Teen Hollywood March 15 2006

For our interview, Amanda looked very far from guy-like in a very short black skirt, form-fitting white t-shirt, gold heart locket and…at the end of some very long legs.. some kick butt, really high, dainty black stiletto heels!
The actress let us know that, although her character Viola is an ace girl soccer player, Amanda had to learn the sport from scratch and learn how to look like a boy while playing it! There were a few injuries involved but, all in all, she had a blast guy watching for research and shooting She’s the Man.
TeenHollywood: What did you learn about guys from playing one?
Amanda: I think that more than anything I learned that guys are just like girls and everyone is kind of the same. We're all in the same boat.
TeenHollywood: What attracted you to doing this dual role?
Amanda: I liked that it was a unique storyline and I liked that it was based on Twelfth Night and the fact that I got to dress up as a guy. I liked the Tootsie type quality that Andy [Fickman, the director] wanted it to be like where I'm falling in love with my roommate, but I'm dressed as a guy. He likes me too, but I'm a guy and he likes this other girl more and there's this whole tangled web.
TeenHollywood: That’s quite a mess!
Amanda: Yeah, and it was a funny thing to imagine and once we read it, like the whole cast, it came to life. Reading it in script form wasn't as funny as watching people perform it which is just like Shakespeare. When people act out Shakespeare in a play it's much better.
TeenHollywood: You kept trying to drop your voice and sound more “guy-like”. Did you try out a lot of different voices?
Amanda: There was only like one. It was kind of just like the deep version of my voice, that's what it became. I don't really know. If I had worked with a vocal coach or something I could've done it better.
TeenHollywood: Were the guys on the set helpful to you at all with guy related advice?
Amanda: Yeah, they were totally helpful. They were like, 'keep your voice low.' And everyone sort of helped me stay like a guy and I needed help because I would forget when I was tired.
TeenHollywood: Did you actually go to a mall with the director and watch guys interact?
Amanda: Yeah, it’s true. Andy asked to meet me at The Grove [big shopping plaza in L.A.]. We went to a book store because he wanted to get me a journal [to write notes in] and I went and got this flowered journal. He's like, 'No. You're getting a man's journal.' He got me a manly looking journal and just started to tell me to write things down just as an exercise. Like, what would I think if I heard this or that, and he'd name girls and ask what I thought about them, and I'd have to write it in a guy's voice like 'Paris Hilton. Hot.' Some stuff like that, and it was so uncomfortable and I would laugh after I did it. So we just started watching guys walk and how they compared to girls. I was jotting stuff down that I thought would really help me, but it was all stuff just to remind myself that I was going to be a different person.
TeenHollywood: Did you ever play soccer before this film?
Amanda: No. That was actually my first time playing soccer and so that was probably the most challenging part, doing that. It was hard but it was a lot of fun.
TeenHollywood: How fun was it to shoot the scene where you are going through different guy looks and hairstyles?
Amanda: That was hilarious. That was like one of those fun days and we were just cracking up the whole time. It was a movie montage. Fun. Fun. Fun. We had music playing. It was a great thing.
TeenHollywood: There is a girl cat fight and all the soccer action. Did you get hurt while filming?
Amanda: The one time that I did get hurt and what I still have somewhat of a scar from [She shows us a little dark mark on her arm] is the first day that I started training for soccer. We were in a park and there was like this muddy patch that I found and slipped and I landed in the mud. I scraped my arm on something. When we did the girl fight scene we were all hitting each other, but I think that they [co-stars Alex Breckenridge and Laura Ramsey] were bruised because they were the ones that were going at it but I came out of it unscathed, I think.
TeenHollywood: How do you work your movies in while doing your TV show?
Amanda: You just do it and I worked during the summers. That's when I did this movie and I'm happy to be working so I don't mind. I love to do it.
TeenHollywood: Is the show still fun for you to do?
Amanda: Yeah. I mean, it gets a little bit tiring and it's a little bit monotonous doing the same character, and in a movie you get to sort of switch gears and change into other people. So I do enjoy that.
TeenHollywood: Do the writers listen to your suggestions now?
Amanda: Yeah. I mean, at this point we all kind of help write it.
TeenHollywood: Were you able to go out while in Vancouver shooting this?
Amanda: Yes and we went to this Shakespeare festival. It was this wooden thing that you were in, but outside too and there were kites. I was transfixed by the kites.
TeenHollywood: Speaking of gender bending films. Have you seen Felicity Huffman in Transamerica?
Amanda: I have. She's amazing in that movie. Whoa. She's so good. I did relate to her.
TeenHollywood: What do you think that girls can take away from this movie?
Amanda: I just hope that they have a good time and laugh and have fun because nothing is better than laughing. It's the best. We had fun making it and so I hope that they have fun watching it.
TeenHollywood: What is your favorite scene in the film?
Amanda: My favorite scene is the one between Channing Tatum and I right after we kiss, Duke and Viola kiss, and I'm into him and I go to the room and he's sitting there and I sort of try to get information out of him as the guy. That was fun to do and my favorite one.
TeenHollywood: You’re turning twenty this year. Any big birthday plans?
Amanda: No. I mean, I'm not crazy with the plans, but I'll be twenty one next year. When I'm twenty one I will hopefully do something fun. That's a big one.
TeenHollywood: Are you getting offers to do any good dramatic movies?
Amanda: Yes and no. I mean, I get them all and if there's something that I really love I will fight for it, but it's hard because I'm not necessarily the first person that they think of, but you kind of have to make people believe in you.
TeenHollywood: When fans come up to you on the street what do they mainly know you from?
Amanda: Mostly the show or like "Ask Ashley" when I was really young which is so funny because people have grown up with me and watched me and I love that. I would never want to do something that would upset the young fans. I love the kid fans and the young fans. I want them to like what I do. I feel lucky to have any fans.
TeenHollywood: What is your film Lovewrecked about?
Amanda: I get stuck on this island with this rock star that I'm obsessed with and he ends up breaking his leg. There's a hurricane that wrecks us onto this island. So I have to find food and water and end going through the jungle and find out that we're actually on the other side of the resort that we came from. So when I come back and he hugs me and says, 'I'm so excited that I'm here with you,' or whatever so I don't tell him. I go back to the room and put makeup on and come back.
TeenHollywood: Whoa, sneaky but fun. What sort of guys attract you?
Amanda: I like guys that are funny, and not like comedians because those guys are annoying, but guys that are funny and don't care. It has to be an attraction there too. Bells going off or something.
TeenHollywood: Is there a female Comedian that you love. You remind so many people of Lucille Ball.
Amanda: [Big smile] Ahh, that’s nice. I grew up watching her. I was obsessed with her. When I was a kid and was depressed or whatever I would watch that show all the time and she would make me laugh. I thought that the whole show was so funny.
TeenHollywood: You are very good at physical comedy. Is it just a gift?
Amanda: Yeah, it's definitely a gift, and I think that if you watch the greats that's the best way to learn. I would watch them and then try to do it. You just sort of mimic. I do sort of feel like I'm a mimic. I feel like I could do anything that I could mimic and so I'm excited to do different things. I would like to do great work.