Read a roundtable interview with 12-year-old Australian actress Jordana Beatty and screenwriter Megan McDonald about their upcoming Relativity Media comedy film ‘Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer.’ The movie, in which Beatty portrays the title character, is based on McDonald’s book series ‘Judy Moody’. The family-friendly film follows Judy as she finds out her best friends Rocky (portrayed by Garrett Ryan) and Amy (played by Taylar Hender) and her parents are all leaving town for the summer. Judy is forced to stay home with her second best friend Frank (portrayed by Preston Bailey), her younger brother Stink (played by Parris Mosteller) and their Aunt Opal (portrayed by Heather Graham), who they never met before. To keep the summer interesting, Judy comes up with a thrill points competition. Beatty and McDonald discuss with us, among other things, some of the challenges in making the film, and whether or not they felt pressured to please the fans of the book series.
Question (Q): Megan, when you were adapting the book to the screenplay, what were some of the changes made to get the story to the screen?
Megan McDonald (MM): Well, actually, I didn’t base it on any one book from the series. I decided to do a whole new adventure for Judy Moody, and summer is the first compelling idea. I thought it would be so much fun to do a summer film and go back to the way my own childhood summers were. So that was sort of the the initial inspiration. But the books mostly take place during the school year, so there’s a lot of stuff from Judy Moody Saves the World in it. The story itself is just a story.
Q: Were there any challenges during the film?
MM: The screenplay was a very challenging thing, because I had only ever written one screenplay.
Q: What about for you, Jordana?
Jordana Beatty (JB): Well, besides having to cut my hair, that was a challenge. That was probably the hardest.
MM: What about the roller coaster scene?
JB: That was a challenge, a personal challenge, because I was very scared.
MM: She’s never been on a roller coaster before. I wouldn’t even go on it, it was so scary. They had a stunt double who they were thinking of putting in. The stunt double cried and went home! (laughs) Jordana’s very brave.
Q: That seems like it would be the funnest part, amusement parks and roller coasters, you think every just loves them.
MM: Well, the funny part is, we didn’t have any extras that day, because all the crew guys wanted to on. (laughs)
Q: It sounds like you overcame your fear Jordana.
JB: Yeah, I still went on it.
Q: Is there anything else that you encountered in filming that was challenging?
MM: What about doing an American accent?
JB: I guess it wasn’t a challenge. But it sort of came kind of easily, so it wasn’t really a challenge.
MM: Besides the roller coaster, what do you think the hardest scene was?
JB: The tightrope scene.
MM: You loved the tightrope.
Q: Was the tightrope the most fun to film?
JB: Yeah, it was really high, that was great.
Q: When you were filming the movie, did you feel any pressure to please the fans of the books?
MM: I guess I wouldn’t really say pressured as much as hoping and really wanting the fans to feel they’re going to know Judy right away and enter into that familiar world. So all of the little things of Judy Moody, her mood ring, all her collections. She has her “ABC” gum collection on the wall. Her Judy Moody outfit, or costume, is the classic one from the book, where she has tiger stripe pajama bottoms and her shark shirt, which the designer said was very challenging. They couldn’t find any fabric that looked right and matched the book. Judy’s room, they outfitted to look just like it did in the books. So a lot of attention was paid to those details. I think the film will be really funny even if you don’t know Judy Moody, but I think it’s going to be even more enriching if you do. You’re going to see and recognize so many things that you’ll know from the books.
JB: All of the collections and Stink (are in the books).
MM: Stink, the little brother, and Mouse the Cat.
Q: You collect things yourself, right Jordana?
JB: Well, I collect (U.S.) state quarters, penny presses, key chains from different cities and places, Nancy Drew books and business cards. Basically, I can only do the penny presses and state quarters over here. I can do the key chains anywhere. The business cards, I get anything and everything.
Q: Penny presses are the things you get from amusement parks, right?
JB: Yes, with the designs on both sides. I’ve got a lot from Disneyland, some from San Francisco, some from Yankee Stadium. I got some from M&M World in Times Square, and some from Boston.
Q: This movie is about a not bummer summer. What would you consider a bummer summer?
JB: A bummer summer would probably not be not doing anything, but being unhappy in general. I guess not doing anything you like doing. I like reading, but I can read all the time. Kids who like to play soccer, and it rained all summer, that would be a bummer summer! If you couldn’t do the things you like.
Q: What are some of your favorite books?
JB: Nancy Drew and…Judy Moody!
Q: Was it hard doing this series, because when these movies come out, we don’t know who they’re for, the children or the adults. Was it hard keeping it for the kids?
MM: Well, one of the appealing things for Judy Moody is that it really is the kids who love the books. My experience was when I wrote the first book (2000’s Judy Moody), I didn’t even imagine it would be a series. So that very first book, it was kind of this grassroots movement where one child would tell another kid. Then pretty soon, five or six kids in the class were reading the books. Those early years, I had so many teachers come up to me and say “We never heard (of the books), and one day we looked up and the whole class was reading these books. The kids were talking about them and saying Mrs. So and So, you have to read these books.” That to me was probably the highest compliment ever. The kids themselves found their way to the books. So when it came to the film, I felt like probably more important than anything to me was making a film that really is more for the kids. I’m not trying to put in the kind of humor that appeals to adults that kids don’t even get. I think grown-ups are still going to love it, there’s plenty for them, but I really wanted it to feel like kids could connect with Judy and be themselves and her and her friends. There’s so much technology now, we’re worried about getting kids away from screens, go out in the backyard and catch a toad. Judy’s trying to have in three months all these adventures, so she’s like, we’re going to ride a roller coaster, and we’re going to surf a wave, and we’re going to go sit through a scary movie. They’re kind of small things, but I hope that’s part of the appeal.
Q: How much input did you have in choosing Judy?
MM: Well, I kind of like to feel that I discovered her in a way! (laughs) I didn’t really have anything to do with casting, but Sarah Siegel-Magnuss, our producer, we were chatting one day, and she said “You know Megan, I’d love to know what your image of Judy Moody would be.” She said “Could you go on-line and do a search? If you see any young actress that sort of suggests Judy Moody to you, would you let us know?” I said sure. I went on-line and looked up kids this age. I found this article about all these up-and-coming young actresses. I saw Jordana’s picture, and she had this crazy, wonderful red hair, curly red hair and this big, wonderful smile. I was like, “There she is! There’s Judy Moody!” I was jumping around my house. It had a really lovely article about her, and I knew she was from Australia. It said she was from Australia, so I thought they’re going to think I’m nuts. I passed it along to the producers, and they were so immediately enchanted. That prompted them to get in touch with your manager, I guess.
JB: Yeah. That’s the only way I heard about it!
MM: She had no idea, and then one day she got a call “Would you like to audition for ‘Judy Moody?'” So then they go through all they need to do. I never dreamed, I just passed it on. I never heard another word. Then one day, the producer called and said “You’re never going to believe, but we picked Jordana Beatty.” I was like, “Oh, great!” (laughs) I hadn’t even met her yet. I didn’t know how wonderful she was.
Q: What was your reaction when you saw the final movie? Did you like it?
MM: Oh, it’s such a thrill. This being my first time (writing a screenplay), I’m such a newbie at all of it. It was all new, all exciting to me. When I first saw it, you know I was on set for three months, so I saw every scene being filmed 27 different times and ways. But I didn’t really have a sense of the film, as it was all done out of order. You could spend a whole day (on one scene). Remember that one scene you had to take the rubber band off the dare chart like 27,000 times?
JB: Yes!
MM: So sometimes you’re like, why are they filming her taking this off 27,000 times, it’s so boring.
JB: And none of the music or animation special effects were in.
MM: Yeah, exactly. So I had no idea what they’d do with the music. I didn’t get to hear the score. I saw a very early little teaser of the animation, so I had a little bit of a sense of the Antarctica one. When you go and see it all put together, you just can’t believe it, because you were there. I was there, and I was like, it was 113 degrees that day, and it looked like the kids were dying, it was so hot. And then I see this film, and I love the color saturation. They just use all those bright, rich colors. Also, it was just a thrill to see it all put together.
Q: Do you think the animation added to the entire movie?
MM: I think it does. I think it’s a cool way, because Judy’s really imaginative, so I was thinking of ways of how we could show what’s inside her head when she goes imaging herself like let’s put this town on the map! We’re going to catch Big Foot! So I personally really loved those segments of animation.
Q: Jordana, what was your initial reaction when they told you that you got the role?
JB: Well, in the moment, it took a few seconds to sink in. I was like, “Oh, oh my goodness!” I got really excited. I was like “Oh, this is really happening!” When I got home, I was like “Oh my goodness, I got the part!” I was all excited. It took awhile to sink in. I said “Oh my goodness, it actually happened!”
MM: It doesn’t seem real. We were talking about how it was like we were holding in this really big secret, and we finally let it out.
Q: The film’s centered around the relationships of the family. You have said that was really personal for you Megan. Can you elaborate on that?
MM: I think it kind of in a way a risk, but it was really fun to get the parents off the stage because your parents of course aren’t going to let you do everything. There are rules and bedtimes and all that. So we thought that if maybe they go away, we can bring in this artsy family member who was kind of like a grown-up Judy Moody in a way. So that kind of opened the doors in a way for the character of Aunt Opal, who was kind of inspired by my sister, who came to visit me. I live in California, she came from Boston. She was only staying I think for five days. She brought the biggest suitcase, the suitcase she brought when she went to live in China for a whole year. I was like, “You’re here for five days, what’s in there?” My husband couldn’t even drag this thing into the house. She unzips this suitcase, and she starts pulling out art supplies, beads and ribbons. Pretty soon it was pottery irons, and we were going to make jewelry. (She also had) glue guns, and all this stuff, and it just cracked me up so much that she came and she just wanted to make art the whole time, so that kind of inspired Aunt Opal, showing up with this huge trunk that’s her traveling art studio. That was really my favorite prop. It was so elaborate, all the little jars.
Q: Jordana, do you have a family member that you have a great time with or who inspires you?
JB: Well, I guess all my family members inspire me, because my mom and my auntie, they both took dancing. My grandma and I do a lot of dancing. They inspire me to keep going with that. Also, they’re all fun in different ways, they all let me and my cousins do different things at different times. I have another aunt, she lets us watch movies in bed. She has all these Legos, we play with the Legos. We go over, and there are these train tracks going around the Christmas tree, and we’re playing with all the buttons. It’s really fun. Then my other auntie, she owns a dance studio. We always get to go in and play with all the costumes and everything! So they’re all fun in different ways.
Q: How much are you like Judy Moody?
JB: Well, I’m like Judy Moody in a few ways, because one, we both get into different moods, good and bad. Two, we both have a good imagination, and we both have the same color hair. I guess we both collect things. We’re also different in a lot of ways. I definitely don’t have her fashion sense at all.
MM: Thank goodness! (laughs)
JB: Yeah, she’s a really miss-match! We live in very different places. She has a brother, and I have no siblings, so we’re very different, but still the same as well.
Q: The movie was very bright visually, and had other interesting aspects. The mother (played by Janet Varney) had a flip hairdo, and you haven’t seen anyone in modern day with a hairstyle like that. There was also the chewed gum on the wall chart. There was also the frog.
MM: The hair was interesting, because we had a lot of discussions about it. Obviously, Judy Moody has really messy hair, so poor Jordana had to spend half-an-hour in make-up and hair, just getting her hair messed up every morning.
JB: It was long!
MM: I think some of the decisions were based on the drawings in the book. But what I also tried to do with the books was to make them timeless. I didn’t really set them in a particular time. I mean, it is contemporary, but it’s also a little bit larger than life. I think some of the outfits and hairdos are not exactly rooted in 2011.
JB: Yes, but it is in the 21st century.
MM: Yes.
JB: The gum is not even gum. It’s like clay and all bendy. The toad is a Hollywood pet. It didn’t actually pee, it was actually a squirter. At the right time, they would put yellow water in her hand. You have to be really quick filming it, because it kept dropping out of her hand. So that took quite a while to film it and get it just right.
MM: You have all the animal trainers.
JB: For the cat, especially, and the elephants.
Q: So Judy has a lot of adventures. What’s the craziest adventures you’ve been through Jordana? Or have you had an embarrassing moment?
JB: I think this is the biggest adventure I’ve been on, definitely filming the movie and being on the press tour, because I never imagined anything like this. It’s been so wonderful. An embarrassing moment? One of my cousins recently had a birthday, and he got this body cologne off of someone, I think it was off my auntie. They go up to him at his birthday party and they say, “Oh, you smell good mate,” and it was so embarrassing! My cousin and I were like, “Oh, no!” All these friends are there, and it was so embarrassing. It was funny at the time, but it was very embarrassing.
Q: So what are you doing this summer? Are you just promoting the film?
JB: Yeah, pretty much promoting the film. We can’t wait for it to come out. but my summer’s actually at Christmas time in Australia, so I’m in school. So I go to the beach every day, and read a lot.
Q: What are some of your favorite subjects in school?
JB: I like geography, that’s my favorite one. I like all of them really, I’m good at all of them, but math isn’t my favorite. But I’m good at it, it’s just not my favorite.
Written by: Karen Benardello
