Zoey 101 Actors Your Average Teens

By: Steve Silva, One80 Contributor
Sat May 05 2007 10:29:07 GMT-0400 EST

We ogle their every move on television. We can’t help but cringe whenever Zoey and Chase spur their romantic teeter-totter, and we even shed a tear after finding out that our favourite boy-crazy galpal, Nicole, won’t be returning for Zoey 101’s new season.

Since launching in 2005, Zoey 101 has had monumental success in North America and abroad. The show, now in its third season, provides a fairly realistic glimpse into the life of high school students. However, behind Logan’s sly smile and Lola’s dainty ambiance, how do these television characters’ real life counterparts really act?

Sixteen-year-old heartthrob Matthew Underwood plays Logan Reese, a millionaire bad boy not too content with the recently changed all-boys-turned-co-ed school. He is narcissistic, and can, on many occasions, be the epitome of Lex Luthor on the show. Ever-charming Victoria Justice’s character, Lola, on the other hand, is Zoey’s flamboyant, actress-to-be camaraderie.

Underwood and Justice recently took part in Family Channel’s three-mall Spring Break tour to meet fans when they took time out to talk to One80. Underwood began the interview by imposing a verbal encyclopedia of the inner workings of the show’s locale, clearly taking a heavy interest in the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the television industry. Justice, though, surely interested as well, started off on a lighter note: food. Yes, overshadowing the many perks of being on set with experience actors, directors, and being able to do what she loves doing, the first notable aspect she could think of was the snack truck. Underwood later joked that he must have gained 20 pounds from that conniving truck.

Due to the restraints of their job, the young actors cannot attend regular school during filming, so instead get tutored in the ‘school trailer’. Justice, who joined the cast during the second season, recounted a humorous recurring anecdote in which the actors taunt each other with unflattering pictures of one another. The premise simple: using the computer they all share in the trailer, the actors find pictures of each other, usually promo shots for the series, and manipulate them into the desktop background. Justice proclaimed herself as a proud perpetrator and said that those kinds of games help lighten the mood.

The two agreed, though, that despite the makeshift school on the show having its differences compared to a regular school, the people represent typical high school students. There’s Underwood, the “surfer dude”, Jamie Lynn Spears (Zoey), the country deus ex machina of the group, Erin Sanders (Quinn), the giggling and kind one who can always put a smile on your face, Christopher Massey (Michael), the sports jock, and others. In spite of that, what’s unique about the group is that they get along well.

“We’ve become a tight group of a huge family,” said Underwood. “[Justice] is like a sister to me… It’s a team effort. We all get together and hang out, have fun, and we love it.” He added that on occasion it is hard getting work done due to the constant but friendly distractions.

Still, it isn’t all sunshine and roses for the actors. Justice, who attends middle school when not filming, described her school as having a very typical atmosphere. But she also noted the occasional, quirky fan moment: “I’ve made all my friends before I was on the show, so I’m just normal Victoria to them. Some people new to the school come up to me for an autograph or a picture, and [my friends] find it so weird because they knew me before I was on the TV show. So they’re like, ‘Oh my God, this is Victoria, why do you want her autograph!?!’ I like having friends who knew me before I was on the show, because it’s not like they are just being nice to me because I’m on TV, so it’s good to know that I have real friends.”

Justice added that there have been the odd occurrences when schoolmates tried to put her down. She recalled an incident when out of the blue a student vulgarly told her that she would never be invited to any parties and was just glad they weren’t friends. Underwood also acknowledged the unnecessary jealousy that comes with being famous. He saw it being based on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he and Justice received with Zoey 101. He said that acting on the show is something he loves doing and is sure that other people would have taken it had they had the opportunity, and they should respect that.

Having acted since a young age, Underwood knows all about the sacrifices that need to be made for entertainers. “There’s all these magazines with bad stories on different people, yet they never get the chance to know them in real life,” he said. “And if they did, they’d know that these people [the Zoey 101 cast] are the nicest people you’ll ever meet in your life. That’s why I take the time out to get to know all my fans that I meet at the mall, because then they get know that I’m just a normal guy. I’m just a normal guy who everyone gets to talk to, and I don’t think I’m better than everyone else.”

Although they have certainly dipped their toes in the acting pond, the actors do have other future goals as well. Underwood, whose birthday happens to coincide with Shakespeare’s, divulged a few tidbits on his writing aspirations. He revealed plans of eventually publishing a series of books that are similar to Pirates of the Caribbean but with a Harry Potter-like flair. He also has a poetic side, which was proudly broadcasted during the interview, and a keen interest in cinematography and directing.

Justice stayed true to her roots and chose musical theatre as something she is considering in the future. Justice reminisced about how her mother once dared her to do an African dance, which she learned in the middle of a restaurant. Justice also began jazz and ballet recently, although, she admitted that it’ll be long road for her after realizing just “how out of shape I was.”

Zoey 101 airs new episodes every Friday at 6 p.m. on Family Channel. Episodes also air every Saturday and Sunday at 8:40 a.m. and Saturdays at 7:25 p.m. For more information on the show or any of the actors visit www.family.ca.

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