Video:Sydney White - Sara Paxton and John Schneider Interviews
with Rebecca MurraySara Paxton sinks her teeth into the character of an evil sorority girl in Sydney White starring Amanda Bynes. John Schneider co-stars as Bynes' dad, a construction foreman who had to raise his daughter all by himself.See Transcript
Transcript:Sydney White - Sara Paxton and John Schneider Interviews
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the Los Angeles Premiere of Sydney White.
Sara Paxton ('Rachel Witchburn')
Why do they keep casting you as the evil person?
Sara Paxton: "I don't know. I guess they just look at me and they're like, 'Evil.' I don't know. I think that in order to play that evil of a person, you have to not be evil in real life. You know what I mean? So I mean, I don't consider myself evil. I don't think that anybody here thinks I'm evil, hopefully. But it's a good challenge for me. It was really fun being able to step outside the box every day and go to work and be that ridiculous, prissy sorority girl."
Was there any point where you thought maybe they pushed her evilness too far, or was it okay?
Sara Paxton: "I mean, you know some days I'd come in and we'd do the scene and the Joe the director would be like, 'You know what? Go meaner. You can be meaner.' I'm like, 'I'm already telling these girls they're too ugly and stuff because I'm a sorority girl. How much more mean can I get?' In one scene I have a big magnifying mirror in front of the girls and I'm like, 'Oh, pluck your eyebrows.' I was like, after every take, I'm like, 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!'"
Were you really?
Sara Paxton: "Well, yeah, I felt so bad that I'd be extra nice on set. I was like, 'Cookies for the crew…Cupcakes I baked.' I just wanted to prove I wasn't that mean."
Are you done being evil? Do you think this is your last one?
Sara Paxton: "I may be retiring my evil cloak for a while. I'm actually working on a new movie right now and I'm not evil so I'm pretty excited about that."
And it's Superhero. Are you going to play a superhero?
Sara Paxton: "I'm not playing a superhero. I am the girlfriend of a superhero."
That's just as important.
Sara Paxton: "Just as important. I mean, hello…"
What superpower does your boyfriend have?
Sara Paxton: "Well, I can't give away too much of the story but think Spider-Man."
John Schneider ('Paul White')
You get a script that says it's basically an update of Snow White, what was your first reaction?
John Schneider: "I loved Snow White. Well, I wanted to see how they did it. Because people talk about, 'You're going to redo something from before, how are you going to breathe new life into it?' And it's tough. This is great. Even as I read it, certainly, and then I did it, but when I watched it the first time, I kept watching it going, 'Wait a minute, that's so clever.' It's so clever, really, really, really well done. Much like Smallville breathed new life into the Superman stories, I think that Sydney White will breathe new life into Snow White."
Because there aren't any Snow White remakes. It's all a Cinderella-story type thing.
John Schneider: "Exactly, exactly. Enough with the glass slipper."
And working with Amanda Bynes as your daughter in this, how was that?
John Schneider: "It was wonderful. It really was. She's a young lady who my 13-year-old can certainly look up to without any regrets from her father. You know, it's terrific in this day and age - especially with the kind of rise and fall of so many of our hot young starlets - to actually have one that's worthy of my 13-year-old's adoration. And that's what she is, and it shows here. And she doesn't take any crap from anybody, which is great. You know, the characters she plays are like right there, right in your face. I like that. She can handle herself and so can Amanda. And she is, as I said, worthy of my Karis Lynn Schneider's adoration."