Chad Broskey – Head of the Class

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  The movie for Read It and Weep just came out on the Disney channel.  It premiered last Friday and I shot it actually almost a year ago.  It was in November 2005 and then it finally just premiered.  Another project I just shot was a pilot for Disney Channel called “Housebroken.” It’s a spinoff of the show “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”  I just did that and we’re waiting for word back to see if they liked it and if the show will be picked up.  Keep your fingers crossed, hopefully they will!  That’s about it, then I’m back in Kentucky right now, my home town of Louisville.  I am working for a production company called Silvertree Productions. 

Q.  What can you tell us about the premise for “Housebroken” and about your character?

A.  Basically, it’s about a character named Arwin from “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” who is a janitor for the hotel that they live in.  The premise for “Housebroken” is that Arwin goes away to take care of his sister-in-law’s kids.  His brother is not around anymore and his sister-in-law works for this software company who designs all kinds of different things.  Their house is like a smart house, so it does things for them and it can clean up for them, stuff like that.  Arwin goes off to take care of his sister in law’s kids and he’s not planning on being there for a long time.  When he gets there, the oldest daughter wants to sneak out to a party.  She’s a freshman in high school and she was invited to this party and it’s her first couple of weeks in high school.  She thinks she’s cool because she’s been invited to this party.  That’s where my character comes in.  I am her love interest in the show and I go to school with her.  I’m going to be at the party, that’s one of the main reasons she wants to go.  She sneaks out to the party and sees me there and we hit it off a little bit.  So, how we live it is I ask her to be my partner in drama class.  Arwin finds out that she sneaks out of the house and goes to the party.  He goes over to the party and brings her back home because her mother is about to come home and he doesn’t want her to find out that she snuck out of this house.  It’s a big thing, there is a lot of comedy, it’s so funny.  Brian Stepanek who plays Arwin is hysterical and so much fun to work with.  He has so many ideas and he just throws them out there and that’s what makes it even funnier.  They give him lines to read but he’ll do so much more to it.  Hopefully Disney will come through and like it.

Q.  As you mentioned, the movie Read It and Weep is out now.  What made you want to be a part of this project?

A.  Well, actually when I initially auditioned the role was for a fifteen or sixteen year old freshman in high school and I am 6’2.”  I didn’t know how it was going to work but I went in and read for the part and the casting director called me back.  There are a lot of stuff you can do on film, which I understood, going up against the lead character played by Kay Panabaker (who is really short) was a little weird for me.  So, once I got the script and I read it, it was funny.  I loved the script and when I found out that Kay and Danielle Panabaker were going to be in it, I was really interested in working with them.  When they called me back I was like, “I’ll see how this goes.”  I kept going in for it and after maybe three times going to Disney Channel executives I got the part.  At that point I was excited because I had invested so much of myself in the project already. 

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from working on the film?

A.  Yes, probably it would be in the movie there is a dance sequence at the end.  It’s a Deep Blue Sea dance so for it a couple of the girls in the movie design this whale, this paper Mache whale that hung from the ceiling.  It was filled with Save The Whale filers and seaweed.  At the end Kay Panabaker pulls the rope and the whole whale goes flying across the room.  It throws seaweed all over everyone!  In the movie we had to have real kelp thrown on to us and it was slimy and gross.  I guess you do what you have to for the art though!  It was really funny, we would sit around behind the cameras watching everyone get slimed because it was so funny.

Q.  Why should viewers take the time to check out the movie?

A.  I think it gives a good message.  Especially me, going through high school, I wasn’t the most popular kid.  Not that it makes a difference because I had a good time in high school.  But, it gives a good message about how you should be yourself and not try to be somebody you’re not so you can get fame and fortune.  I think especially being on Disney Channel, it attracts a lot of preteen kids.  It’s something that they might need to know and see.  Not that they’re going to watch Disney Channel and take a lot of messages away from it, because I can’t say that I did when I was younger.  But, it’s a really good movie, the director is great and Kay is in it, which I know a lot of people follow her and her work.  It’s just a fun movie and I know a lot of the kids on IMDB, I see some of the message boards, about how some of these kids have been reading the book.  It was actually a book before it was made into a movie.  So, I know a lot of the kids read the book and it’s fun for them to read the book and see it played out on screen.  I think a lot of people have seen it, and some people I know have mixed feelings. 

Q.  Danielle and Kay Panabaker are sisters in real life.  But, did the entire cast have a lot of chemistry on set?

A.  For the most part, I think that everyone really clicked. We would always go out to eat together.  We filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah so we all stayed at this really nice hotel.  So, we were right down the hall from each other. We could always go and knock on one another’s door and watch some TV and eat some popcorn.  There were some restaurants in the hotel that we would go to.  So, we hung out even when we weren’t working and I think that made it a lot better.  I think starting to get to know each other and after the first week we were close; I think that showed on screen too.  I got to be really good friends with Allison Scagliotti and she played Sawyer in the movie.  We’re actually really good friends now and I am living right behind her in Los Angeles.  So, there are a lot of good relationships and friendships that came out of it.  While we were shooting the movie we definitely all clicked.

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  Well, I love musical theater.  In high school I was a musical theater major, I went to the Performing Arts School in Louisville, Kentucky.  I love to sing and dance and perform for people.  It gives me such a rush to be out on stage.  The production company I work for that I mentioned does different shows for theme parks around the nation.  Right now I’m doing a Broadway show and a Country show at Six Flags theme park here in town.  So, that takes up most of my time.  I’m kind of hard to get in touch with when I’m working every day.

Q.  Do you have a latest obsession?  Are you into any particular book, music group, sport or activity?

A.  It varies from day to day I think.  Not really, I guess you could say work is my obsession right now.  That’s all I do anymore.  Also, performing is an obsession.

Q.  What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A.  Thank you for keeping up with me and watching me.  Do your best at everything you do, and keep at whatever you’re doing, that’s what is going to get you there.  Everyone that you’re interviewing, and me of course, we’re all following our dreams.  Get out there and follow your dreams and have fun with it.  Thank you so much for all of your support and keep watching!