The School Gyrls: Up Close and Personal!

You’ve probably seen them on magazine covers and TV spots. Showman supreme Nick Cannon, who is now chairman of the TeenNick network, put together three talented teen girls and has directed them in a spunky, fresh and dance club worthy TV movie called “School Gyrls”, a musical set in an all girls’ school (don’t worry, the boys’ school next door shares the quad).

Bambi, the meangirl diva, is out to get our heroines and humungous hall monitor Daisy keeps them in line….sorta. The hottie to land is adorable quarterback, budding musician Colin and the game is on to best Bambi and her meangirl crew at the TeenIsland stunt party.

Catch the “School Gyrls” TV movie on TeenNick on February 21st followed by Nick Cannon’s cool pic Drumline. The gyrls’ song “Something Like a Party” is all over the net and their first album “School Gyrls” will hit stores and be online on March 23rd on the Def Jam label.

We are with the gyrls now at Nick’s NCredible production offices in Studio City, California. The 15 and 16-year old triple threats (sing, dance, act) are Jacque Pyles (character is Jacque Nimble), Monica Parales (Mo-Money/Monica) and Mandy Moseley (Mandy Rain) and they are pint-sized pistols full of energy and charm. We had a great gurl-chat!

What’s it like to be directed by hot Nick Cannon? How fun was it to hang out with gueststars Justin Bieber, Soulja Boy and many more? How do the girls handle haters? Who are their celeb crushes and who would they kill to share a stage with some day? We’ve got all the inside answers…

Q: After you all got the parts, did you meet to hang out to bond and get to know each other?

Jacque: When I first met (the other girls) I had already known of them. I met Monica at a Macy’s Passport (fashion extravaganza) before I auditioned for “The School Gyrls” and I’d seen Mandy at Millennium Dance Complex. So, when we got together it was kind of like we knew of each other. First time we actually hung out was at the studio when we recorded a song.

I auditioned on a Friday and Sunday is when we met at Nick Cannon’s house. We got to meet his wife Mariah. I thought it was a call-back but he was telling us all about what the School Gyrls were gonna do; ‘We’re gonna do a movie and by this time next year you girls won’t even be able to go to the mall’. That’s when we learned about what would happen.

Q: Pretty awesome being at Nick’s and also meeting Mariah! How was working with Nick Cannon as your director? Was he strict or fun or both?

Mo' Money/ Monica

Monica (Mo Money): Nick Cannon is a great person to work with. He’s so intelligent and so much fun like he’s a big kid. He lives to have a lot of fun on set. He plays jokes but he likes to get things done. He gets serious ‘okay we have to get all these scenes done by today’. He’s very professional and we’re blessed to work with him.

Q: In the film, rich, popular meangirl Bambi is just on your case. Who has come up against a diva like Bambi in school or your career and how did you handle it?

Mandy: I had a lot of hate when I was younger because of the way I dress. I dress really out there. I have got a lot of that but not from one particular person because I don’t really let people bully me. I’m strong like that. But, I’ve had some Bambi experiences. This one girl was being mean to me and she was kicking sand at me on the playground (she was very young) so I told her to stop three times and I’m like ‘Next time, I’m gonna go to the principal’ so I did and told her ‘ha ha, I told on you’! That was my way of handling it.

Monica: I don’t think I’ve had a Bambi moment but my older sisters were very mean when I was young they’d always look down on me and tell me what to do but, in school, I think I was the one that actually intimidated other people. I don’t mean to but I guess I have this look on my face that shows the message that I don’t want to talk to anyone but if you come up to me I’ll talk to you.

Mandy: I did that a lot too. People at my dance studio when I first went there thought I was shy but I guess I’m kind of to myself because of all the hate I used to get when I was younger.

Jacque: I know I have dealt with Bambis in my school and my career. Being in the business, if you get a job somebody is gonna hate on you. I know I’ve auditioned where it was me against over a thousand kids and I got it. And I things people said were not good. At school when people found out that I was in the business, they started hating me and got jealous. Girls are catty even over little things like boys. No reason to fight but girls do it.

Q: Did anyone ever try to trash you online or try to wreck your reputation? What did you do about that?

Jacque Nimble

Jacque: Last year in October, I had pictures taken with my friend Justin Bieber. We were swimming; him and his family and me and my mom and we took pictures and you can see that we’re not next to each other, we’re just walking down stairs and hanging out but the pictures got posted on line. ‘Justin’s new girlfriend’. I’m not his girlfriend. I’m his friend but some girls were like ‘no, no. He’s single’ and some girls said ‘why is he dating her?’ It was rumors.

Monica: I’ve posted some of my dance videos on YouTube and some comments are nasty, ‘who is this girl? This girl’s not good’ but there’s always gonna be haters and judgments and we just have to live with that and move forward.

Mandy: I get a lot of hate but my mom told me when I was younger, ‘when people are talking about you, whether it’s positive or negative, that means you are doing something right’. So I just take all the hate and turn it into energy and use it when I’m performing and dancing. If I’m feeling down I say ‘just look at all these people who are sittin’ around talking about me online’. I turn it into energy.

Q: How is each of you like your character and how different?

Mandy: I am a lot like my character. I’m very outgoing with my clothing. I’m very kooky and spunky and odd sometimes. I crack jokes that sometimes make people laugh and sometimes don’t. My character is pretty much me.

Monica (Mo Money): My character is very, very like me because I’m very into fashion, I like my style. I love jewelry, make-up and doing my hair. The only thing that’s different would be I don’t really like high, high fashion things. I could really live with just thrift store shopping; anything that’s cute as long as it’s my style. And, I’m not fake. I don’t pretend I’ve got ‘mo money’ when I’ve got ‘no money’. (we laugh).

Jacque: I’m different from my character, very different. My character in the movie is a rebel, she’s the bad girl and does what she wants. She doesn’t listen and that’s not me. I very obedient, always listening to my mom. I think the only thing we have in common is we’re honest and we dance.

Q: Are you each planning on taking college courses at some point? What would you pick as a major?

Mandy Rain

Jacque: For me, I’ve always wanted to go to college no matter what I did and I wanted to go for Entertainment Law. I have faith that (my career) is going to take off and work but, even if it does, I want to make sure if something happens in the industry where nothing is going on, I’d still have something where I could succeed and able to provide for myself.

Monica: One of my favorite subjects is photography. I love taking pictures so that’s what I wanted to do if this didn’t work out. I’ve always wanted to continue school. My parents would encourage me to stay in school. Knowledge is power so I plan to go to college. That’s my dream.

Mandy: Education has definitely been a challenge in this business. Even though I’ home-schooled now, it’s challenging when we’re going to go on a tour and I have no way to come in and take my tests. I’m might have to switch to online stuff but I have always been very, very focused on my education. I’ve always wanted to be a performer since I was born. I definitely want to go to college but it would be something like going to a performing arts school or becoming a singing coach or something like that because I love the business.

Q: Jacque, your character is a Latina but you are American Indian and French. How did you get into the head of a Latina and do you even understand some of the slang she uses?

Jacque: I do understand my character. I’ll be hanging out with some people, just sitting there and we’ll come up with (slang) words like that. Like, ‘she ruined my hoodie with all that hater-ade’ that’s stuff I would really say.

Q: Mandy, you worked with Nick Cannon before on “Star Camp”. How was that different?

Mandy: “Star Camp” experience was really cool. Nick had an idea for a TV show. It started out online and then was supposed to end up on TV but it never did. Ten teen boys and girls who would be launched into superstars. We went to camp and trained and it was online and went to a finale on Teen Nick. Ever since I met him, the first week, he turned to my mom and said ‘she’s gonna be a monster’. Nick was like ‘it’s a good thing’. He’s had faith in me and that’s a great thing to know.

Q: Monica, your solo “Not Just a Girl” is very touching. How did you get into the mood for it? She is upset and trying to be strong.

Monica: I had to put myself in my character’s shoes. I had to relate to other kids who were going through that (being badly dissed by a classmate in front of the whole school). Before I did the crying scene, I had to get in a corner and gather myself and think about how, in real life what people go through.

The song was very touching. I love it so much. It makes kids look up to the song. It has a very good message. That was my favorite scene.

Jacque: We filmed the part where I pushed mean girl Bambi and I was really into it. I was like ‘she hurt my friend’.

Mandy: I pushed her too. Monica was sitting there really crying, I pushed her before Jacque got a chance to.

Monica: I was really crying a lot. They were shooting it from different angles. I had to get control of myself.

Mandy: Seeing our friend crying was the worst thing. I’m like ‘I’m gonna beat this girl’s butt’.

Jacque: The girl who plays Bambi is really the nicest girl you could meet.

Monica: I was like ‘I’m not going to talk to you this whole day and pretend that this really happened’. We tried doing that and it didn’t work. I can’t not talk to you the whole day.

Q: Do you have much input into your songs on the choreography?

Jacque: When we do live shows the choreographers usually let us put a little input into it. When they can’t think of something, we always help. We know what we like to watch as kids. But, as for the movie, we really didn’t do that.

Mandy: We definitely get input on the music.

Monica: We always make sure we’re okay with doing something. We don’t do it if we’re not comfortable with it.

Q: Were any of you a fan of the “High School Musical” movies?

Jacque: The first one, I was younger and was like ‘this is so cool’ I’m really into dancing and performing, the second one was kind of ‘eh’ and the third one my friend was in it and I still haven’t seen it. When it first came out the storyline was really good. It has a good message for everybody and I think that’s why it was so successful.

Mandy: Ours is a little bit more edgy; food fight! Pushing girls. I liked the “High School Musical” movies but I didn’t like how they’d be in mid-conversation and just randomly start singing. It was a bit too intense for me. In ours we kind of fade into it and it’s more natural.

Monica: I think that’s what people will like; it’s super fun, different and young, super hip…pip!

Q: If the movie becomes a TV series, what do each of you hope the writers and showrunners let your character do?

Jacque: My character is a rapper B girl in the movie so if we get to do a TV series, I like rappers like Young Lenny. That would be great to have a lot of cool guest stars; cameos for a lot of cool people.

Monica: I’m down for anything.. I’d want more make-up and cool clothes.

Mandy: I’d like my character to do crazy stuff like sky-diving.. just stuff that people can watch and be like ‘that is so cool. I wanna try that’.

Q: Your characters write in video pads called POW Journals. If these were real, what would you each write to describe what the experience of making “School Gyrls” was like?

Jacque: I know if I really had a POW journal, I’d write that the best experience was being able to work with these amazing girls and being able to meet new friends and have an experience where I was featured in the movie. Not a lot of people, at 15 can say that has happened to them. And just the people we worked with, Justin Bieber, Angie Stone, Mariah Carey, all that stuff is amazing.

Monica: I’d just write everything we’ve done, the movie, the recording sessions, our trip to China. We got to perform for their Harbor Lights Festival and filmed it.

Jacque: I would write about going to China with these girls. It definitely brought us closer. I’d write how happy and grateful I am to be with these two girls!! (giggles and hugs).

Mandy: I’d write about the movie and the China experience. Not a lot of 16-year-old girls can say there was an ice sculpture made of them. And my favorite moment in the movie was Mathias, the cute jock in the movie, sneezed on me and I was grossed out. They were putting a fake booger on my face and I had to sit there letting it dry. That was fun, and meeting new friends and getting to work with Kristina DeBarge and Mariah Carey. Just all the amazing stuff that has happened and the great journey to come.

Q: Did anybody get to hang out at all off set or on set with Justin Bieber or Soulja Boy? What was that like?

Jacque: I became friends with Justin afterwards so I hang out with him when he comes to L.A. As for Soulja Boy, we got to hang a little and talk on set. Justin came the fifth day of filming and afterwards we all went bowling. Monica couldn’t come but the kids in the movie all went bowling.

Monica: When Justin came, we had a jam session. He was playing his guitar and we would sing songs. He was fun to work with and very down to earth.

Jacque: They were all approachable and wanting to hang out with us and get to know us.

Mandy: It was cool. We’d all vibe off of each other. We didn’t get to hang with Soulja Boy too much..

Monica: My character was really into Soulja Boy in the movie and I was ‘oh, I wanna talk to him’. I was talking to him about his tattoos. I was always talking to somebody when I was there.

Q: Were there any jokes or pranks on set? Who is the one of you who says “We’ve gotta get back to work”?

Jacque: All of us are into jokes and always playing. We didn’t play pranks on each other. Well, I was driving a golf cart and we were following the producer around on another one. He was going super fast and we were racing. He turned a corner and the A.D. learned out and almost tipped us.

Monica: I almost died and Jacque saved me. I’m the big sister, the oldest so I’m the one who is like ‘we’ve gotta get to work. I know you’re on Twitter but get it together’.

Q: Nick has also gotten animators to put out comic books and cartoons of your characters. What does each of you think of how your animated (cartoon) character looks?

Jacque: I love my little cartoon. On set everybody was like ‘your eyes are so big. It’s like a deer in the headlights’ and when my character came out, they made her eyes really big. It was so cool.

Monica: I love my character. She was dancing in the movie. I never thought I’d be a cartoon character. That’s pretty cool.

Mandy: My animated character is pretty dead on. She’s got the blue nail polish which I’m always rockin’ and always throws the peace sign up. It was awesome to see that they got all of that. They got the hair and everything.

Q: What do each of you watch on T.V.?

Jacque: I watch everything. “i-Carly”, “Glee”, “90210”, “American Idol”, “So You Think You Can Dance”. I’m into “CSI”, and “Medium” and “Ghost Whisperer”. I tivo everything.

Monica: I watch “Lost” (we both do so we launch into a conversation about the last episode).

Mandy: I rent a lot of stuff. I only watch when I’m eating unless it’s “90210” or “Glee”. Those are my two shows that I watch. I don’t watch “American Idol” that much, just the try-outs. I watch “i-Carly” and “Sponge Bob”. Sometimes I watch reality shows (everybody discusses “Bad Girls Club”).

Q: Who would each of you love to be on stage with some day?

Jacque: We got to do a song with Mariah Carey so we want to perform that song with her but my celebrity crush is Trey Songz. I want to perform with him.

Monica: If I got to work with somebody it would be Alicia Keys. I love her. She’s so talented and Lauren Hill. I know she doesn’t really sing anymore but she’s one of my inspirations.

Mandy: I would love to be on stage with Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, all the big hitters and my celebrity crush is Nick Jonas so I’d love to be on stage with him too.

Monica: I love Kobe Bryant.

Q: What would you say to teens as to why they’ll really enjoy watching “School Gyrls”?

Monica: You’re really going to enjoy this movie because it’s something different. We’re fresh, we’re new. You’re gonna like it.

Jacque: Like she said, we’re comin’ out and we have a lot of good music in there that anyone can listen to from 10 to 30. All ages.

Mandy: You can relate to it. It’s not like “High School Musical”. It’s one of a kind.

Source: Teen Music