Calum Worthy and Lexi Giovagnoli Star in “All She Wishes” – Exclusive Interview!

Calum Worthy, of Disney’s Austin & Ally fame, co-stars with Lexi Giovagnoli in the brand new movie All She Wishes, which premiered today on digital on demand platforms.

We got the chance to ask Lexi a few questions about the movie, her role, and what it was like to work with Calum, and her interview is below (SCROLL DOWN). But first, here is our brief review of the movie.

The teen comedy centers around Sophie (Giovagnoli), an intelligent but somewhat isolated high-schooler whose grandmother gives her a magical car for her birthday. She inadvertently makes a wish which results in an up and coming actor from Los Angeles (played by Worthy) teleporting into her car trunk. After several attempts at ditching him to no avail (thanks to the car’s magical teleportation powers constantly bringing him back), Lexi starts to realize that this weird stranger might teach her to open up and experience a much needed change in outlook in time for the school’s Valentine’s Day dance.

Its an unconventional little movie, and while the pacing moves a tad bit slower and the production values are not quite as slick as what they are used to seeing in Disney and Nick films, tweens and younger teens should enjoy it. The lead girl is an unconventional choice by typical Hollywood standards, but once Worthy’s rather manic initial performance settles into something a bit more thoughtful in later scenes, the chemistry between the two actors is enjoyable.

Julia Duffy (Newhart) and Diedrich Bader from the cult classic Office Space play supporting roles as Lexi’s grandmother and father, and the rest of the cast is populated with relative newcomers, most of whom look like the real small-town folk they are portraying in this South Carolina-based project rather than your regular over-polished Hollywood teens.

All-in-all, an enjoyable movie to watch for Valentine’s Day, although the comedy doesn’t quite produce gut-busting laughter nor does the minor peril the characters are involved with provide too much drama either. The saving grace is definitely the message of the movie, which is that you really don’t need others to find your happiness, because it is within.

Teens Wanna Know Rating: 6 out of 10

All She Wishes is available on Amazon, AT&T, Charter, Google Play, iTunes, Vimeo, VUDU, and Vubiquity.

INTERVIEW WITH LEXI GIOVAGNOLI

Hi Lexi, nice to meet you. First off, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hello, it is wonderful to “meet” you as well (since this is via the web lol). Hi everyone I’m Lexi Giovagnoli, and I grew up on musicals and old movies. I would do anything for my friends and family and I love to laugh. Wow, that sounds like a bad dating profile… 🙂

How did you get started acting?

Well when I was younger, I danced competitively and was in dance programs every summer. Then one summer, my mom thought it would be cool to send me to Los Angeles for an acting program instead. I fell in love with acting and the rest is history.

Your movie “All She Wishes” just came out; tell us about it and your role in it

All She Wishes is about a girl, my character Sophie, who has lost sight of herself after her mother passes away. For her birthday, her grandmother gives Sophie an old car that has “magical powers” named Star. When Sophie wishes for a date to the Valentine’s dance, her wish comes true in the form of Drake, an upcoming actor from Los Angeles. While trying to get Drake back to LA, Sophie is able to find herself again and her self-confidence.

What was your reaction when you found out you would be working with Calum Worthy?

Honestly, I didn’t know a lot about Calum until after I found out we would be working together. Of course then I did my research. I was really excited to see what he would bring to the role of Drake, especially with his amazing comedic timing.

Were you nervous during the romantic scenes? What helped you get through them?

I think every actor gets a little nervous when it comes romantic scenes but over time it gets easier. As weird as it sounds, you learn to turn it on and off. I think that is what really helps me get through those scenes to just see them as part of a job and having a good relationship with the other actor involved. That was definitely the case with Calum and it just created a very comfortable atmosphere to work in.

What was the best part about working on this film?

Oh man that’s a difficult one, especially because I had such a blast working on this film. Honestly, I think working with all of the other actors and spending time with them on and off set was my favorite part of this project. I am an avid fan of constant learning and I love learning something new on every project I work on. Of course this was the case on this film especially working with Julia, Diedrich, and Calum. They’re all so wonderful and talented. I know that sounds cheesy, but I only have fond memories of my time on set.

And the biggest challenge you had to overcome during filming?

I think finding Sophie’s humor may have been the hardest part of filming for me, that and imagining the loss of my own mother. I love making people laugh, but I’ve never considered myself very funny unless I’m making a fool of myself so finding that ability to be funny intentionally was a challenge I looked forward to. I’m also very close to my own mother, so having to imagine what my life would be without her, as Sophie was dealing with, was very difficult.

Any memorable funny moments from set?

Pretty much every second was a funny moment on set with Calum. He is hilarious and just such a joy to be around on set.

Why should teens watch this movie?

I think Sophie and what she is going through is very relatable to teens, its actually one of the reasons I liked this role so much and wanted to be a part of this film. I saw it as an opportunity to create a strong female character that I wish I had watched more of as a child.

We noticed there are a few more Giovagnolis credited in the film…what part does your family play in the films you make?

Yes, my youngest brother Vincent plays David in the film. He’s actually the entertainer of the family, so we all knew in a way that he would somehow put that talent to work as he has in his acting career. He’s played my younger brother in quite a few of my other films. My family is very close and we love working together on films. My middle younger twin brothers actually fell into helping with grip and electric and it’s quite simply become another way to spend time together as a family

Tell me something people would be surprised to know about you.

I really love antiques. I collect quite a lot of odd things from earlier eras. As I mentioned before I love old movies so I guess that was just the natural evolution, to appreciate pieces from that time.

What do you have coming up next?

I’m actually shooting a film right now called A Dog Walker’s Christmas Tale in Austin, TX with Jonathan Bennett and graduating this May from Loyola Marymount University.

Anything else we should know?

I know this sounds repetitious, but I just had a blast working on this project and I am so excited for people to see it.

Could you send us a quick selfie of whatever it is you are doing right now (hugging your dog, eating, chillaxing….whatever)

I know this isn’t the typical ‘selfie’ but I’m on location filming, so this was what Jonathan and I were doing on our day off.

Watch the trailer for All She Wishes here: