Ink Splot 26: POP-Corn: Ashley Tisdale & More!

POP Corn Tasty tidbits on your celebrity faves!
From Gerri Miller, for the Ink Splot 26 Celeb Beat

Hello and welcome to POP-Corn, your source for cool news from the world of entertainment. You may remember the POP-Corn column from Scholastic News Online. Well, this summer it's on The Splot! We'll be bringing you a new jam-packed edition every other week, so be sure to tune in every other Friday all through the summer! (And on the other Fridays, STACKS Staffers will be posting their own Book Flap columns clueing you in to all the latest happenings with your favorite books, series, authors, and page-to-screen adaptations. It's all part of our first Summer on The Splot!)

ASHLEY & THE ALIENS

What would you do if aliens invaded your summer vacation house, turned your boyfriend into a remote-controlled zombie robot, and planned to take over the world?

That's what Ashley Tisdale has to deal with in the new adventure movie Aliens in the Attic. In the movie, opening July 31st with a PG rating, Ashley plays Bethany, who finds out she's got bigger problems than a lying boyfriend (Robert Hoffman) when four little space creatures (including one voiced by Drake & Josh's Josh Peck) land on her house.

Although she wasn't there as long as the other actors because of her High School Musical 3 shooting schedule, Ashley had a great time shooting the movie in Auckland, New Zealand. "Every weekend we were going to a different island or going to a different beach and hanging out. The whole cast would hang out all the time, so it was definitely a lot of fun," says Ashley, who went with castmates to see fave band Goodnight Nurse in concert while she was there.

Ashley's own music career is hotter than ever, with the release of her second album Guilty Pleasure on July 28th. "There are a lot of break-up songs," says Ashley, who co-wrote four of the CD's tunes. "It's very personal—everything behind the album is all my idea," she says. "Switch," one of the tracks, is also on the Aliens soundtrack. She plans to do a concert tour to support the album, probably in Europe first.

Between looking for her next acting role and projects to produce, Ashley took time out to appear on an upcoming episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition with the Hampton family of Missouri. "The kids really wanted to meet me as one of their wishes, so I'm going down there to design part of their room, and then also do a concert with my band," she explains.

Ashley has seen her own wishes come true in Hollywood. "At a young age I did not know I'd be where I am today. I was doing commercials and modeling but I always dreamt of doing movies and TV shows," she says. "I've always been very driven," she confides. "And even though I've been in the business for so long and I've had a lot of success with the High School Musical movies I still feel that my career has just begun."

She hopes she can set a good example for kids who want to achieve their goals. "Don't ever limit yourself," she declares. "Keep going no matter what and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. With hard work, you'll definitely get there!"

Find out what Ashley and co-star Robert Hoffman have to say about Aliens in the Attic in this exclusive video!

Want to know why Ashley and Robert love to read? Get the scoop in this video:

ROBERT & CARTER BATTLE ALIENS

Carter Jenkins, who plays Ashley's brother in Aliens in the Attic, had practice dealing with a computer-generated creature in TV's Surface, so the aliens in the movie weren't all that alien to him. There were little 3D models called maquettes on set so the cast got to see what the creatures looked like. "But when we're acting with the aliens, it was just a little piece of tape on the end of a string," says Carter, who loved making the movie in New Zealand. Sometimes, Kevin Nealon, who plays his dad, did stand-up comedy at local clubs, and the cast would go see him perform, notes Carter. "The Kiwi people are so friendly. On our own time, we explored and learned about their culture and saw some amazing beaches. I didn't get to travel as much as I wanted to throughout the country," he says. "I can't wait to go back!

Robert Hoffman (Step Up 2), who plays Ashley's boyfriend Ricky, says his dance background definitely helped with all the crazy robot movements and stunts he had to do in the movie. But the physical comedy took its toll. "My back took a beating for sure. There were a lot of times in a fight scene where I had to keep landing on my back really hard and stuff like that. And when I run in a circle on the gravel, I definitely tore up my arm pretty good. I definitely got some scars there. But I got to do my first really intense action scene. That was really fun," he says.

A big fan of alien movies like E.T. and the kid-fighting-back flick Home Alone, Carter thinks Aliens in the Attic has some aspects of both. "They were childhood favorites of mine," he says, "and I hope that Aliens in the Attic will be a childhood favorite for this generation."

Check out what Carter and Kevin Nealon have to say about Aliens in the Attic here!

Here Carter and Kevin tell you why reading is so important to them!

WHAT TO WATCH & HEAR

British twins Becky and Milly Rosso star in Legally Blondes, the third movie in the Legally Blonde series, premiering on ABC Family on August 2nd at 8 p.m. It's part of ABC Family's summer-long Campus Crush event that features movies, marathons and new episodes of series like 10 Things I Hate About You and Ruby & the Rockits. You can catch up on the first two Legally Blonde flicks with Reese Witherspoon that day at 4 and 6 p.m.

Disney Channel will rerun Dadnapped with Emily Osment on July 29th and Minutemen with Jason Dolley on July 30th, both at 8 p.m. Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb explore The Bridge to Terabithia July 28th at 8 p.m. on ABC Family, which will also air Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire back to back on July 26th at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. In theaters, talking guinea pigs save the day in G-Force (rated PG). The 3D action starts July 24th.

The video for Selena Gomez’s song “Magic” from the Wizards of Waverly Place soundtrack will make its Disney Channel debut on July 24th at 8:59 p.m. between new episodes of the series. The video gives you a sneak peek at scenes from the forthcoming Wizards movie, which will premiere on the channel on August 28th.

Set your alarm clock: Kelly Clarkson will perform on Good Morning America on July 31st.

That's it for this edition of POP-Corn! Don't forget to check back August 7th for more celebrity scoop!

July 24, 2009

POP-Corn: Ashley Tisdale & More!

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