Erin Sanders – Zoey 101

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

A.  Well, actually, I haven’t had much time to work on anything besides “Zoey” lately.  We’re doing twenty-six episodes this season, as opposed to just thirteen like seasons 1 and 2.  So, that’s going to be over six months total; and we’ll be filming into January.  Hopefully, after that, I’ll be having some new projects going on, and I’ll be sure to let you all know about that.

Q.  What is new this season on “Zoey 101”?

A.  There are lots of new things.  There is lots of guy-girl stuff going on with different people—and new people that you don’t know yet—so I think that’s going to be really interesting—I know that’s always a source of intrigue for viewers.

Q.  How about what is new with your character?

A.  I’m really happy to say that you’ll be seeing that Quinn has a lot more depth than had been portrayed in her in the past.  She’s not just a silly little thing who only performs experiments and doesn’t care about anything else—she has feelings.  That came out some last season in “Robot Wars” and “Quinn’s Alpaca,” but it’s definitely a lot more prominent in this season. 

I like that a lot—they’re developing Quinn’s character a lot more.

Q.  Do you have a really memorable moment from your time filming the show?

A.  Lots of things have been really memorable in different ways.  For one, filming the episode “Red Stone Gulch,” I can’t tell you what happens in it, but that was a fun, fun episode to film.  There weren’t really stunts, but we just had to jump around, and jump out of the way of things, and other kinds of crazy stuff, and that was a lot of fun.  Also, in season 3, I actually have my first on-screen kiss, so that was an experience.  I won’t tell you who it’s with, though—you’ll have to wait and see.

Q.  What do you think it is about the show that continues to draw viewers in?

A.  There are lots of things about it, for one, this whole Zoey-Chase thing is a big draw for people.  Not even just them, but the whole romantic thing among teens in general.  I think the reason is because it hits so close to home. 

Another thing about it is that there are so many different characters, and all of them are going through different things, so I’m sure that anybody who’s watching can relate to at least one of them.  I think that’s one reason kids want to tune in week after week.  That’s always a good thing.

Q.  What originally made you want to be a part of the show?

A.  Reading the original script, I thought it was really, really cute.  But, at this stage in my career, I can’t really pick and choose at what I’m working on.  I audition, and that’s a long process.  I actually was called back so many times for “Zoey.”  It took maybe about three months total for me to become a part of the show.  But I’m really glad I did, and I’m so lucky that it’s turned out to be such an amazing project to be a part of.  It’s so popular; it’s insane.  I just think it’s such a good quality show, and I’m really proud to be a part of it.

Q.  The cast seems to have a lot of chemistry on screen, is it like that way off screen as well?

A.  Oh, definitely.  The entire cast and I are really, really close.  We hang out off set a lot.  We’re comfortable with each other, and we’re really close friends.  I think that definitely helps on screen, because we’re all supposed to be really close friends on the show.

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

A.  I do all kinds of stuff; I enjoy singing.  I take dance classes, although I haven’t been able to go since the filming of season 3 started, because when we’re filming five days a week, I really don’t have much extra time.  I’m a Girl Scout—this is my eleventh year in Girl Scouts—I love that.  I haven’t been able to attend very many meetings with filming of season 3, but I still am an avid member.  And of course I like to do normal stuff, like hanging out with my friends, and I probably spend way too much time on the computer.

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

A.  I can tell you about a few different obsessions that I have.  For awhile, I had a real fascination with vampires, and that led me to a series of books called The Saga Of Darren Shan.  There were twelve in total by the author Darren Shan.  It’s not his autobiography, he just kind of used his name for the name of the main character of the book.  I really got hooked on those, and my mom really liked them too, and they didn’t have all of them in the United States, only the first few, so she ordered the rest of them for me out of Ireland, all the way up through number twelve.  They’re awesome books; you should check them out.

As far as music goes, for awhile, I was really into OK Go.  I still really like their music but, what started it was their crazy music videos.  The first one they made for “A Million Ways” shows them doing this amazing synchronized choreographed dance.  My friend Amy and I know the dance by heart, and we’re trying to find two other people to perform it with us and videotape it, because we do crazy stuff like that.

As far as computer games go, this is going to sound kind of lame and dorky, but I love, love, LOVE Nancy Drew computer games.  They are so much fun, and they’re really interactive.  My dad and I play them together.  I have all of them except for one.  My most recent one just arrived yesterday, and I have yet to start it up, so I’m going to be doing that later today, and I’m very excited.

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

A.  I want to say thank you, because the show wouldn’t be going anywhere if it weren’t for all of you.  We wouldn’t be into our third season, and we wouldn’t be doing so many episodes.  And where would my career be if I didn’t have anyone to appreciate it?  Thank you for watching the show.  I’m really glad that I could be a part of something that brings you all so much entertainment and joy.  It’s kind of a two-way thing.  Thank you for allowing me to have this amazing experience of working on the show for such a long time.