Images provided by Nickelodeon

Images provided by Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon Presents "Fairly Odd Parents The Movie"

Jump to: Drake Bell | Daniella Monet

Growing Up is Inevitable! Even Timmy Turner Has to Do It Sometime! “A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!” Charms Viewers on July 9!

For years, fans watched the animated antics of a young Timmy Turner and his adventures with his literal Fairy God Parents. Fans of the Nickelodeon series “Fairly Odd Parents” were thrilled to learn that in honor of the show’s tenth anniversary, the network that made it famous would be making a live-action version of the film starring Drake Bell (a Nick alum from “Drake and Josh).

In this one hour, made-for-television movie, Bell plays Timmy Turner who is now 23 years old. Timmy still lives the life of a child because he is afraid to lose the support of his Fairy Godparents which happens when you become an adult. Trouble ensues when Timmy’s long-time crush Tootie (Daniella Monet) returns home and the possibility of true love exists, if Timmy is willing to finally grow up and start acting his age. The movie also feature veteran comedic actors Jason Alexander and Cheryl Hines as Cosmo and Wanda, Timmy’s Fairy Godparents. The characters are voiced by the original actors from the animated series (Daran Norris and Suzanne Blakeslee).

Even if you have never seen an episode of the original series, you should check out this fun, touching story about the magical adventures we create as children and the different adventures you move onto as an adult. The movie premieres on Nickelodeon July 9 at 8:00PM (ET/PT).

“A Fairly Odd Movie” stars Drake Bell and Daniella Monet were happy to talk to us about their time spent on the movie. Find out more from our chats below!

Drake Bell

Drake Bell has a busy summer ahead of him. The actor/musician has just released an EP on ITunes and will start a summer tour that takes him to Mexico and Latin America. He recently called to chat from New York City where he was promoting the new music on shows like “Today” and “Good Morning New York.”

Before hitting the road, Drake will likely be catching the premiere of his acting project “A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!” This film brings him back to the network that made him a star. He was one half of the comedy duo “Drake and Josh” that ran for three years on the network. Prior to that, he was also a performer on “The Amanda Show” starring Amanda Bynes.

“It’s a very, very fun movie,” he says of his recent project. “It’s really cool. We bring the ‘Fairly Odd Parents’ cartoon to life. It was a lot of fun to shoot. We shot up in Canada. The production was so much fun, seeing this show that I grew up watching come to life.”

He promises that all of your favorite characters from the original will be represented in the new, live-action version. “All the characters were amazing. The teacher, Mr. Crocker, Jorgen Von Strangle, Vicky the Babysitter, the parents, it was just a really fun show to shoot. It turned out really great.”

Taking on this role was easier on Drake then some of his other acting jobs, because he knew Timmy and the gang by heart. “I didn’t really have to do a lot of research. I was already such a huge fan of the show. I kind of knew all the ends and outs, the character and the story and all of that. It was sort of just kind of natural. I just loved watching the show. Then really getting to work with Butch the creator, it just sort of all came together really nicely.”

It also didn’t hurt that Drake has instant access to his inner child. “I think I’m always in touch with my inner child,” he reasons. “I love amusement parks. I still watch cartoons. I’ve got for dogs at home that I love to play with. I’m really a kid at heart, so that part was actually easy.” Though he loved making the entire movie, there is one scene that stands out most to him. “I would have to say the pirate battle scene,” he says when asked about his favorite from the movie. “The opening of the movie is incredible. I think kids are going to watch it and just be in awe!”

Speaking of being in awe, Drake found himself not only face-to-face with actors from some of his favorite shows, but working along side them no less! With Cheryl Hines from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Seinfeld’s” Jason Alexander playing his Fairly Godparents, the actor was ready to learn from two of the best. “I’m such a fan of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,” he readily admits. “I loved ‘Seinfeld,’ anything Larry David really,” he says of those shows’ creator. “So it was really cool to watch them work and hang out with them. They were really cool, down to earth people. It was really cool to watch them.”

He was equally impressed with the actress who plays his love interest in the film, Daniella Monet. “Daniella is incredible,” he praises. “She’s such a pro. She really cares about her work, about the craft. She’s just a joy to work with. She just made it really pleasant.”

Drake was ready to get back to his comedic roots, having been inspired by some of the great comedians growing up was what started him acting in the first place. “I loved classics. What made me kind of want to do this is… I loved Jerry Lewis. I loved Dean Martin. Abbott and Costello I loved. I loved all the old comedy teams, Hope and Crosby and all that. Which is so great because I got to become a kind of Belushi/Aykroyd with Josh which is really, really cool. He continues the list, “The Marx Brothers. Dick Van Dyke. Lucille Ball. Dezi Arnez.”

Musicians also played a big part of his artistic influences. “Musically, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson. Harry Nelson. Those are the cats.” Drake says that he is always happy to partner with Nickelodeon on projects because he knows the people at the network so well. “I love working with the network. It’s like a big family over there. I’ve been working with them since I was 12 years old, so I know everybody. They’re like family, brothers, sisters. Any time I have the opportunity to work with them, I’ll definitely do it. I just finished a new movie their doing called ‘Rags’ up in Canada which is really fun, with Keke Palmer. So yeah, any time I can work with them, I love to!”

Changing the subject, we asked Drake about the new music he had just released. “I just released an EP called ‘A Reminder,’” he says. “It was fun! I just did the ‘Today’ show for it. The band’s about to play ‘Good Day New York’ tomorrow. [Then we play] the Gramercy Theater on Thursday, which kicks off our tour. It starts July 13 all over Latin America.”

It was just time to get new music out he figures. “I hadn’t put a record out in about five years and I thought it was time for some new music but I didn’t have really a lot of time to go and sit down in a studio and cut an entire record. I’ve been writing and writing and there’s tons of material, we just have to buckle down and actually do it. So I said, ‘It’s been too long for the fans. Let’s just get down and put four songs out. Let’s get a nice EP together. And we’ll sort of satiate the appetite of the fans that way.’”

See Drake’s video for “Terrific” here:

“I really think Bruno Mars is impressive,” he says about the music he is listening to these days. “I think he’s a great songwriter. You can tell that we sort of come from the same camp of the whole sixties music kind of thing, and the classic rock kind of vibe. I’m about to see Rufus Wainwright tonight. He’s my favorite songwriter. Katy Perry, I think her record was great. I really enjoyed that. Some of the newer pop stuff is getting kind of cool.”

Drake hopes fans will try to catch him at a live show sometime soon. “We’ve got a nine piece band. Five of the band members sing, so we’ve got really cool, lush five-part harmonies, Beach Boys style. It’s just a really fun rock and roll show. We’ve got a three piece horn section. It’s just a lot of fun,” he says of the live show they have put together.

If you do see him at a show or out and about, go ahead and take the opportunity to talk with this cool, laid back guy. “Just come up and say ‘hey!’ he encourages. “I’m very personable. I’m a fan too so I get it. I was an autograph collector. I did whatever I could to meet that musician that I loved. I love my fans and I love when people dig the work that you’re doing.”

With music and acting, it doesn’t seem like this guy ever gets a break. If he does find spare time, “I like to chill out at home. I’m never home. I just like to relax and do some grilling. Just play with my dogs.”

He also spends time educating people about a cause very close to his heart. “I work with one charity called ‘The Thirst Project,” which raises awareness for the global water crisis. It also raises money and goes off in places like Swaziland, or India or Zimbabwe, all the places that are really struggling right now.” “They go out there and they build wells into these places. There are 1.6 billion people on the planet who don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. A child dies every fifteen seconds because of a water-born illness that is preventable. When you really look at the numbers and you look at everything, it’s really insane that this still exists. With a lot of the things these kids and people are dying from that are in the water, they are so preventable if they just had a clean water source. Even with the AIDS crisis, a lot of these kids are dying so early, not because of the AIDS, but because the AIDS is killing their immune system and then they’re drinking this water that has all of these poisons and bacteria in it that their immune system can’t fight. So the water is actually what’s killing them faster. If they just had a clean source, there’s a chance that they would actually be able to live a fulfilling life.”

“We’ll go to schools, we’ll go all over the country and raise money,” he says of how to gets involved. “[We’ll] actually go to these countries and build the wells and teach the community how to work the wells. It’s an amazing thing.”

“When you see what these people are drinking and then when they see the water come out when you build the well…” he says is the most rewarding aspect of his time and effort. He reminds us of how much we take water for granted. “You turn on your faucet, you have water! You take a shower. We play in our water. We have water parks! We go to Soak City! We don’t understand the concept of not having water! It just doesn’t make sense to us! When you really see how serious and devastating it is… it’s unbelievable. And how preventable it is! This should be front page news! A child dies every fifteen seconds from a water-born, preventable illness. It’s unbelievable! It’s really eye-opening.” To find out how you can help this great cause, visit http://www.thirstproject.org

Drake is one of the most recognizable faces from Nickelodeon and it’s great to have him back on TV. It’s even better to see him starring as another beloved character from the network’s hit list. Be sure to see if Timmy decides to transition into adulthood on “A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow up, Timmy Turner.” This funny, family film will make the kid in all of us laugh.

Visit the following sites to find out more about Drake and the movie:

www.DrakeBell.com
www.Twitter.com/DrakeBell
www.facebook.com/bell.drake
www.Nick.com

Daniella Monet

Daniella is also a familiar face to Nickelodeon fans having landed the role of “Trina Vega” Tori’s sister on the super popular Victorious.” She was thrilled to be cast in “A Fairly Odd Movie,” especially since it reunited her with her former TV Dad, Jason Alexander. While on a business trip to New York, the sweet and outgoing Daniella took time out of her hectic schedule to call and fill us in on playing the role of “Tootie,” working with such famous co-stars and why she just can’t leave dance classes now.

“As a toddler, I just had a lot of energy,” Daniella recalls when asked about realizing that she wanted to be an actress. “I loved performing for my family. Any sort of event that we had, whether it was a dinner or the holidays or whatever it was, I would always put together some sort of dance routine or singing something that kind of correlated with the season or the festival. So my parents realized at a young age I got something out of performing. I loved the adrenaline rush and I had a lot of energy so they were like ‘What do we do with this kid?’ I just kind of got an agent by accident. It was actually a really good experience because I was still obviously a regular kid. [I] went to school, did all the fun stuff that normal kids do. After school, I went to auditions. On my off time I would shoot commercials. I didn’t start doing theatrical and television until I was into my teen years really.”

It didn’t take long for the aspiring performer to land professional jobs that paired her up with industry veterans. At the very least, the work made her stand out to classmates. “I did several kind of ‘Barbie’ commercials which made me very popular with the kids at school because you know, that’s the kind of stuff that airs on Nickelodeon and that was all we watched. I was a big deal in elementary school. My first kind of theatrical role, as I remember it, was an HBO type Lifetime movie with Leah Remini. I played a young version of Leah Remini. It was really fun because I had to have a New Yorker accent. I have some family in New York so I kind of did my own little guessing. It was a really good experience. Then I did a flashback role of one of the stars on ‘Pacific Blue’ which was a USA show and it was kind of more of a dramatic role for me and I really, really loved that.”

“From that point on, it was kind of like my launching pad a little bit. I loved doing single camera but I jumped into comedic work and sitcom work. Probably around the age of 14, is when I started doing guest roles on ‘Still Standing,’ and reoccurring roles on ‘8 Simple Rules’ and ‘Bernie Mac.’ Then I landed my own show on CBS called ‘Listen Up’ starring Jason Alexander and Malcolm Jamal Warner. That was kind of like the beginning of it all.”

Daniella is grateful to have had such a great relationship with the network that airs her latest television venture and this TV movie. “Well, my history goes back to as soon as I could see, I watched Nickelodeon,” she says about her bond with the channel. “My first experience on Nickelodeon was auditioning for ‘Zoey 101.’ I got a guest role playing ‘Rebecca,’ which was Chase’s girlfriend. [That] turned into a reoccurring role where I played the tormenting character to ‘Zoey.’ That was fun. It was a little more of like a meaner side of me as an acting role but from that point on I jumped back into network TV and didn’t do a lot with Nickelodeon until I auditioned for ‘Victorious.’”

“I heard about the project and I thought ‘Oh my goodness. This is a dream come true!’ she continues. “I loved working with Dan Schneider because of course, I grew up with all of his shows. I really valued his work and loved the comedy that he brought to the network. I went out for it. It was a really good experience. I waited like two months or something crazy, I think it might have been two or three months to find out anything in regards to my audition. The search for the cast was tremendous. It was here, New York, all over. People sent in videos for this role, because it was originally just one character that they were auditioning and then they just kind of filled the blanks when they find out who was right for what role. So I didn’t even know who I was really auditioning for. It was just a broad script.”

She will never forget the day that she became a member of the ‘Victorious’ cast. “I cried on the phone,” she confesses. “Dan Schneider called me and said ‘Would you mind playing this character on our show? I think it would be fun! Are you okay with that?’ I was like ‘Oh, come on!’ I screamed! He probably lost hearing for a moment or two. Just thinking back, I can’t believe I’m sitting here having this talk with you.”

Things just keep getting better for the hard-working actress. “Doing ‘Fairly Odd Parents’ was, of course, a dream come true. I loved watching that cartoon growing up!” she gushes.

“I just love to stress that it’s really magical!” she replies when asked to describe the movie for us. “It’s very familiar to the cartoon. The characters are so true to the original cartoon characters. It’s amazing how well they cast the film. We got along so well, Drake and I. The characters are a little different. They’re in their early 20’s, which is very different than being ten years old. Tootie, he character that I play has grown up a lot. She’s matured. She cares about the planet and helpless creatures. She’s kind of like a go-getter, a bit of a risk taker in a sense but very nurturing. Timmy is still concerned with being in fifth grade and riding his bike to school and living with his parents. [He’s] not having to deal with responsibilities that you have at 23. Until he reunites with the character Tootie and realizes that ‘Okay, maybe there is more to being a fifth grader and more to being a ten year old,’ It kind of takes off from there. And of course, there’s a huge adventure plot line, which is so exciting. It really keeps you on your toes but all magical in the same sense.”

The job gave her an opportunity to stretch her wings a little in terms of broadening the types of characters she has played. “Well she’s very different then I’ve played in the past,” Daniella acknowledges about her approach to bringing this character to life. “Plus, she was established. I tried to do what I thought would be fun to watch because I really enjoyed Tootie as a character on the cartoon. I didn’t want to stray so far away that it was unfamiliar and no one could really recognize her, relate to her. Yes, she is mature. Yes, she cares about helpless creatures. She’s still kind of a little dramatic. She has a moment with Timmy where she just realizes that nothing has really changed. He hasn’t really grown up at all. She kind of loses it. What is it going to really take at that point? Maybe there’s really no hope. I just have to move on. She thought that it could have been this great fairy tale. I think what’s really important is although she’s kind of more, playing her age, being 23, I think they really do bond and grow together. You see that happening before your eyes in the movie. That was kind of fun to see.”

Choosing a favorite scene is hard but Daniella narrows it down. “There were so many cool elements to this movie. The atmosphere was so cool. It’s so colorful. It’s so bright. You kind of feel like you are back in time. You know how ‘Fairly Odd Parents’ kind of has that retro feeling but it’s still very current? That’s the kind of feel that this movie has.”

“I’d say one of the cooler scenes in the film is where I’m captured. Actually the whole set was filmed at a kids’ play zone type of place but they reinvented the whole place. They like went into there and really jazzed it up. They had the stunt team go in there and make all this sort of equipment that was able to handle us, with actors not being stunt people. But we were able to use all of that to our advantage. It was just really fun. There were some really cool slides! Any second that they had, even if it was in-between takes, we would run up and slide down the slides. They were like extreme slides. Like serious stomach dropping slides. That was obviously really fun to shoot, but I think also very fun to watch because it’s kind of got that peak moment where you can see everything kind of come together. Timmy saves the day! Tootie’s just trying to help the helpless creatures. There’s just so much action all happening at one moment and so much reward and payoff that I think when you’re invested in their well being it’s such a nice feeling to see it all come together.”

Sharing the screen with amazing co-stars was also a perk of the job. “Well, first of all, being familiar with the comedy world, it was an honor to work with them because they’re such legends and such veterans in this business too,” she says about Cheryl Hines and Jason Alexander. “[They’ve] been on some of the funniest things to hit TV today. To have them around just kind of brought that whole funny, magical side to the movie. They were excited to do it because they both have kids themselves. So everyone is just happy to be part of the movie which is such a good feeling because you all get together and unite and realize that this is bigger than a job do and then take off and go home. It’s something that you’re really going to want to watch with your kids and that your kids are going to be super excited to see you in. They were excited to it.”

Reuniting with her former TV Dad was fun for the actress. “Seeing Jason was awesome!” she says enthusiastically. “When I heard that he was in the mix for the character, I sat in the car, I was actually with some of the casting, I said ‘Hold on… let me make a phone call.’ I felt like such a little diva at that point, but I was like ‘I have to get him to do this.’ So I called him up. When we were working together, he always used to say, ‘Call me Dad.’ He doesn’t have a daughter, so I would always be like, in my emails to him, ‘Hey Dad!’ So I called him and I was like ‘Dad, listen, it’s Daniella, you have to do this role on ‘The Fairly Odd Parents.’ We have to work together! It’s Canada! It’s beautiful! It’s your kids’ favorite cartoon! Come on!’ He ended up taking the role and it was really great to reunite. We went out and had sushi and just kind of reminisced. It was really, really fun. So hopefully, we get to work together again!”

Daniella also welcomed the opportunity to work with another famous Nick actor. “I had met Drake a few times prior to working with him. Just being in the Nickelodeon family you kind of run into these people once in a while if you’re lucky. I watched the show ‘Drake and Josh’ and know a lot about him and his music and everything that he’s doing so to work with him was kind of surreal. Here I am not only working on Nickelodeon, not only being a part of the ‘Fairly Odd Parents,’ the cartoon that I was so fond of growing up but working along side this kid who I grew up watching on TV. He was so much fun. We had so much fun playing off each other and having that fun little banter that the two characters have, that cute little spark that you see come out once in a while. I think it felt really true and true to the characters especially as well.”

The actress stays super busy but does manage to find some down time which she fills with family, friends and lots of dancing. “Well, I live in L.A. and so does my close family,” she says about how she spends her free time. “Usually, we try to hang out as much as possible. I have cousins and my brother. I’m kind of the big sister of the family. I’m the first born out of all the cousins so I kind of hold that role of ‘Hey, let’s do this! Or jump in the car, we’re going to go and take a quick little ride or road trip or whatever it is.’ So that’s always fun. My whole thing really when I’m off, the first thing I tend to do is dance! I take dance classes as often as possible. Most recently actually, I started a new dance school, Deb Reynolds, in Los Angeles. I took class probably, six days, the week prior to coming out to New York. I took like three classes each day because it is addicting. You just get in there and you don’t want to leave. At that point, you’re already sweaty. The damage is done. I’m excited to get back on that track and be able to dance as much as possible.”

She also listens to music and does the whole Twitter thing too! “I listen to just about everything. Because I like to dance, typically, I’m drawn to more like Hip-Hop music because it’s so much fun to dance to. So I listen to a lot of Hip-Hop. I love classic rock. With my Dad, he loved classic rock. He had a motorcycle so he used to take me on rides along the Pacific Coast. I would have headsets on, a walkman at the time, and wedge it in my jacket or sweatshirt and I would listen to classic rock. It was so much fun. Bill Joel and Queen. I loved doing that! That’s like such great memories. Growing up with like motorcycles in the family, you just gotta be a rock and roller at some point.”

“I’m on twitter almost 24/7,” she confesses. “Well, I do sleep, I promise, so 12/7. But I am on twitter a lot. I typically talk about food. Being vegan and eating all sorts of fun and interesting foods. Obviously dancing and whatever I am up to at the moment. Sometimes it is very, very, random. Yesterday, I tweeted how I think it’s odd that restaurants put mirrors in front of their toilets in restrooms. I thought that was really weird and kind of uncomfortable. So I thought ‘I bet you there is another person out there who thinks the same thing!’ So I just tweet really random things. Feel free to follow or unfollow at your consent.”

The actress will really be getting some R and R as she and her Mom and Aunts board the Nick cruise at the end of July. The cruise will take the actress will Italian heritage to Naples and the Mediterranean. She’s really looking forward to that. She’s also really looking forward to her guest appearances on two different Nickelodeon series. “I did a role on ‘The Troop’ that I think is coming out soon in this new season. I play a fairy, which was really cool. There were a lot of special effects and CGI and what not. Then also, I have a role on ‘Supah Ninjas’ that I am thrilled about because I did martial arts for many, many years growing up and so I actually got to do the majority of my stunts. It was a really cool experience so I can’t wait for people to see that because I think they’ll probably be a little shocked as to my martial arts ability that I don’t necessarily practice very often.”

And if that isn’t enough, there is also the 3-D movie hitting theaters around Halloween called “Better off Fred.” The film stars Internet sensation Lucas Cruikshank. Daniella figures it will air on Nickelodeon too, sometime after leaving theaters.

With so many great roles under her belt, it isn’t hard to see Daniella’s star shining for a long time to come. She’s out-going, hard-working and has no problem chatting up strangers and friends alike. She’s grown up in a business she loves and it shows. No help from Fairy Godparents necessary for this young actress. She’s got all the skills she needs.

For more on Daniella visit these sites:

www.Twitter.com/daniellamonet
www.Nick.com

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