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RadioFree.com: Despite your character Riley being described as "ultra popular," she doesn't seem to be the archetypal mean girl we've become accustomed to seeing in that role...
DANIELA: Yeah, thank you for noticing that!
How would you characterize her, and what aspects of Riley could you connect with?
The script was very realistic in the sense that not all schools have the "mean girls" that you're talking about, like from the movie Mean Girls. There's different levels of mean girls, and they're not necessarily mean--like people refer to them as mean, but it's [really] the popular crowd, it's the kids that everybody knows in the school. But at least in my school and in my experience, there's the stereotypical ones like the Mean Girls movie, but then there's the ones that are the mean girls to the mean girls. And I think that's what Riley is--not that she's necessarily mean, but I think she's so confident in herself and she's got her own style, and she doesn't necessarily pay attention to the actual popular girls. That, in turn, makes her popular. And that's what I really liked about her: she literally marches to her own beat. And she's not even like a high school girl. I feel like she's past high school--she has her own fashion. Not that I was necessarily that girl in high school... [laughs] But I don't think she really conforms to high school, and that's how I felt. I didn't really fit in in high school because I was already looking past it--I wanted to move to LA. So I related to her independent spirit, and that she didn't turn to anybody around her to tell her what to do. But she also didn't tell people what to do, either. So she's a trendsetter by accident, if anything.
How did you approach her descent into addiction?
The beauty of the movie for me, and the script, is that it has such a gradual progression, yet it's really fast. So all of a sudden, it goes from, like, one pill to a pill with a drink. It really shows the progression, and it shows, for all the characters, how it progresses in their life. And I loved how they show that for Riley, really, it just started casually, but the problem just takes a hold of you. So I really related with that, with her, because it's so easy. I mean, you can easily relate it to something like chocolate, how you can't just have one piece. [laughs] Once you taste it, you want more. And it really is that simple: just some kids accidentally try a drug, and the drug grabs them.
 
How would you describe your own high school experience?
You know, it was very interesting because I already had it in mind that I wanted to act by the time that I got into high school. And the moment I stepped in--actually about a month and a half in--I booked my first part. So right away, I kind of got pulled out of the experience. And even though I was dead set to have both, it wasn't really possible. So my high school experience wasn't too social. When I was actually in school, I was working really hard just to get my classes done. I was doing my homework during lunchtime, and then after school, I was going to auditions. I was still doing theatre back then, so I would go to rehearsals. So while I was in high school, almost the full four years, I didn't really have a high school experience. If anything, I had the high school experience through my characters. [laughs]
Perfect High makes use of several social media montages, and there are a ton of selfies. Being so engaged with social media yourself, did you and your castmates contribute the actual photos and videos that we see in the movie?
[laughs] Yeah, we did! This was such an exciting part about the movie. Our director, Vanessa Parise, had a vision, and she was able to articulate it to us perfectly. And so we knew early on that the movie would look like this. We collaborated with her, so some of the selfies are her ideas, some of the videos are the producers' ideas, and a lot of them were ours. So it was like a big group effort. But yeah, they all came from us. On the first week of filming, they actually gave us iPhones [and] we would go around and we could take pictures whenever, and then by the end of production, collected them. And they're a lot of the selfies that you see, especially in the montage at the end. That's all of ours. And you see that they actually pulled from our personal Instagrams, too. So it's really cool to have big parts of ourselves in the movie as well.
One character comments that Facebook is for old people, which demonstrates just how fast social media trends come and go. Even though you're not far removed from high school age, do you still feel comfortable playing teen students? Do you "get kids these days"?
[laughs] You know, that's a question I ask myself quite often, because I do feel like I'm still in high school, especially because [of] a lot of the roles that I play. I'm only now starting to play, like, "out of college," and I've played a lot of college students as well. But yeah, it's easy for me to relate just because I think that social media has kind of blended in the gap. I do interact with a younger generation that are still in high school, and they definitely do introduce new things to me. And that's when you're like, "Oh wow, I used to be this person, I used to introduce lots of stuff!" So it's a fine balance. It depends on what you're talking about--like I was super late jumping onto Snapchat, and I'm still not fully onto it. But I think that should I have actually been in high school at the moment, then I would have been on it. But in all aspects of my career--because I do still play high school, but also because I have to be social media savvy for publicity--I think I'm closer to still being up to date than not.
How did you feel about finally getting to play someone closer to your own age in Mothers of the Bride?
That was awesome! That was a first, and I was so excited to actually fully bring myself to it! [laughs] I mean, obviously I'm not married yet, so that was really exciting to also look for. But it was just really nice and refreshing. Not that I have to really think about it when I play younger, but it was just easier, and I was able to bring, like, all of myself, whereas I would have to tone down some of my experiences that I have had when I do play high school.
You mentioned working in theatre...Was that for school productions?
I actually only did one high school play, and that was right before I left high school. I did a lot of community theatre through a little group back in Vancouver, and we did some of the best shows, and we would do tours over spring break. It was awesome!
What were some of the characters and plays you performed?
My two favorite ones were the most recent that I did: I played Gabriella in High School Musical and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
With an iconic role like Dorothy, did you have the freedom to put your own spin on it, or did you have to stick with what audiences are familiar with?
Hmmm...You know, I did watch the movie early on, but I found the life of the character within the rehearsals. But the Dorothy spirit...She's just so innocent and curious and fascinated by everything. Not gullible...Like, I'll stick to "innocent!" [laughs] But just a really young spirit. And that's so easy to find when you're doing it. But while it was similar to the movie and what most people know, I think I did put my own spin on it. I think my innocence looks different than, obviously, hers did. So yeah, I think I put my own spin to it, but it still was in the flavor that everybody loved.
I had followed your show Anger Management pretty regularly as a fan of Shawnee Smith, but was disappointed when they phased out your character and hers in favor of a Charlie Sheen/Brian Austin Green bromance. Reflecting on your role as Sam, what do you think ever became of her? Do you imagine that she resolved her OCD issues?
You know, I definitely related to Sam a lot. [laughs] So as someone who definitely relates with her, I think you never really overcome your problems. It's kind of your cross to carry, especially with OCD and your anxiety and her quirkiness, which I think I have a little bit of, too. I don't know if it came from me and I put it into her, or her into me. [laughs] But I think her quirkiness grew up with her, so I think her quirks are different--in the beginning, it was with her little lucky charms that she always had to carry with her, and then it graduated to boys. So I think as she grew up, I could see her maybe having a lucky lipstick, or a lucky purse. So I think she grew up with it. And maybe it's less intense, but at the same time, I know as I got older and I got my first apartment, that's when my OCD really came out--whereas before it was just closing, like, my locker, it grew up with me to like, "I have to close my apartment door twice just to make sure that it's done." So yeah, I think it grows up with you.
I understand that you lent your voice to the Kickstarter project Rain of the Ghosts. Do you have extensive experience with voiceover work?
I haven't done a lot, but it's definitely a big interest of mine. This was my first audiobook that I've ever done. I've done little commercials here and there on the radio. Mostly in Spanish, actually. Not so much English yet. I've voiced a few video games, but this was my first audiobook, and I'm really excited about it.
What are some of the games that you've worked on?
You know, they're actually not out yet, and I'm not supposed to say. I wish I could say more, but I can't. But it's going to be really exciting, and it's a big franchise!
Did you find it challenging to not have the use of your body in voice work?
Well, you still have to use your body. That was the great part. We worked with an amazing studio that actually had a pretty big booth, and you really have to throw your body into it. So if [your character is] running, you definitely have to jog in place. If you're supposed to be out of breath, you still have to do that. So it's not as challenging as you would think. If anything, I find it harder for the lines that you're just speaking, because you can't really rely on your face. And I don't know how this happened, but apparently, when I speak, I convey a lot through my facial expressions. [laughs] So when I first started doing voice work, that was my biggest challenge--to make sure that my voice was actually conveying what I would if my face was being shown.
That makes you the perfect candidate for a voiceover role where they also do motion capture on your face...
Yeah, that would be awesome! I think they would trip out at how much I use my eyebrows. [laughs] But I would love to do that one day!
You said you had done some commercials in Spanish...Are you completely fluent?
Yes, it's my first language! I was born and raised in Mexico, and I still speak it with my parents, I can still read it. Write it is not my forte. [laughs] But I can do all three.
How long did you live in Mexico?
I lived in Mexico until I was 7, and then my parents and I moved to Canada. But my whole family's still in Mexico, and a big part of my heart is still there.
When did you move to Los Angeles?
I moved to Los Angeles 2010, when I was 16.
So you have basically dominated North America...
[laughs] When people ask me where I'm from, I'm like, "Well, the easy answer is 'North America...'"
What are some other projects on the horizon that fans can see you in after Perfect High?
I kind of catapulted [into] projects that are all centered on big social issues. I did one where my dad was an alcoholic, and I really got to portray what it's like to have a parent that has an addiction. So that's the other side of addiction, and that project is called Texas Heart...I [also] just finished one called Face to Face, which is actually another social media heavy movie. And we deal with several issues with that: we deal with bullying, with somebody that is not out of the closet yet, with a parent that is abusing, but this time it's sexual abuse. And the whole story's actually told through FaceTime. So I'm really excited to see what that's going to look like, because we did all the camerawork ourselves. You really only see one character at a time--you feel like you're actually FaceTiming with the characters. So that's super interesting, along with a few Facebook and Instagram posts as well.
Between that and all of the social media contributions you made for Perfect High, do you have any interest in getting behind the camera to direct?
Honestly, it has sparked that in me. I've always been the kind of actor that if I'm not in the scene, or if it's somebody else's coverage or something, I'm always looking around, and I make friends with the DPs and the camera guys. Especially on this last project with Face to Face. It was really interesting because the DP basically had to tell me, like, how to move around and how to position the camera. So if I ever get to do anything like that, it would be amazing.
Thanks for your time, Daniela! It has been a pleasure to speak with you this afternoon...
Thank you so much! And have a great rest of your day...Bye-bye!
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