The 15-year-old actress thinks it would be fun to be a bad vampire that lives for a million years. She loves anything with horror in it.

“Dylan and I could be a brother-and-sister vampire team,” she said.

Dylan is two years older than Ellery. The two are very close.

“Dylan is an awesome brother,” Sprayberry said.

Ellery and Dylan are from Texas. Dylan did some modeling for print ads as a child in Houston. The casting director told Dana (Ellery and Dylan’s mother) that she should bring Ellery to auditions as it would be cute to work with a brother-and-sister team.

Ellery and Dylan’s father, Carl, made a home video of 6-year-old Ellery saying that she wanted to be an actress. A week after making the video the family packed their bags in Houston and moved to California. Ellery and Dylan both miss their Houston family.

Sprayberry laughs at the thought of playing a princess in a movie.

“I’m really into horror,” Sprayberry said. “I’ve never wanted to be a princess like most girls might dream of being one. It’s just not me.”

The 10th grader loves to eat watermelon and sushi.

Her favorite subjects in school are science and math.

“Once you understand math, it can be fun,” Sprayberry said. “Science is interesting and you learn so much about things.”

Actress Ellery Sprayberry likes horror movies and would like to make a movie with her brother, Dylan Sprayberry. (Photo by Lesley Bryce)

The horror addict loves listening to any song by the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. She loves listening to classic rock with her dad.

“My dad loves the Beatles and the Rolling Stones,” Sprayberry said. “We listen to a lot of those old songs together. I really enjoy it.”

She describes herself as down to earth, sweet and responsible.

Her favorite movie is “The Sandlot” because it has baseball in it.

Sprayberry collects baseball caps. She recently went to London and Paris and made sure to buy a baseball cap from both places. She hopes to collect as many baseball caps as she can.

“I like collecting baseball caps because they are fun to wear,” Sprayberry said. “You also get to have them for the rest of your life.”

It is actor Tom Hardy’s career that Sprayberry admires.

“Tom Hardy has played so many different roles,” Sprayberry said. “He is amazing in everything that he does. I was such a fan of him as Bane in “The Dark Knight.” I am obsessed with that movie.”

The former gymnast also looks up to actress Jennifer Lawrence.

“I love any movie with Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone in it,” Sprayberry added. “I’m also a huge fan of Johnny Depp. He is my dream actor that I hope to work with one day in my career.”

Until that super scary horror vampire film role comes Sprayberry’s way, she enjoys cooking with her grandmother and baking cakes.

“My grandma is an amazing chef,” Sprayberry said. “She teaches me new recipes. We cook a lot together. It is so much fun to cook.”

Sprayberry’s dream role with her brother is to play a bad vampire, but her dream role to play is a character that has schizophrenia.

She knows that it would be a challenging role to take on.

“It would be hard to play, but a good role to play,” Sprayberry said.

The other exciting project that she hopes to do with her brother in the future is to raise awareness on autism and cerebral palsy.

“I have a brother in a wheelchair who has cerebral palsy,” Sprayberry said. “Dylan and I plan to raise awareness on that in the future.”

Be yourself! I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Ellery Sprayberry talks about her dream role appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

“I want my legacy to be someone who is known for his help and charity work,” Shahidi said. “My goal is to be seen as someone who contributed to society by the amount of charity work I have done.”

He is passionate about raising cancer awareness in children.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital became a priority to Shahidi when a family member was kept alive a lot longer than he would have been by the hospital.

“I’m so appreciative of St. Jude’s for all the work that they do,” he added. “It is not enough to raise awareness about cancer in children. People need to know how much research goes into this.”

Shahidi can be seen as Miles Russell in ABC’s “Uncle Buck.”

He plays the middle child in the family.

Like Miles, Shahidi is the middle child.

He has an older sister, Yara Shahidi, who can be seen on ABC’s “Blackish,” and a younger brother who he adores.

His new show is based off the 1989 movie “Uncle Buck,” which was written by John Hughes and starred John Candy as Uncle Buck.

The ABC television show stars Mike Epps as Uncle Buck.

ABC’s “Uncle Buck” stars Mike Epps as Buck, Iman Benson as Tia, Aalyrah Caldwell as Maizy, Sayeed Shahidi as Miles, Nia Long as Alexis and James Lesure as Will. (Photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC)

He is the crazy uncle who moves in to help the Russell family raise their three kids. Like in the movie, Epps will do silly pranks and whatever he can to earn a laugh with the crazy things he does.

The television show version of Uncle Buck will not glamorize the Russell family. It will show two busy working parents who will get stuck from time to time. It will attempt to show all aspects of family.

“I think everyone has an uncle that they love,” Shahidi said. “An uncle that makes everything so lively and fun to be around.”

Shahidi is wise beyond his years like the character he plays on television. He has skipped a grade. He will be in the ninth grade in the fall. He is anxious about what ninth grade will be like for him.

“Miles is wise beyond his years,” he added. ”I love playing him.”

Shahidi loves working with Mike Epps and Nia Long. He first saw Nia as Will Smith’s girlfriend in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

“It’s an honor to work with Mike and Nia,” Shahidi said. “Nia makes the set feel like a home and a family instead of a cast. She’s kind and warm spirited and brings everyone together.”

Shahidi was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He lived there until he 2. He then moved to Glendale where he lived for 11 years. His favorite color is green because he sees the color as fast.

“I used to like to run,” Shahidi said. “I thought green was fast.”

His favorite subject in school is history.

“I like learning about the past and the experiences that people went through,” Shahidi said. “I like learning about the advances that happened over the years. It fascinates me to learn this.”

His sister, Yara, who is three years older than him, inspired his fascination with the past. Yara enjoys talking with their grandfather about things that happened to him when he was a young boy.

Yara has had a major impact on her younger brother’s life.

She got him interested in an acting career.

“I would see her doing her acting jobs and I would say I want to do that, too,” Shahidi said. “We used to play make believe and make up stories about people and play outside and we would make up characters and just become them and spend hours doing that.”

Shahidi loves playing basketball. He will play point guard position on his school basketball team when he returns in the fall.

“I am also a Lego guy,” Shahidi said. “I like building huge cars and trucks and gears. It is a cool and fun thing for me to do.”

Be yourself! I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Sayeed Shahidi talks about ABC’s ‘Uncle Buck’ appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

The Los Angeles native was obsessed with music.

She kept a diary where she wrote about her life experiences. Her life experiences led to her writing poems. Those poems became the foundation that she would use to become a singer-songwriter.

She is no longer a first grader dreaming of a singer career.

Symon new single “Say” is currently playing on Sirius XM Hits 1, iHeartRadio and Radio Disney. She’s currently on a six-week radio promo tour and her debut EP will be released in the summer.

She has been in the studio with co-writer and executive producer Gino Barletta, responsible for “Hide Away” by Daya), crafting her debut album. She mixes island grooves with pop melodies and urban lyrical flavors.

“As a kid, I was obsessed with 90s music,” Symon said. “I was obsessed with TLC. Left Eye inspired me so much as a young girl.”

Symon wants her music to help people forget about their problems.

The favorite part about her radio promo tour is getting to see different parts of the world and the food she gets to eat.

“It’s tiring but I love it,” Symon said. ”I can’t believe I ‘m on the road promoting my debut single. It is amazing and so much fun. I love trying the different foods in the different states. I have met so many incredible people. It has been quite the journey so far.”

Her favorite food is fried chicken that she got in Biloxi, Mississippi.

“I am now obsessed with fried chicken,” Symon added.

Symon is passionate about having a voice.

Be yourself! I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Symon talks about her new single ‘Say’ appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

The 17-year-old actress hopes her acting roles will help her accomplish that mission. Her latest role is Sophia Greenleaf in the upcoming church drama “Greenleaf,” about a black church family and the secrets and lies that exist inside the church.

The cast includes such giants as Oprah Winfrey and Lynn Whitfield. “Greenleaf” will debut on June 21 and June 22 on OWN television.

Sophia Greenleaf is the 16-year-old daughter of Grace, played by Merle Dandridge. Grace and Sophia have returned to Memphis to be re-united with the Grace family after her sister dies.

Sophia is meeting Grace’s family for the first time because Grace has kept her away from her family. Grace has always been known as the black girl in an all-white school environment and now it will be the opposite for Grace in Memphis as she adjusts from being in an all-white culture to a predominantly black culture.

“She will have to learn what it means to go to church,” Ross said.

“Grace not being a Christian makes everyone be mean to her. She has never been to church except holidays. Grace has to deal with all that and regular teenage drama. She has a lot going on.”

Ross loves how pure Sophia is in everything that she does.

“Sophia is a good role model, she added. “She does not handle things right all the time but she does her best to practice her faith and do it with simple intentions with no malicious intent behind it. “

The South Carolina native grew up in the South. She knows how important church is to the South as she spends six months in South Carolina and the other six months in Atlanta shooting “Greenleaf.”

Ross thinks there are three things that make “Greenleaf” a unique and special show to watch. It is the aspect of family, the battle between right and wrong, and watching different family members in faith do things that are morally wrong as they try to grow in their faith.

Ross knows that the South is nicknamed the Bible Belt.

It is the sweet tea that she loves about growing up in the South.

“Whenever I go to California, I always ask for sweet tea,” Ross said. “I always forget that they only have iced tea. The only place you can get sweet tea is at McDonalds, which is terrible but I still try.”

Ross expands on what the family dynamics are like on the show.

“We are not a perfect family, but I think that is what makes the show so awesome,” Ross said. “Everything that happens on the show does not happen in a real church. There is a lot of drama but you have to remember that it’s a television show about a black church family.”

Ross knows that there will be controversy, but the show is prepared to deal with it as it comes. In the interim, as the show prepares to see how it will be perceived by viewers, Ross loves her on set bedroom.

“My bedroom was put together in a day,” she said. “I can’t clean my room in a day. Another thing I love are the clothes. I get to wear a lot of things that fit my personality.”

Ross has a younger brother who is 11 years old and just graduated from middle school. She recently attended his graduation on May 27.

This teenage girl is eager to make her mark on the world just as Oprah did. Ross is learning as much as she can from the media mogul who has so much to teach Ross.

“I love Oprah,” Ross said. “She’s so inspiring to everyone.”

Ross was about to do a test run to fly to Toronto to be a lead in a Nickelodeon show but her agent pushed for her to think more about the role as Sophia Greenleaf. It paid off because within three days of auditioning for the role, she won the part on Oprah’s show.

“I prayed because I wanted the part, “ Ross said. “I was crying because I had these two amazing roles to pick from.”

The Christian teen knew that prayer would bring her the answers.

“Having Oprah working with me made it something else,” Ross said. “Oprah called the casting director and told him that she loved me when she saw my tape. I was in the car with my friend and I was freaking out. I was jumping up and down in my seat because I was so giddy and excited.

“It was hard for my friend to keep her eyes on the road. Having Oprah say she liked what you did with a character was amazing. I can’t put that feeling into words.”

Ross would have that feeling again. It would happen when she saw Oprah for the first time in real life. She was in the production office signing paperwork with her mom about who would be her guardian. She did not know that Oprah would be there.

“I was trying to see if I could see Oprah,” Ross said. “Oprah stuck her head out the door I looked back and I gasped and my jaw dropped.

“I told my mom that Oprah just went back into the room and closed the door. I was like how do you approach Oprah to say hi to her.”

It was an opportunity that Ross was eager to experience.

“Oprah said, ‘Hi Desiree, It is nice to meet you,’” Ross said. “I wasn’t sure how to greet her if I should extend my hand. I reached out my hand to shake her hand but then she pulled me in and gave me a huge hug. She smelled so good. Oprah is amazing.”

It was hard to turn down the Nickelodeon opportunity but Ross admits that working with Oprah has made it worth it.

“It was hard to turn down Nickelodeon,” Ross said. “I would have loved to have had both opportunities. I was like ‘God why did you put these two amazing opportunities in front of me at the same time.’ I had been waiting for months to book another role and then all of a sudden, two incredible opportunities came to me. I did not have the role on the Nickelodeon show I was up for the lead.”

This teen southern belle has also worked with Dolly Parton.

She worked with Dolly Parton in her first professional movie role.

“Dolly is super sweet,” Ross said. “Dolly is one of those people that whoever she is with at that moment, they have her full attention and no one can take her away until she is done talking to you.”

“To meet Dolly Parton and sing a song that she wrote for my character was like me working with Oprah right now,” Ross said.

“I never would have imagined it but I had parents that pushed me toward my goal. That role has a big place in my heart.”

“A Country Christmas Story” allowed Ross to have an impact in the lives of many young girls who watched the 2013 movie.

“I hear stories from girls about how they were going through the same thing that my character Grace was going through and by watching my movie, it helped them with it,” Ross said. “I am moved each time that I hear a story like this because I want my acting roles to have an impact and make a difference in the world.”

Be yourself! I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Desiree Ross talks about her new series appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

“I think that it’s really important that people hear this message and what we have to say about it,” Pettyjohn said. “It is such a mortifying experience when you first go through it.”

“Pettyjohn is playing Bird, a teen girl that gets her period for the first time in front of her entire class. Many movies portray getting your period for the first time as a means to kill everyone at your prom.

It is that stereotype that made Pettyjohn want to do this role.

“It is important to me that people learn that it’s just a part of life,” Pettyjohn said. “It is nothing to be glorified or ashamed of.”

“Girl Flu” premieres at the Los Angeles Film Festival June 6.

The coming-of-age film allowed Pettyjohn to shoot scenes in the rain.

She was able to challenge herself as an actress.

“I got to shoot really emotionally scenes that allowed me to push myself,” Pettyjohn said. “It was such a cool experience for me.”

Pettyjohn can also be seen on Nickelodeon’s “School of Rock.”

She is currently filming the second season.

“It is fun playing Summer,” Pettyjohn said. “She goes through a lot on the show. Summer and I have certain elements that are similar to each other. We are both efficient and studious. I love playing the sarcastic elements that Summer has in her personality.”

Pettyjohn finds it hard to pick a favorite scene from the show.

She has several scenes that she loves.

“I love the scene when my character finds out that she has become the band manager,” Pettyjohn said. “I love the music scenes and all the freak out moments about having a crush on Freddy.”

Pettyjohn admits it’s not hard to have a crush on Freddy.

Ricardo Hurtado, who plays Freddy on the show, has become a good friend in real life and Pettyjohn loves to talk to and hang out with.

“Ricardo is super awesome,” Pettyjohn said. “He is super cool.”

She admits that having a crush on Freddy gives the show a fun human element that she really enjoys playing on the show.

The music lover has an acoustic guitar name Penny Lane.

She named it after the Beatles song of the same name.

It is also the name of a character in the movie “Almost Famous.”

She has not named her Gibson guitar.

“Playing the guitar acts like therapy for me in a way,” Pettyjohn said. “If I feel happy or sad, I can channel everything into my guitar.”

She loves creating sounds with her guitar.

She has been playing for three years.

“I have always had a gravitational force to creating sounds from a guitar, she added. “ I can’t explain it. I love how it sounds.”

She practices playing the guitar everyday along with writing songs.

“I love everything about writing songs,” Pettyjohn said. “Music allows me to express myself. I love the idea of telling my stories.”

She is working on an album that she plans to release in the future.

Pettyjohn loves all types of music. She even loves music from the 1920s. Her favorite singers are Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday. She loves passionate singing.

“Etta James was a beautiful soul,” Pettyjohn said. “Her music had a sultry vibe to it. She was such a phenomenal singer.”

Music allows Pettyjohn to express herself and to tell her stories.

She loves acting because it allows her to play different people.

She will be starting 11th grade in the fall and turns 16 in November.

Pettyjohn wants to visit England because of the music scene.

“The punk rock scene grew from that area,” Pettyjohn said. “I am excited to see the music scene there and explore that. I also love food so I want to go to an authentic English pub and get fish and chips.”

She loves travel books and loves to talk to local people in towns that she visits. She does not have a dream role that she wants to play but she wants to keep challenging herself as an artist and doing things that put her out of her comfort zone.

Pettyjohn would love to work with Wes Anderson and Meryl Streep.

Her favorite movies are “Dead Poets Society,” “Whiplash” and “500 Days of Summer.” She can watch these three movies over and over.

Her favorite color is red, probably because she loves hot sauce.

“I am obsessed with sushi,” Pettyjohn said. “I have a problem when it comes to hot sauce. I was on set the other day and we were eating a ghost pepper, which is the second hottest pepper in the world. I have had so much spicy food and ate so much hot sauce that it didn’t bother me at all to eat that ghost pepper. My tolerance level is now super high when it comes to spicy food.”

Be yourself. I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Actress Jade Pettyjohn talks about her upcoming film appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

The horror lover loves to scare anyone that he can in his real life.

He is always looking for the chance to play a scary practical joke on someone.

Velazquez’s love for horror began when he was 8. He would read magazines that described how makeup was used to create a monster and zombie look in the movies.

“I never got scared of it because I knew that it was makeup,” he said. “I am still fascinated by special effects and anything that is scary.”

His dream role is to play a scary character in a movie.

Until that scary role comes around, Velazquez is now playing Billy on Nickelodeon’s “The Thundermans.” He plays a teen super-hero.

“Billy is in his own little world,” Velazquez said. “He’s not all the way there. He sometimes doesn’t understand things. He is his own best friend. I am like Billy in a lot of ways. He is geeky and loyal like me.”

He points out what makes Billy different from him.

“We are not similar in that he is a superhero,” Velazquez said. ”I am not a superhero but I wish that I was. If I were a superhero, then I would want to be able to teleport or shape shift.

This science lover enjoys playing video games with his friends, especially Grand Theft Auto.

“I like to play Grand Theft Auto because a lot of my friends and cousins own it,” he said. “I talk to them as we play the game.”

He uses the video game as a bonding opportunity to hang out with his friends and family. His shooting schedule keeps him busy so his time is limited to see his friends and family.

He loves any song that allows him to hang out with his friends so they can jam out together.

“My friends and I love to go outside and ride our skateboard,” Velazquez said. “We play football and basketball together.”

He loves being outside with his friends every chance he gets.

“I love to do things that get my heart moving,” he added. “I enjoy watching scary movies with my friends. It is so much fun.”

Another thing Velazquez wants to do with his friends is learn to surf.

His favorite subjects in school are physical education, English and science.

“I like science because I like learning about space,” he said. “I like the galaxies. I’m a huge “Star Wars” fan. My dog has a “Star Wars” tag.”

Diego Velasquez is a ‘Star Wars’ fan who likes horror movies and playing Grand Theft Auto. (Photo by Bill Miller)

This “Star Wars” lover wants to travel to Costa Rica, Hawaii, Las Vegas, United Kingdom and Mexico. His mom married his stepfather in Las Vegas when he was 8 years old. He loved it there and now wants to go there with his friends to hang out.

Velasquez was born in Portland. He lived there until he was 10. He has been in Los Angeles for the past four years pursuing his Hollywood dreams.

“It is beautiful in Portland,” he said. “Everything is so green. You have all the trees you can imagine are there. I like the fresh air. You can drink the tap water. You can drink it and it’s good for you.”

He misses Portland but loves his Hollywood life.

His favorite colors are red and black.

His favorite food is salmon and tuna sushi.

He also loves calamari and miso soup.

“I will not eat cottage cheese,” he said. “I can’t stress it enough.”

He is passionate about raising awareness on medical conditions for children. Cancer and cerebral palsy are close to his heart.

“One of my best friends who is now 14 had leukemia,” Velazquez said. “She survived it. I had another friend who died from cerebral palsy.

Velazquez describes himself as funny, outgoing and fun to be around.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging about myself,” he said.

This animal lover is passionate about all animals but loves dogs, cats, hippos and wolves. He loves animals because you can play with them.

Be yourself! I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Actor Diego Velazquez loves horror movies appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

When she was 11 years old, she watched her two older brothers take martial arts classes. It seemed normal to her that she should enroll in martial arts classes as well. She was eager to outshine her brothers in class. It took her four years to get her black belt.

“It is now a family activity that we do together,” Kinney said. “It would be a dream come true for me to mix martial arts with acting.”

Kinney can be seen as Catherine Dillman in Gortimer Gibbon’s “Life on Normal Street.” Her character is very intelligent, calm and collected.  She gets excited about going to school every morning.

“Catherine is the best in her class,” Kinney said. “She has high expectations for herself. I am similar to her in that we are both perfectionists. We want to do our best in life.”

The teen perfectionist loves hanging out with her brothers. The three siblings compete through video games.

“I love video games,” Kinney said. “It’s so much fun to play them.”

Her favorite video game is Mario Kart 8.

Kinney changes the conversation back to her love for action movies.

“I would love a part in an action movie,” Kinney said. “I’m such a fan of Zoe Saldana and Scarlett Johansson. Zoe was so awesome in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.” I loved her character in Guardians. Scarlett was awesome as Black Widow in “The Avengers.”

Kinney’s dream is to be play a girl action hero in a movie.

She loves all the Harry Potter books. She first fell in love with the Harry Potter book series when she was dragged to the movies as a little girl with her brothers. She just recently began reading the Harry Potter books. She has fallen in love with the series all over again.

“The book are so well done,” Kinney said. “I love the magic.”

Her favorite book in the series is “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”

Her favorite subject in school is English.

She loves to draw, paint and play the piano.

She does not eat tomatoes but loves ketchup.

Her dream place to visit is Paris.

Her two dogs are named Emily and Kona.

Kinney wants her acting career to make people think.

“I want to entertain and inspire,” she added.

Kinney closes the interview with acting advice.

“I tell people who want to do this for a living to start in a class then grow from there because acting classes will give you a good base and foundation,” Kinney said. “You have to know yourself before you can use yourself in other characters.”

Be yourself. I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Actress Chandler Kinney discusses girl action-hero roles appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

Dittman was auditioning, but was starting to think it was not going to happen for him as an actor. He contemplated leaving Los Angeles.

He was just days away from leaving, when a close friend of his encouraged him to learn how to surf. The struggling actor went to a surf shop, bought a used surfboard and a wet suit and got in the water and just started catching waves.

“Surfing is solely responsible for my career,” Dittman added.

The Florida native would surf eight out of nine days. He would get up at 5 a.m. to surf. Surfing became an outlet for his nervous energy.

Dittman believes that it was the near-drowning experiences of surfing that brought clarity to him in his auditions.

“I would see a dolphin two feet from me and a shark the next day,” Dittman said. “I would ride on the surface of the water. I would have these massive ups and downs. California waves are no joke.”

It was being underwater long enough to have a conscience thought that if he didn’t get a breath soon that he might drown that gave Dittman the confidence he needed on auditions.

“I would be sitting in the room with casting directors,” Dittman said. “I couldn’t listen to them and not think about the fact that I had nearly died underwater earlier that day was so real that their approval and judgment meant less to me.”

Surfing helped Dittman be present in his auditions.

“I learned that the casting directors were not trying to judge me,” Dittman said. “They wanted me to feel loose, relaxed and in the moment.  Surfing gave that to me.”

Eighteen years later, Dittman continues to surf every chance he gets. He is now a first-time father who is currently playing a father on Nickelodeon’s “100 Things To Do Before High School.”

The show was created by Scott Fellows, who also created “Big Time Rush.” The casting director of “Big Time Rush” got to know Dittman when he came in four times to audition for “Big Time Rush.”

“It was never quite a fit because of my schedule and the role,” Dittman said. “It was Scott Fellow’s idea to think outside the box and hire me for the father role on ‘100 Things.’”

Dittman has a daughter in real life, so this is a dream role to play.

“I feel like he is not your standard show idiotic father,” Dittman said. “He is the silly goofy comic relief on the show. If someone is getting hit with something it is usually the dad.”

Unlike Dittman, who has one child, Fellows is a father of three kids.

“Scott has entrusted me with telling his story to a certain extinct,” Dittman said. “As a new father, I have learned a lot from Scott through conversations we have had about being a dad.”

Henry Dittman plays the father of three on Nickelodeon’s ’100 Things to Do Before High School.
(Courtesy photo)

Dittman plays a doctor named Mr. Martin on “100 Things To Do Before High School,” which is the story of three friends growing up in middle school trying to make the most of that journey.

“The Martin family is a standard American family that gives their kids the freedom to be who they are while still trying to guide them in the direction of making good moral choices and building a positive character for themselves,” Dittman added.

Dittman thinks of his real-life daughter in the future.

“C.J. and I are partners in crime,” Dittman said. “Mr. Martin is the fun-loving fool and the mom sometimes is the bad guy. I can say that we have the opposite relationship at my house. I will be the one to put my foot down and be the foil to my wife’s and daughter’s conspiracies.”

Dittman feels lucky to be working with Fellows on the show.

“Scott has created a show that has good things to say,” Dittman said. “It’s not poking fun at different kids. I feel like we have a message for young kids that will help them in their daily lives. It is exciting to see someone create a show that has a positive message for kids.”

It was the Nickelodeon show “You Can’t Do That on Television” that inspired Dittman to be an actor. He watched the show everyday.

“It is so thrilling to work on this network now as an adult,” he said.

Dittman sees a resemblance in his television daughter to his real life daughter. The 100 things set has photos of him holding his real baby.

“I see a lot of my daughter in Isabela Moner,” he added.

This military brat who traveled the world as a child has a list of 100 things that he wants to show his daughter.

“After traveling so much as a child and a young adult,” Dittman said, “I want to drive cross country with my family and see the corners of the world that the average kid does not get to see.”

Dittman said the only two things that get him down about having his first child in his early 40s is not being able to sleep in and not being able to surf all the time.

“I had spent years studying yoga and other spiritual growth trying to find stillness,” Dittman said. “I never achieved it until I found myself sitting on a board bopping up and down. Surfing saved me.”

Be yourself. I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Talking surfing and fatherhood with actor Henry Dittman appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

“I love Spanish rock,” Hurtado said. “I enjoy the cool rhythms.”

He sings, composes his own music and plays the guitar and drums.

Hurtado, 16, can be currently seen as Freddy, the bad boy drummer of his high school rock band on Nickelodeon’s “School of Rock” based on the 2003 Jack Black comedy movie of the same name.

“Freddy is the cool kid that everything evolves around,” Hurtado said. “He is always breaking the rules. He loves having a good time. He wants the other kids to relax and break the rules with him.”

Hurtado describes himself as laid back and confident.

He was born in Miami. He moved to Atlanta when he was 1 and spent his formative years growing up in Georgia.

“I know who I am,” he added. “I relate to Freddy a lot because we are similar and different in many ways. I am a southern gentleman who was raised to say ‘mam and sir’ when I talk to people.”

Ricardo Hurtado, left, and the rest of the cast of ‘School of Rock.’ (Courtesy photo)

Hurtado has been called an old soul because of his love for old things. He loves old movies and listening to old music from the 1950s.

“I’m old fashioned,” Hurtado said. “I like that time period because most of the songs created in that time period have a good message and those songs have a lot of soul to them and a good vibe.”

This only child uses his music to be closer to God.

“I’m a Christian,” Hurtado added. ”My main goal in life is to be as close as I can be to God. I want to influence others to have a close relationship with God through my music.”

A gospel song is not the only way to praise God. Hurtado believes a positive vibe in a song is another way to express your love to God. He has written two songs that express his feelings in the moment.

His first song was made for God.

“I didn’t give my first song a name because I didn’t write it to show it to anyone but me,” Hurtado said. “My second song was when I was heartbroken about a girl. I wrote a song asking why you are you so mean to me? It was called ‘Baby I Need You.’”

The teen songwriter comes from a musical family. His father is currently pursuing a degree in music from the University of Georgia.

“Everyone on my dad’s side of the family is a musician,” Hurtado said. “My dad grew up playing piano and my uncle plays the guitar.”

Hurtado’s favorite color is green.

His favorite musician is James Taylor.

He loves to eat Mexican food.

He loves playing video games with his cousins, hanging out with friends, going to the movies and visiting amusement parks.

He hopes to visit Disneyland in the near future.

Hurtado closed my interview with him by singing me a song in Spanish and English. He plans to put out an album in the future.

Be yourself! I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Ricardo Hurtado talks about his love of music appeared first on Wave Newspapers.

He is convinced that “Barbershop” is a comedy classic.

The fifth grader was drawn to the movie. He liked how Ice Cube wore his hat backward in the movie. Ice Cube was wearing the same hat that his dad wears except his dad wears his hat frontward.

“Ice Cube dresses like my dad does,” Thompson said. “I liked that.”

Thompson has watched “Barbershop” and its sequel numerous times. He enjoys watching any movie that Ice Cube is in.

“Ice Cube always has a good reason to make a movie,” Thompson said. “That’s what I love about him as an actor and producer.”

Now 16, Thompson is no longer a 10-year-old boy watching “Barbershop” movies, he is now acting in the latest installment.

He plays Kenny Smith (son of Rashad, played by Common) in Ice Cube’s “Barbershop: The Next Cut.” Thompson’s character is a bad influence on Jalen (Ice Cube’s son in the movie.)

“‘The Next Cut’ is a movie about the gang violence in Chicago,” Thompson said. “It’s a movie about regular people in a barbershop having fun and talking about different issues going on in the world.”

The Atlanta native opens up about his role in the film.

“We go around in the streets and we are getting peer pressure from the gang leaders to join the gang,” he added. “It’s an internal struggle should we join them or not. We are trying to handle peer pressure.”

The 11th grader is thrilled that this film project is a family film.

“I’m super proud of this movie,” Thompson said. “There is a message behind it that resonates with people my age.”

Thompson’s favorite line from the movie is “They my size. That’s what size they are.”

He was able to play a tough guy in the movie.

“That line is funny because I’m not a tough guy in real life,” he said. “For me to buck up against someone in a movie is not me at all.”

It’s that reason that Thompson enjoyed saying those tough lines.

“I enjoyed saying it because I don’t get to say that in life,” he added.

Thompson enjoyed spending time with Common.

He thinks Common is one of the coolest guys that he has met in life.

“Common is so chill,” he said. ”He doesn’t think he is above anybody. He is so down to earth. He invited my dad and I to his hotel room to watch a Heat game.”

Common helped the young actor with his role.

“We didn’t have a bunch of scenes together but Common and I hung out so we would have the father and son relationship in the back of our minds as we were shooting,” Thompson added. “Common was such a great mentor. He gave me a lot of advice about the industry.”

The high school junior was thrilled that Common had offered him advice. He came across one challenge on the first day of shooting.

He had to shoot an intense scene in the movie on his first day.

“This was my first day on a movie set in my life,” Thompson said.”  “It was intimidating. I had to really bring it. The first day was hard.”

Thompson is quick to admit that although he acts and sings, he is just a normal guy who likes to do normal stuff. He likes to go the mall and hang out with friends. His favorite subject in school is history.

“I like history because it’s easy to me,” Thompson said. “You learn stuff and you just have to remember it. There is no problem solving.”

He likes how history can inspire a movie.

“You can make movies on stuff in history,” he added.

His favorite food was macaroni and cheese until he grew out of his shrimp allergy. His favorite food is now shrimp.

His favorite color is green.

“I love green because it’s the color of grass and trees and natural stuff,” he said.” It reminds me of being out in the woods.”

Diallo Thompson

Thompson is a fan of action and fantasy books such as “Harry Potter,” “The Lord of the Rings” and “Hunger Games.” He read “Hunger Games” when he was in middle school.

He likes to read books that take him to different worlds because he has such a strong imagination.

“I like books with a lot of imagery of different places,” he said.

In a fantasy world of all animals, Thompson would love to be a fox.

“A fox is smooth, sly and sneaky,” he said. “I like that about the fox.”

He plans to make a short film to inspire people.

“I’m about to shoot a short film that I wrote,” he added.

One of the ways that he plans to inspire teens is with his music.

Thompson’s future plans are to put out a teen album about the issues and problems that his generation encounters. He wants to see music that explores today’s teens issues and lifestyle.

“I want to release music for people like me, a regular teenage boy who does teenage things,” Thompson said. “We have peer pressure, but we like to do things like sit at home and play games. We have our own little world that has not been explored when it comes to music.”

His three musical idols are: Stevie Wonder, his all time favorite artist; Kanye West, who inspired him to rap; and Kendrick Lamar, who inspired him to pursue music.

“Kendrick Lamar taught me no matter where you come from or how low you are, if you work hard, you have the ability to end up wherever you dream of being,” Thompson added.

His father introduced him to Stevie Wonder’s music. His father is a huge fan. The father and son team would listen to Stevie’s music as they drove in the car on a family vacation to Milwaukee.

Thompson’s dad has had the biggest influence on his life.

“My dad has taught me to be a great person,” he said. “He has taught me to work hard. He is the best dad that I could ask for.”

Be yourself! I’m Simply Jessica JcAden. You can reach me at jess.gosnell@gmail.com.

The post SIMPLY JESSICA: Diallo Thompson gets role in ‘Barbershop: The Next Cut’ appeared first on Wave Newspapers.