Lauren Collins – Taking the Floor

Q.  What are the current projects that you are working on?

A.   Right now I’m working on season five of “Degrassi” and that’s what I’m doing at the moment. 

Q.  What can you tell us about the premise of the movie Take The Lead and your role as Caitlin?

A.  I finished this in June, I was working on that from April to June and it was a lot of fun.  I don’t want to give away too much but if you caught the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom it’s basically a fictionalized version of that.  It’s about this guy who started the program of bringing ballroom dancing into dance studios in New York.  That’s the role that Antonio Banderas plays, and I play one of these dances who is a bad dancer from his uptown school in the nice area, not from the inner city schools.

Q.  What made you want to be a part of this project?

A.  Well, it all happened really, really fast.  Obviously when feature films come here to Toronto it’s always really exciting when we get to audition for them.  So, it just kind of fell into place and having Antonio as a part of it was pretty cool too.

Q.  You mentioned your character wasn’t that great of a dancer.  Did you get to polish your dancing skills while working on the movie?

A.  That was sort of interesting because I’m really not a very good dancer.  But, before we began filming we were in about four weeks of rehearsal because it’s ballroom dancing.  Which, even the trained dancers that were in the movie didn’t really know a lot about that.  I sort of then had to go backwards because by the end of the four weeks I was decent, I wasn’t great but I wasn’t decent.  When we started shooting I had to go back to having no idea what I was doing, it was a challenge but it was fun.

Q.  How was getting to work with such a talented cast?

A.  It was really fun, I was pretty nervous about it because I have never worked on a project of that capacity.  But, everyone was so down to earth and I think that it is pretty promising if hopefully other future roles work out.  I definitely have faith in the  business now.  Pretty much the entire crew and the director, the producers, everyone was great, they were a lot of fun to work with.

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from your time filming the movie?

A.  That’s a good question.  I don’t want to give too much away about the plot but it was on one of the last daysof filming.  We were filming one of the very last scenes of the movie, which was kind of a cool experience because usually you are filming out of order.  When the movie comes out you’ll know why that scene was a lot of fun!

Q.  What can viewers expect from the new season of “Degrassi: The Next Generation”?

A.  I think from Paige you can expect the unexpected.  She’s used to sort of staying within her group, she’s a head cheerleader, one of the most popular girls in the school and I definitely think that this year she kind of throws it all out of the window.  She definitely doesn’t really care what people think about her, which is kind of cool.  I think that Paige needed that and it’s been fun to play her. 

Q.  You’re a part of the cast of the popular show “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”  How is it being a role model for people your age?

A.  Well, I know that one of the things that Stacey Farber and I actually talked about is that we’re kind of happy knowing that this cast is role models.  As opposed to the Britney Spears, the girls who are younger than me taking all of their clothes off and dancing around.  With “Degrassi” I know these people, I’ve grown up with them, I’ve gone through puberty with them basically.  I know that they are all great people, it’s a little scary to have that hanging over your head, knowing that people are looking up to you.  I think it’s comforting to know who it is, I think we’re all doing pretty well so far.

Q.  “Degrassi” deals with a lot of serious issues.  do you think the show handles these issues in a way that is true to them and people who actually go through them?

A.  Absolutely, I think that’s one of the fundamental aspects of “Degrassi,” the fact that it’s real.  The fact that it shows how the teenager would really deal with the situation, not a parent or an adult.  I think for the genre and it’s definitely the truest out there now.

Q.  The show is such an international success.  Do you find people recognizing you a lot when you’re out?

A.  Yeah and I actually find it happens more often in the states.  Here, “Degrassi” is almost taken for granted, it’s like a real Canadiana type of show.  Everyone knows that it’s Canadian and that you’re going to see the actors but once you go into the states, they freak out more.  It is weird at first but now I’m kind of used to it.

Q.  For those not watching the show, why should they be tuning in?

A.  I think a lot of people get kind of turned off because it’s not as polished as “The O.C.” and our budget isn’t as big as some of the other shows.  I think that they just have to take a chance because they’ll love it, even if they don’t want to admit they will.  There are a lot of closet “Degrassi” watchers out there. 

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

A.  I try to stay as normal as possible in my spare time.  I just actually came back from visiting some friends up at university.  It was a lot of fun because I miss them, I’m not having that experience yet.  Just hanging out with my friends, I love going to the movies and listening to music and going to parties. 

Q.  What would you like to say to fans and supporters of your career as well as the show?

A.  I guess just a big thank you because “Degrassi” is sort of the little show that could.  That’s kind of cliche but it is, it’s a small Canadian show that people have taken a chance on.  Thank you.