Meaghan Jette Martin Writes Dear Lemon Lima

Pretty, blonde teen actress Meaghan Jette Martin started out on the Disney Channel in guest roles then in “Camp Rock”, “Camp Rock 2” and on ABC Family in the TV series “Ten Things I Hate About You”. Recently, she played lead character Jo (the nice girl) in Mean Girls 2.

This week, in theaters and on demand, you can catch the friendly actress co-starring as Megan Kennedy, snooty coed turned great friend in the quirky high school-centric movie Dear Lemon Lima about a 13-year-old half Native American girl who is living through her first heartbreak in the friendless halls of prep school in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Ever fallen for someone who was just all about themselves? Meaghan and her character can relate. We’re chatting with her on the cell in L.A.

Kidzworld: In Lemon Lima, your character Megan really likes Philip then learns what a jerk he is. Have you ever liked a guy and, as you got to know him, realized he wasn’t that great?

• Meaghan Jette Martin: Luckily, I’ve never really liked a guy who turned out to be a jerk but there are definitely the guys that I’ve been interested in and then found out that they were way more boring than I thought [laughs] but I’ve never liked a jerk, luckily.

Kidzworld: Do you recommend that girls get out of a relationship like that? Some stay just because the guy is popular.

• Meaghan: Oh definitely. I think it’s completely unhealthy to be in a relationship where a guy isn’t treating you well. It’s funny. I watch my friends who are in relationships with guys like that and I say to them, over and over again, ‘You can do so much better’. I think it’s because a lot of girls are in love with the idea of being in love more than they are the actual guy so they convince themselves that it’s fine and they don’t move on.

Kidzworld: On the femme side, did you ever dislike a girl because she was labeled uncool or outcast then get to know her and realize she was really cool?

• Meaghan: I never really stayed away from anyone. I was very much not a follower of labels in school. If anything, I was labeled ‘uncool’. I feel like I never really avoided anybody because of that but there are definitely people who I would never expect them to be my friends and they ended up being some of my closest friends. You need to get to know someone.

Kidzworld: Your birthday was the 17th. So, what did you do?

• Meaghan: I just had my friends over and we had this dessert party. Everybody made desserts and we ate them together. It was very quiet.

Kidzworld: Yum! What attracted you to being in Lemon Lima? It’s just so quirky and different.

• Meaghan: I loved the script. I thought it was very well-written and I loved that Suzi Yoonessi was director and writer and it was young and a fresh approach to a traditional coming of age story. It was all female producers. We had a female cinematographer. It was a very woman-powered cast and crew and I really liked that.

Kidzworld: Why do you think girls have a fond memory of their first love even if it wasn’t all that great? Do you?

• Meaghan: I definitely do. Everybody has their first love. I think it goes back to being in love with the idea of being in love. Everybody wants love and your first love is special. You’ve never experienced anything like that. It’s good to have a fond memory of it. I know a lot of people who have very negative memories of their first loves.

Kidzworld: Vanessa in the film keeps a diary and writes to Dear Lemon Lima. Did you or do you keep a diary? When we’re older I guess we call it a journal.

• Meaghan: Yes I do keep one now. I’ve always been steady on and off keeping diaries and journals. I try to document everything so I can remember it the older I get. When you’re older, it’s not so much like ‘I have a huge crush on blah, blah’ anymore. It’s more like ‘this is what’s going on with work and this is what I’m frustrated about in life’.

Kidzworld: Where did you shoot the film?

• Meaghan: We were in Seattle, Washington, very much like a second Alaska. A lot of people in Seattle are originally from Alaska.

Kidzworld: Did the cast get to hang out off set and do anything fun?

• Meaghan: Yeah. We were all pretty busy but when we had down time, we explored the city. Vanessa Marano, who plays Samantha, and I explored. In Seattle there is a giant troll statue under a bridge so we got to go see that and we saw the first Starbucks ever because it started in Seattle.

Kidzworld: Who was the jokester or prankster on the set and what did they do?

• Meaghan: We had the same background kids in the movie every single day and they were a huge part of the movie. There were twin brothers and they were pretty full of jokes and hijinks usually.

Kidzworld: Is your character’s fashion anything like yours and would you wear it?

• Meaghan: Mostly, it was a little restricted because we had a very small budget. So, there are a lot of school girl uniforms and there was always the joke that they were putting me in like size 12 little girls so they’d be really tight and really short. Everybody else got to wear their normal size.
  I don’t think there is anything I’d wear in real life. But it worked for the character. Really the only thing you see her in besides school clothes, the survival uniform and PE clothes is the pink dress that she wears. I loved that dress. The wardrobe fit the movie; very quirky, pastel and artsy and I liked that.

Kidzworld: Would you like to do another TV series or are you pursuing feature films only now?

• Meaghan: I’d love to do another TV series or feature films. I just like to act. Look at James Franco who does huge movies and he’s also in ‘General Hospital’. I love that he’s all over and hope to be like that someday.

Kidzworld: Any plans for your music since ‘Camp Rock 2’?

• Meaghan:: No. I had an epiphany about my career about two years ago when I decided I really didn’t want to pursue music. I love to sing but I really only love to do it when it goes along with acting, when it’s my character singing. I’d rather not do an album or tour. That’s why I didn’t go on the Camp Rock 2 tour last summer.

Kidzworld: Good for you for going with your heart. What is Sironia and who do you play?

• Meaghan: That’s an independent film that I did last year. It’s almost finished and I think it’ll make the film festival circuit. It’s a very neat plot. It has a lot of very well-known actors in it; Jeremy Sisto from ‘Six Feet Under’ and Tony Hale from ‘Arrested Development’. The movie is about a singer/songwriter who is past his prime. I play a pop singer who is the epitome of everything he doesn’t want to be. I’m a sell-out and I don’t care. I sing in that one.

Kidzworld: Who would be your dream co-star?

• Meaghan: I think probably number one would be Anne Hathaway. I love her. I love the work she does and her choices.

Kidzworld: Did you watch her host the Oscars?

• Meaghan: I did. I love her and James Franco so I did watch.

Kidzworld: Any person in books or real life you would like to play some day?

• Meaghan: I think it would be neat to play any old Hollywood star. That would be interesting.