New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

So it sounds like you are producing the film too.

SG: Yes, me and my Mom are producing it as well. It’s my first producer credit (claps hands), excited! I probably won’t be doing much of the producing part, but my Mom will (laughs).

With the producing, are you at the stage where you and your Mom are finding that you need to generate the work that you really want to do?

SG: Yeah. It took us about two years to get us Thirteen Reasons Why. It was a big fight, because obviously people don’t want to take a chance on me. I’m a Disney kid, and I have to prove myself. I’m totally fine with doing that and looking forward to do so, but that does enable me to work a little bit harder and find things personally within our company, and really pursue them ourselves, which is fun I think. And it gives us a bit more freedom to do things I really want to play.

Being a teenager in the spotlight as this megastar, how do you deal with your typical teenage emotions of being depressed and sad?

SG: It baffles me, because there are adults that say things about me that aren’t nice that I don’t understand how an adult can say that. Even when I was 16 they were writing things about me and stories that I didn’t understand and still don’t understand. And this isn’t just for me, it’s just magnified for me, but I’m sure you deal with Facebook, and Twitter, and how mean people can be. I deal with that a lot. So of course I get sad, depressed, not understanding how people can judge so quick without even knowing me, but that’s the part where I have to take myself out of it. I have wonderful friends, and by that I mean three, that I can trust.

It's just how you carry yourself. It’s about how I handle it. I wouldn’t want to do anything I would regret. There are a lot of things I wish I could say to people, but I can’t, because eventually it is going to come back to me. So I just try to kill them with kindness, vent to my friends, and just let it go as best as I can. That’s all I can do.

So what is a normal day like for you, when you are not doing press tours and shooting films?

SG: I sleep in. I love being outside. If you can’t get me off of my couch watching Friends, I like being outside, because I am never outside. I am always working and on stage, shooting; never outside. I like going to the beach.

What is your favorite Friends character? All Friends fans have one.

SG: I like Rachel. Maybe I am biased, because I love Jennifer Aniston, but I like her a lot. She’s a really fun character, and I took a lot of my comedic qualities and timing from her character.

You also have a new album coming out the week of the movie, so who are artists that inspire you and the direction you are taking your music in?

SG: Britney Spears is the first CD I ever bought with my own money, the first concert I ever went to, so I guess it’s safe to say that she is basically “the princess of pop.” So I was very honored that she gave me a song on the record. I just really love inspiring music. I love Katy Perry’s “Firework” that’s very inspirational and powerful along with Pink’s “Not Perfect.” I love when artists use the power for things like that. You want your kids singing “Firework” opposed to other things on the radio right now. I love how you can do that with music and music is very powerful. I genuinely just want [my listeners] to do what I did when I was younger which was jump on my bed to songs that made you feel good. That’s what my album is.

You have a giant legion of young fans who I am sure would love to be doing what you are doing now. What is the advice you give them?

SG: This advice applies to whatever you want to do, even if you want to be a doctor or teacher. You have to be passionate and love it or it’s just not worth it. You have to deal with a lot of negativity and rejection and sometimes its not going to be fun, and I’m still dealing with that to this day and am lucky that I am continuing to work. I don’t take “no” for an answer easily so I love what I do and am very passionate. As long as you have that and don’t take “no” for an answer, you just keep going.

Continued:       1       2