Janelle Ortiz Talks Prom

by Helen Earnshaw | 26 September 2011

Janelle Ortiz

I caught up with her to talk about the new movie, working on a film for the very first time and how she managed to find her feet again after a sports injury spoiled her plans.

- Prom is about to be released on DVD here in the UK so can you tell me a little bit about the movie?

The movie is called Prom so it's about eleven to thirteen students and they all have different intersecting storylines that end up at Prom.

So you basically see from one perspective what happens before Prom from the couple in a relationship and then the single girl... so it's really just following around a high school and things that happen and things they do before the ultimate celebration of Prom.

- You take on the role of Ali Gomez in the movie so tell us about your character?

Ali is very crazy; you could say (laughs). She really is the gossip girl of the school she is and she is constantly on the look out for new information about everybody else - so she has he phone in her hand all the time (laughs).

But she is very confident and she is not afraid to say what she thinks, which I think is fabulous.

- What was it about the role and the script that drew you to the project?

I really loved it. But there is kind of a funny story once I got the audition, this was may second audition ever; right before that I had trained for a year and a half, I talked to my manager at the time and we decided that we didn't want to do anything Disney related, I have no idea why, so when I got the audition for some reason I didn't want it.

So I went I was like 'right I am purposefully going to do the most awkward audition with the most random pauses and make them never bring me back for another Disney audition again.' So I went in and I did the weirdest audition.

I was talking to a producer about two or three weeks after and they said that when I walked out they knew I was the one because I was the most natural. So out of 1,500 girls my awkward audition was the most natural.

But once I really read the script and got into the character I just really loved Ali, I loved the confidence that she was and how much she enjoyed getting into everyone's business - I think Ali is really great.

- And how much of Ali do you see in yourself?

A bit. I like knowing thing about people but not to the extent that she does - I don't go out of my way to do all that (laughs).

- Prom is your feature film debut so how did you find stepping in front of a movie camera for the first time?

It was so incredible! At first I was so nervous because we had such a large cast of about eleven people and some of them had been working for a while so I was the newbie.

But I just got up there and Joe, the director, was extremely helpful and all the producers were fabulous and so were the actors as they really walked me through everything and taught me how everything was suppose to work.

So it was just great and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people because we still remain very close friends

- Well that sort of touches on my next question really the movie sees you star alongside Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell so what was the feeling like on set with the rest of the cast?

It was great! We all said that it was a summer camp for us in a way because after we had finished filming we would get all the soft balls and tennis balls and soccer balls, we were filming in a school, and just play like crazy.

We all just got so incredibly close, and we remain close, we do Prom game night and Prom dinners regularly and we are just like one bug family now - it sounds really cheesy but it's true.

- Joe Nussbaum was in the director's chair so how did you find him as a filmmaker?

He was great he was just so helpful. On this film I didn't really know what was going on half of the time but he would take the time between takes to explain things to me. So he was so helpful and I felt that I learnt so much from him.

- I read that you were into sports in high school and had no plans for an acting career so what made you choose this path?

I played softball, I played a bit of everything but I really did focus on softball. In junior year of my high school career, I'm not sure how it works over there (UK), but junior year is when the main recruiting takes place - so I was being recruited by five colleagues.

But during that year I actually got injured and I couldn't play ever again. I freaked out because that had been my identity since I was eight years old - getting up at 5am every weekend to go and play softball games - so I really didn't know what to do with myself.

So I actually started take acting classes as a form of therapy in a way as it allowed me to get out of my head and become someone else. But I really just fell in love with the craft and I realised that it was my new passion and it was what I wanted to do for, hopefully, the rest of my life.

So I trained for a year and a half and then my manager got me the audition for Prom, which was my second audition, so it all happened very unexpectedly.

- This being your first movie what sort of things did you learn to onto other movies and projects?

Oh I learnt so much! I just learnt how it works; that you get a call time every morning, then you go t hair and make-up, when you are having lunch you have to wear this big garbage bag over your costume so you don't get it dirty.

I'm just so grateful that Prom was my first film, and my first film was a Disney film because now I know how I am supposed to be treated on set, I know how everything is suppose to go and how everything works.

I think the main that I learnt was just to be comfortable and to have fun - if you mess up you can re-do it. But I think just to have fun and optimise the experience because you are never going to have the same experience twice so just has as much fun as you can.

- Suddenly you have been thrust into the limelight while you have been promoting this movie so how have you found adjusting to all the attention?

(Laughs). I love it a lot and I love it mainly because it gives me the chance to help out other people in a way. When I was looking to go to colleague I wanted to become a lawyer and a children's attorney but now I have been given this opportunity to positively impact more young women.

So I work with a bunch of organisations, such as Girls Inc, and they are all about empowering young women - so I have really optimised this whole celebrity aspect just to help other people and use what I have to positively impact others.

So I guess that's what I am using it for and I think it's fantastic and I really enjoy it.

- So you are starting out on a film career so for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps and do the same what advice would you give them?

I would say, and it's the same for anything that you want to pursue, if you are passionate about it and it's something that you want to do then pursue it 100% and don't let anyone tell you no.

When I got injured all of my athlete friends were like 'you are going to become an actress? Why do you want to be an actress? There's no reason that you would do that' but it's what I wanted to do and I invested 100% of my time and effort into it - and it really paid off.

So I think follow your passion - it's extremely important and that is what I try to do. So if you are passionate about acting and you want to do it get the proper training, become focused on it and there really isn't anything that you cannot do.

- Finally what's next for you?

I'm auditioning a bit and I am writing some stuff as well. But I am also working on an EP; we are going into the studio in a couple of weeks, so that should be awesome. But it's really busy and there's so much stuff up in the air but I am just having so much fun.

Prom is out on DVD now - read out review here

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw