Alyson Stoner – Sugar Babies

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I have two films coming out next week and at the end of the month. I have Sugar Babies coming out on Lifetime on August 15th. I have the movie/musical Summer Forever coming out in early September. I have my music that I have been developing that I have been working on with my producer, Rob Grimaldi, in New Jersey. I’ve been flying back and forth to get songs ready and my next single is being mastered as we speak. Hopefully, we’ll release it next Fall. On the personal side, I’m traveling to Ethiopia in a couple of weeks for a sustainability program called I Pour Life.

Q) Please tell us the premise for your film Sugar Babies and about your character Katie Woods?

A) Sugar Babies is a much more mature and dramatic role compared to what most people know me from and it follows Katie Woods who is a college Freshman that is very academic and a hard worker. Unexpectedly, she gets set up with an older man who turns out to be a Sugar Daddy, offering her financial support for an arranged companionship. She gets perks for simply being his arm candy. What I love about this film is that it is social commentary on a very relevant topic. A week before I got the script, my friend was approached by a Sugar Daddy. So, it hit home for me to play this character. I also loved that as a viewer you are not told what is right and wrong in how to handle the situation. It just opens a dialogue about it and I hope that when people watch it they tune in with their family and friends and that they talk about their feelings about what it means to mix love and money. I hope they share their feelings about having this kind of contract with someone.

Q) This is your first mature role. What did you find intriguing about the premise?

A) It’s my first lead role as an adult actress. I was able to carry the film as we shot in thirteen days. It was very alluring to have the challenge for me to stay on my game with such a tight schedule. It was also learning how to build stories with multiple characters and having an arc with each one of them. So, it is much more mature in that sense. The subject matter afforded me the opportunity to play around with romance, vulnerability, sensuality, sexuality and maturing into a young woman. The first day I met the actor playing my Sugar Daddy (Giles Panton) was our first kiss scene. We just jumped right in and it was a lot of new experiences, but very rewarding.

Q) Was there anything you added to your role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) The script for Lifetime films are usually pretty static. You are asked to stay as close to the exact word as possible. What I had to do was build colors and layers in the space between the lines. I had, for instance, in the car ride with my Sugar Daddy when I realize he has multiple sugar babies that I had to play it with a lot of layers of self doubt and insecurity (because I have feelings for him) coupled with feeling offended and on top of that being sort of resolute and resigned to the idea that I got myself into this mess. There were a lot of layers, but it created a great opportunity for an actress. I hope people enjoy seeing a bit more depth and complexity in my work.

Q) You have such great chemistry with girls who play your fellow Sugar Babies. Was that instant or did you spend time together to build a bond?

A) We did not get a chance to meet before we worked together. So, I am thankful everyone was really professional and open minded to building relationships as we went along. I was the only actress from out of town so I think they maybe knew each other beforehand. Thankfully, it never felt like a clique or exclusive. I think we worked well together because we were all similar in age and we had to talk out the scenes with each other because they were sort of startling and uncomfortable at moments.

Q) You also had great chemistry with your costar Giles Panton who plays your love interest. How did you build up the romantic rapport?

A) As an actress, with my romantic scenes with someone my first concerns are to respect them and ask about their personal boundaries and state mine. Giles was engaged so I had to make sure his fiancée was okay with the topic. We just stayed really close throughout our scenes so the intimacy felt very sincere and at the end of the day we were able to politely shake it off and go home as ourselves again. For me, personally, it was pretty intense to be so vulnerable in front of a full camera crew. You start thinking about your own performance as a kisser or being in your body next to another human. There are a lot of scary places to go publicly, but it was major feat and accomplishment for me. I’m really grateful that I took that risk.

Q) What were some of your most memorable moments from filming Sugar Babies?

A) I would say I had a really special comradery with the set photographer, Ricardo. We shared a lot of incredible stories and he became kind of a safe place for me to go to in between scenes because he was a constant breath of fresh air and light on the set. I’m really appreciative of him. I would say another memorable scene was working with the people playing my mom and dad. To have difficult conversations about your own choices as a young adult can be very uncomfortable. Those scenes were really heavy so once we got them out of our system we felt like we had given it all we had and the moment translates really nicely on film. It was really a challenge to get up early and not get much sleep while being in every scene and having to jump from happy to sad to scared. It was a great challenge though!

Q) What makes Sugar Babies such a good fit for the Lifetime network?

A) Lifetime does a great job at choosing relevant topics, like hot-button issues. I had another film, Expecting Amish, come out with AJ Michalka last year and that was learning about the Amish community and Amish reality shows when they were popular. Now, this is becoming sort of a whole new world that people didn’t know existed. We’re able to put a personal story to it. So, hopefully, that bypasses judgment and builds compassion for all walks of life. I think Lifetime is a great fit because it is a safe place for women and families to watch something that has some drama to it, but is done in a very tasteful way. Our film, as I mentioned, doesn’t tell you what to think. It just opens a dialogue.

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you will be receiving?

A) I’m nervous! I’m nervous to see how people will react, including family members. I’m grateful that there is accessibility between the performer and the fans and followers. It’s immediate feedback and it can be honest. It can be rash. But I think I did my best in the moment, given all the factors involved. So, I have to stay true to that and trust that is where I was and I have room to grow.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) First, I appreciate their support. It does make a tremendous impact in how much I believe in myself and how I want to utilize opportunities. They are a very important part of why I do what I do. Also, I hope as they watch me struggle to understand this world and work hard to do my best that they are inspired to do the same with their lives. I am thankful for their support, but I hope that after they give a cool shoutout that they are engaging themselves fully in their lives, hopes and dreams because everyone has such a beautiful story to tell.