The past year has been hit after hit for Amanda Schull! She starred opposite Courtney Thorne-Smith and Lucy Hale in the Lifetime film, Sorority Wars. Her movie Mao's Last Dancer, which was highly honored at the Toronto Film Festival, was just released. She became a part of one of television's biggest summer shows', ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars and also returned to the CW drama One Tree Hill for an unexpected twist. Schull did something unique for television when moving back to Tree Hill, she played someone polar opposite from the role she played with her debut on the show. The always very down-to-earth Schull recently chatted with me about her unique experience of portraying two different people on one show, the fun she had with Pretty Little Liars, & and what her secret burning desire is!
You play a recurring character on Pretty Little Liars, which is the hit of the summer. How did you get involved with it?
Amanda-Just the ordinary way. There's no exciting story about it I guess. I actually did know about the project because Lucy Hale and I did a Lifetime movie together last year, Sorority Wars. It's ironic because in that film she and Courtney Thorne-Smith were the nice mom and daughter and Faith Ford and I were the mean mom and daughter ,and I tried to ruin her life in that one. And she told me about Pretty Little Liars and how she was doing it and I got the material and I was like no way I'm back to ruin her life again! (Laughs) It was like a year to the day that I had ruined her life the first time.
When I walked on set and saw her, it's funny because we hadn't seen each other in months and she ran off the set for a second and gave me a hug and everyone was like you guys are supposed to hate each other.
What most appeals to you about Meredith? She's not exactly the nicest person.
Amanda-You know when I read for the role they gave me more material than what you've seen so far. What you saw with her before wasn't necessarily nice I guess, but she's a very determined person. I guess in some ways she's in some way related to Katie [One Tree Hill]. She isn't going to let a little kid tell her how to lead her life but she's not evil. Hopefully you'll get the chance to see that. She's not a nasty evil psychotic person by any means.
Do you have a favorite moment from being on the set of Pretty Little Liars?
Amanda-You know it's interesting because the difference between the One Tree Hill set and the Pretty Little Liars set, the Pretty Little Liars set was totally new. It is a new show so there's a different energy which is exciting, but at the same time people are still sort of learning the ropes. It's not the well oiled machine that One Tree Hill is, but that doesn't make it any less exciting at all. It's a different excitement and energy and people are trying out new things. And they're curious because the characters are new and they're still feeling them out which is really fun to be a part of. You know people learning who they are rather than having done it for so many years and then not needing the exploration. It's fun to be a part of the investigatory process.
Speaking of One Tree Hill, you went from playing a very sweet girl to kind of a stalker psycho so to speak..how was the transition for you to play such opposite roles on the same show?
Amanda-I love it! (Laughs) You know being nice is all well and good, but it's a lot of fun to not be nice. I mean a lot of fun. When they handed that gun over to me, (Laughs) I loved it. I had never held a gun before in my life and I don't advocate the use of fire arms. I never want to own a gun. But when I knew that I was going to get to be mean, ooh it was exciting! So exciting!
Katie isn't really mean, you can just tell she's mentally unstable.
Amanda-Yeah again like Meredith, she's not evil. I think she's mentally unwell. And I did look at that a little bit and examine that because she's very vulnerable. But she's sort of like a hot wire. She can go either way from one minute to the next. So she was vulnerable in a lot of scenes because it's not that she's trying to get into Clay's life because she thinks it will be fun, she really does believe she loves Clay. And so I think when he turned her down in the episode one or two before the end [episode 7.21], I mean she did want to jump. It wasn't that she was just faking it to get his attention. I think she really would have jumped because nothing else mattered if he didn't love her back.
Is there any chance we will see Katie again during season eight?
Amanda-Yeah! I don't know when exactly but we have been discussing coming back. I was originally supposed to come back sooner and I guess they're changing the script up so I don't even know what's going to happen. They're changing things up so we'll see. But I am coming back. I look forward to it, too.
You and I have done a couple interviews now, you definitely come across as a very grounded person to me. How do you keep away from all the young Hollywood mayhem and negativity and not allow it to change you?
Amanda-Well thank you first of all. I'm not very typical Hollywood. It's funny because I'm talking to you right now from my apartment which is like a block away from Sunset Boulevard (Laughs) but I never walk in that direction. I mean it might as well be on the other side of the earth for me. I grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, which is not miles distance the furtherest from LA but the mentality couldn't be further from it. I appreciate when people are honest. And I've been told before that I can be a little too honest with people, I think that's something that helps to come out in your acting to be an honest person and I think that really comes across in acting. So I've always just tried to maintain a sense of integrity and honesty with myself because not only will that benefit my career, but it can't hurt to be that kind of person in life because isn't that sort of what everybody wants around them? People who will tell them the truth and be honest and good and there for them. So that's sort of what I try to attract and you can't really attract that if you don't be that way yourself.
What's the best best piece of advice you have ever been given when you were starting out as a dancer or an actress?
Amanda-You know with dancing and acting I don't know if it's one particular piece of advice but it's one similar thread, that you can't be a good dancer unless you really work at it. And the same applies to acting. You're not just going to roll out of bed and walk onto set and give a mind blowing performance. You have to really cultivate and enhance it. At the same time have a thick skin for both careers because there's going to be a lot of rejection and a lot of negativity. So I think if you just work really hard and you have that seed in yourself knowing that you're doing everything you can do and you're doing it to the best of your ability. you're not going to be disappointed at the end of the day.
What's the one question you've never been asked that you've always wanted to answer?
Amanda-I have a secret burning desire to be on Broadway. I would love it. I did musical theater growing up so that would be so much fun. To do a musical film even. Like that high you get from being on stage with a live audience and a live orchestra is incredible. I would pinch myself if I got that opportunity.
Do you have an upcoming project you would like to tell the fans about?
Amanda-The film that I did a couple years ago is going to have its North American debut finally which is very exciting on August 20th. The film is called Mao's Last Dancer. I'm very excited. It's an incredible film and I didn't think it was going to take this long. We premiered it last year at the Toronto Film Festival and it came in runner up and it's been received all over the world already. And then Pretty Little Liars and One Tree Hill!
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