsisters in the movie or is there another villain that

you got inspiration from?

M. Park I talked to the director about whether I should draw upon the original stepsister

and how similar they wanted it to be to the original, and he really wanted me to

like just take a fresh take on it. And I guess I could say that I probably drew on

past people that I've met, personal experiences with, people that in real life,

because I really wanted Bev to be as realistic as possible. And also in the

original the wicked stepsisters are just purely, purely wicked, and Bev is not.

She really does have a heart and she's insecure and she doesn't have a great

relationship with her mother and so many different things. I wanted to add a lot

of steps to her and make her not so completely one note. She's not purely,

purely evil so I wanted that to show.

Moderator There seems to be like an East Indian theme to it, in the home and in the party

and what have you. I wanted to know if there is anything behind that. Was

there a meaning to that, in doing that?

M. Park I don't exactly know because in the original script there wasn't really any

mention of that, but then the director said that they wanted to do a fresh take

on the dance in a way that Katie could have her face covered that was kind of

unique and fun and fresh. So they came up with a Bollywood idea for the dance

so she could obviously be wearing the outfits with her face covered. And then,

it ended up sort of like infusing itself into other parts of the movie and with the

character Ravi and stuff like that. So it was really cool, and it just kind of made

for a little more excitement and a different take on the whole theme of the

movie, and it ended up being cool.

Moderator What made you decide to play this vast different role from Grace on your other

show?

M. Park I was in New Orleans filming this movie called So Undercover with Miley Cyrus

and it was a character that's really sweet and really dumb and a different sort of

take on a character more in the vein of Grace. And that's a character that I tend

to play a lot because I really connect with those characters and I really like

playing them. Bev is not purely evil and it was sort of a different approach to

the character.

I thought it would be really cool and fun, and I just like doing things that I think

are fun and exciting. And obviously, meeting Lucy and getting to work with

Missi Pyle was a major thing for me. I'm such a fan and I love the comedy roles,

and this movie is actually very funny. There are a lot of funny moments, and

there was a lot of opportunity for me to do some sort of comedic work, and I

learned a lot from working with Missi Pyle and that was a major drawing point

for me. It was just really fun. It was an opportunity to do something new.

Moderator Did you guys have any jam sessions behind the scenes or anything fun like that?

M. Park We totally did actually. It's so funny that you ask that because Missi Pyle—most

people don't know—is a great musician and has a band and has toured, and she

had a good friend sing with her named Jenna who is also a musician, and it was

amazing. And Lucy's boyfriend at the time was a musician. My boyfriend's a

musician. So it kind of turned into like this crazy jam session a lot. And Freddie,

of course, and Titus, everyone it seemed like, was sort of musical in a sense so it

was really fun. Missi had this like great beach house and we were all staying

down there, and we would play guitar out on the balcony. It was really fun.

Everybody was like really into the whole music thing. It was great. Everybody

had their guitar there at some point.

Moderator You have a future film coming up too with Miley Cyrus, right?

M. Park I do, yes, called So Undercover.

Moderator What was it like working with that cast and doing that movie?

M. Park That was probably the most fun four months of my entire life. We had too

much fun. I look back I'm like, did we make a movie? Oh, yeah. I forgot

because we just had so much fun the whole time. It was great. We were in

such a magical city and to be there for that long and working with Miley and

Kelly Osborne and Eloise Mumford. It was basically just all girls all the time.

There was an actor Josh Bowman who is in it but he only came at the end so

basically it was just a bunch of girls by ourselves the whole time. We all were

staying together and we went to sorority boot camp because we're in a sorority

but the real sorority up in Baton Rouge, and we had so much fun. It did not

seem like work, and by the time it was all over I couldn't believe that we made a

movie because we had so much fun. But we did so hopefully, people like the

movie too.

Moderator What was it like growing up in Ontario and what route did you take to become

an actress, and also how did you get representation by Paradigm, and how did

you get this particular role?

M. Park Okay. Well, I did, I grew up in Canada. My whole family still lives there, and I

just started doing local theatre and it was something that I really love. And my

parents would not let me do anything professionally. They were like, no; if you

want to do it you can do it when you're 18. So I snuck it in a few years earlier. I

found my own agent and they were like, well, if you find all the information

yourself you can do it. So I would take the train into Toronto and audition for

things, and I worked really hard and got an agent in Canada. And then, sort of

broke into the industry that way, doing Canadian movies, Canadian TV shows,

and just loved it.

And then I came down to L.A. four years ago, I guess, now, and I was here for a

week to take this acting class that I really wanted to take. That I heard was

amazing. And then, while I was down here, I got sent the script for Secret Life

and the audition, and I went in and I went back every single day that week—and

then by Friday I think I tested for the part. I didn't even know what a test or a

studio test and all this stuff was and I think maybe it was a blessing I didn't know

what I was getting myself into because I wasn't nervous. I just sort of like

walked in and was like, uh, I guess I'll read for this, and then I ended up getting

the part.

So I went back to Canada. I got my stuff and moved back like a month later and

started filming and it's kind of been, obviously, keeping me really busy ever

since then. I always had hoped and planned to move down here and do this but

I didn't really know when and where it was going to happen. And I guess the

stars aligned and timing was really on my side, and it just happened way faster

than I thought it would, so I feel really, really, really lucky.

Oh, and you also asked me about getting into Paradigm. It just sort of fell into

place as well. Once Secret Life started airing they reached out to me and said

they liked my performance in the show, and I signed with them. It's been great.

Moderator About the Gloriana music video Kissed You Goodnight, what was your

experience like filming that?

M. Park It was so fun. We knew the band. My boyfriend knew them really well because

he's a musician, and they came to us and they said would you guys want to do

this music video for us? You basically have to just fly to Nashville for a couple of

days, hang out with us, and then you'd have to kiss a lot on camera. I was like,

wow, this sounds like pretty much the easiest job of my entire life. I'm in.

So we thought it would be cool and we loved the song. They sang it to us and

obviously wanted to support and help our friend's band in any way we could.

They're great and we like their music. And literally we got to go there and we

filmed in this beautiful house in Nashville, a city that we both love, and we got

to be in this music video and kiss. Obviously, he's my boyfriend in real life and

so it wasn't awkward, and it was just a really fun thing to do. We had a great

time. It was really cool.

Moderator Any future plans or would you be open to more music videos?

M. Park I think I would probably love to be in my boyfriend's music video, one of his at

some point when his new record comes out. I think that would be pretty cool,

but other than that no plans so far. We'll just have to see what happens I guess.

Moderator As an actress, singer, style star you're probably considered a triple threat right

now in Hollywood. Do you have aspirations to grow the mini-mogul in the

future?

M. Park I don't know. I guess I'm not versed enough in like the mini-mogul world to

know really like what's involved. And I honestly really want to do projects that

make me happy and hopefully make other people happy. I'm becoming more

and more confident and am falling more and more in love with the whole world

of comedy, and I think that's something that I really want to explore a lot more.

But right now, you know, that whole thing isn't necessarily on my vision board

of things that I'm aiming towards, but obviously being successful and reaching

out to a lot of people is a goal. So if that means doing all those things that

would be great but right now I just really want to make cool art that I like and

work with people that inspire me, are kind of my main goals right now.

Moderator Would you ever consider writing a comedy for yourself?

M. Park Actually I am writing a comedy with Missi Pyle. We came up with the idea when

we were working together on this movie, and she's obviously an extremely

experienced talented actress. And she kind of approached me and she's like, I

have this idea about this script. Would you like to work on it with me? And I'd

never really written. I'd written in my free time but never professionally like

we've been doing, and so I was like, okay. I'll give it a shot. I don't really know

what I'm doing.

But it's been the most amazing experience and so rewarding. And we actually

pretty much have written a script and it's going to be going through rewrites and

stuff like that. But I'm going to say that she's the brains behind it and I just sort

of helped out in any way I could and sort of helped her voice the young

character in this script. But it's been amazing and it's obviously a comedy and

it's something that we hope will get made. It's been pretty rewarding and we're

actually going to be taking a writing workshop together, I hope, at some point

this year because for whatever reason our brains work really well together with

writing. And she's been teaching me a lot. So, yeah, it's definitely something

that I really want to explore more.

Moderator Is it easy to make the transition from actually being an adult and then having to

go and play a teenager in your various roles?

M. Park It hasn't been frustrating. It's actually felt really normal because it's all I've ever

known. I'm always really young for my age, just in life in general, I guess. I

graduated high school, and then I just sort of moved on to the high school of

Secret Life and I've been doing that ever since I graduated high school, so it isn't

something that I'm frustrated with. I don't really get cast for roles older than

high school yet so I'm kind of totally fine riding this wave as long as it lasts. But

there definitely is something in me that's looking forward to playing more

mature roles and growing up a little bit, but I'm kind of taking it in stride. As

long as I'll play high school, I'll play high school, and when the time is right and

the roles start coming for me to play older I'm totally going to be ready and

excited to do that too.

Moderator The Secret Life has a pretty racy storyline. But how did that work for you?

M. Park You know it's kind of interesting when you sign on to a show because you're

basically signing on to play a character because you only really see the first

episode of the show. And the pilot was just amazing to me, and it was kind of

like shocking, the whole idea of—obviously the show is based on the secret sex

life. I think that was the original title, was like the Secret Sex Life of the

American Teenager or something like that. And it was sort of eye opening but I

think that it was done in a way that was really real, educational, and it wasn't

something that I was embarrassed by.

I mean I was really excited and proud to be a part of a show that was sort of

breaking down the barriers of that. So no I wasn't nervous about it and I'm not

nervous about it. I think that it's done in a really real way and that's always

been Brenda Hampton’s focus, not just to educate and to show different choices

that people make and how their lives sort of turn out when they make those

choices, the positives and the negatives, which I really like. So no it hasn't made

me nervous but it definitely is a risk when you sign on to a show and you don't

really know what's going to happen, but I've just been really happy with

everything so far, the way it's turned out.

Moderator Have you gotten any flack at all, any from either back home or just letters about

this storyline?

M. Park No. You know what, I don't really read a lot of stuff because it's kind of out of

my control in a sense, what happens on the show. But I put my trust in Brenda

and ABC Family and they've totally made me feel safe and protected. And I

think the show is really great and I don't think there's anything in it that's too

controversial, and I do genuinely feel like if there is ever a storyline that I didn't

feel comfortable doing then I would definitely have a voice and be able to talk

to Brenda. She's really respectful that way, and she's really wonderful in

wanting to make sure that everyone feels really comfortable. And I think I can

speak for the rest of the cast with that too.

Moderator Where was Cinderella shot and can you tell us something of your experiences on

the set with your cast, producers, and directors?

M. Park We shot the movie in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is a beautiful little

town, and we had a lot of fun there. It's a cute place. There are lots of cute

restaurants and we all were staying out by the beach. It was just amazing.

Every night we were sort of like going out to dinner and hanging out with each

other, and I really got to bond with Lucy and Missi Pyle the most. And the three

of us spent a lot of time together, and they're both just really inspiring and

unique in their own way.

I got to be goofy and silly with Lucy and just have fun and go out and be crazy.

Then, with Missi I got to ask her a lot of questions and pick her brain and do lots

of different things. It was really cool. We all had a really good time. Again, it

seemed like I wasn't really working, which is the best feeling.

Moderator Could you talk about working on the set, the actual shooting?

M. Park It was great being on set. The director was really cool. We spent a lot of time

rehearsing everything ahead of time so when we actually got to the set it felt

like everybody knew what was happening and what was going on. Honestly it

was just a really simple great shoot. It felt like a really creative set. A lot of

times we'd film and then the director would be like, hey, let's just improv this

one. Especially working with Missi Pyle, obviously she like to improv and it was

hard to keep a straight face 90% of the time when working with her.

But it was great. It was just a really simple set and it went really smoothly and

other than having to do a lot of dance rehearsal and Lucy, I'm sure, having to do

a lot of recordings ahead of time, that was the only thing I was really nervous

about, was doing the dancing because I hadn't danced a lot before. But it went

well. It was just really smooth and effortless.