Like a big bean-bag doll. Seriously, that’s how Ashley Tisdale describes the little CGI aliens she had to work with making her latest family comedy, Aliens in the Attic, in which she plays one of a group of kids, who must protect their vacation home from invading aliens . I got a chance to speak Ms. Tisdale recently, as she discusses said aliens, her childhood fears in her house – and her guilty pleasures.
Step 1: Play with a CGI “stuffy”
“We didn’t really use a lot of green screen but we did have a green “stuffy.” It’s a kind of bean-bag doll. That was the alien, and they would just move it around and we’d react to that [laughs]. I was only there five weeks because I had to come back to do High School Musical 3. And since [the other kids] were all younger and not allowed to work, I’d be shooting at 2 am and having to react by looking at the crew members. I was a little nervous about that.”
Step 2: Fear not the attic – but the BASEMENT
“I had a basement cause I grew up in New Jersey, and I thought Chuckie was down there. My friend at 7-years-old says, ‘Let’s watch Child’s Play.’ I thought it was a doll movie, a good movie. So after that I was scared, so scared and I wouldn’t go down there because I thought maybe he was roaming around down there.”
Step 3: Get the boyfriend stamp of approval from Dad
“Oh yeah, I can’t date anyone unless I bring them home to meet my dad first. Very overprotective. But I like that part in the movie in which Bethany kind sees her boyfriend’s true colors and sticks up for her family. I always want my parents to be proud of me and approve of who I’m with.”
Step 4: Go ahead and have it all
“I’m pretty creative and kind of a workaholic, so I like to do a lot of different things. I want a really long career, acting and my music. And also producing. I have many ideas that I’d like to watch, and not necessarily what I’d want to be in. So I get together with my producing partner and we get to create it and it’s a different experience for me. Right now I have a reality show that E! is looking at. I can’t really talk about it yet since it’s not picked up, but it’s fun. I’m not in it though.”
Step 5: Don’t take yourself too seriously
“I laugh at myself all time; I don’t sweat the small stuff. But I am very driven, ever since a young age. I credit my mother for that. I’ve always looked up to her because she’s very confident and has always taught me to believe. Don’t quit and go for your dreams. With hard work and drive, you can definitely get there. Even though I’ve been doing this for awhile, with the TV shows and High School Musical, I still feel like my career has just begun. I want to keep learning and honing my craft.
Step 6: But take her music seriously. Please.
“The balancing [between music and acting] isn’t the challenge, but the challenge is people taking me seriously for my music. They are two separate things to me. I’ve grown up with musical theater my whole life so music has always been something that’s part of my life. My second album Guilty Pleasures, which comes out July 28, is who I am. There’s a lot of break up songs [laughs]. But I’m hoping I’ll be YOUR guilty pleasure.” Wink, wink.
Step 7: HER guilty pleasures
“Alien movies [natch] and coffee. Oh, and I like designer handbags, too.
Step 8: OK, we’ll bite … What alien movies?
“Close Encounters, E.T. Oh, Signs, too. That one freaked me out.
Oh hell yeah, totally agree. Signs completely creeped me out, but I don’t think Aliens in the Attic is going to elicit the same response.