Interview with Madeline Carroll, star of Flipped

 

PTC: During the general press meeting before our interview, you mentioned that movies today tend to showcase "bratty teen girls." Did you have a particular actress in mind?

 

MC: Oh, no! I wasn't thinking of any other actresses at all. I just meant that a lot of the roles that are coming in for me to play have tended to "be bratty teen" parts. A lot of them are kind of the same. So that's why it was really nice to be able to play Julie Baker in Flipped. Julie is different. She's innocent and sincere, and she's cool in her own way. 

 

PTC: Do you think that's realistic? There are a lot of people today – some in Hollywood -- who would say, "That's not real life. Maybe that's how kids were in the 1960s, when the movie Flipped is set; but kids today aren't really that innocent. They aren't really that sweet, and aren't really that decent." What do you think?

 

MC: I think it's really hard for kids to step away from some of the bad influences if they're in public school or middle school. I was in elementary school, and I did middle school for a couple weeks, but then I had to be taken out and home schooled, because middle schools get upset if you miss a lot of days. But I had friends from elementary and middle school, and when I saw a couple of my friends from my old school, they were telling me how some of our other friends had changed. And some of them were doing drugs. It's just really sad, and hard, I think, because there's so much peer pressure in school these days. It's just hard for kids to be different from that. I mean, they all have their own groups and cliques and like that, but I think it's really hard for a lot of kids. Some of them can be different, but for a lot of them it just doesn't happen.

 

PTC: Do you think kids are different today than they were then, and  they're just exposed to more temptations  now?

 

MC: I think there are more temptations out there now. A lot of kids are still the same: they play sports or whatever, and they have their different groups. But it's just unfortunate. From my friend, I know that they get involved in peer pressure. I wish I could transport all those kids into the '60s because it was more innocent and safer, but I guess you can't.

 

I feel very lucky to have the life I do. I do my acting, and interviews like this, but then tomorrow I'm going back to my house in Simi Valley where I have all my friends on the cul-de-sac, so I have that to go home to. I'm not always living in this world.

 

PTC: Are your friends all actors?

 

MC: No! (laughs)  No. My friends are all neighborhood kids, and we're all excited for my movie coming out. I think we're all going to go see it one day when it comes out. And I have three brothers, so if I ever get big-headed they will beat me up. So I don't think that will be a problem. (laughs)

 

PTC: What kind of entertainment do you enjoy? Do you have a favorite TV show?

 

MC: I love Cake Boss [on Food Network]! They make all these really cool cakes. It's an amazing  show. One time they made like this actual NASCAR cake, and the entire car was a cake, like you could sit in it...if you wanted to get covered with frosting...

 

PTC: What's your favorite part you've ever played in a movie?

 

MC: Either Julie in Flipped, or Molly in Swing Vote. Swing Vote was my first big role, alongside Kevin Costner. It was just so much fun to film. I couldn't believe what was happening. I prayed so hard to be able to do something like that. It was just an all-around blessing to be able to do that movie. I loved playing Molly and being able to work with Mare Winningham, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, George Lopez...I worked with all those people in one movie!

 

I also loved this role in Flipped, especially getting to work with Rob Reiner. Everything I've done has been really fun, but those two are my favorites to play, because they were a little harder than some of the other roles I've played. A lot of the other roles I played have been pretty basic. I was in Resident Evil: Extinction and I had to be a computer. That was pretty easy, I just had to talk all weird. In The Spy Next Door I played a bratty teen. But these two were really awesome. It's so simple to be able to work with Rob Reiner. I remember we were on the set during the dinner scene, and the guys who played my brothers are supposed to sing the song "Stand by Me." And Rob just came in and started singing along, with the cameras rolling and everything!

 

PTC: Is there anything that jumps out at you as the great moment from this film?

 

MC: When Callan [McAuliffe, who plays Madeline's love interest Bryce] tries to kiss me. That was really weird. That sticks out in my mind. And when I'm supposed to sniff his hair. I've never done that before. It was really hard to get into character. But it was just so much fun, from the clothes to the cars to everything. It's the most fun I've had on a movie.

 

PTC: Flipped is about first love. Have you had a first love, is the movie true to how it is?

 

MC: You mean, is it true to how the script was written?

PTC: No, is it true to how first love really is?

 

MC: I guess so, yeah. I didn't ever have first love, but I remember kids having crushes in school. I had the same approach Julie did. I liked a boy and I would try to be all tomboy, and be cool with the guys, and I would race him and I would win every time, so he would get really upset about that. Just little things like that. Girls know what they want, I think, before guys do. I think it's pretty true.

 

PTC: And what's your next project?

 

MC: I'm filming a movie right now with Gerard Butler called Machine Gun Preacher. It's a true story about a man, Sam Childers, who gets out of prison and becomes a Christian. He goes to Africa, and opens up his own militia and fights for these kids who get their arms cut off for no reason. It's really sad, but it will be awesome mix of drama and action.

 

PTC: Thank you so much for your time.

 

MC: Thank YOU! God bless you.

 

► Read our exclusive interview with Flipped Director Rob Reiner

► Read our review of Flipped