Drake Bell
He stars in his own show on Nickelodeon, The Drake and Josh Show, but before his hit in the TeeNick lineup, Drake was a regular on The Amanda Show. His talents have been recognized outside Nickelodeon - he's appeared on Seinfeld and Home Improvement, and has his own CD on the way. Popular with the girls, skilled in comedy, and a fabulous musician, it's not hard to see why Drake Bell has become one of today's hottest heartthrobs.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How did you know you wanted to act?
DRAKE BELL:
Well, it wasn't like a “I know I wanted to do this,” I was sort of just – I was five and my dad kinda said hey, you wanna be an actor and I said sure. That kind of thing, you know? I was kind of put into it by my dad but you know good, I really love it. And I still do it.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How much of a change was it going from
The Amanda Show to
The Drake And Josh Show?
BELL:
Well, I mean it was completely different – it was sketch comedy to a normal sitcom. It's different because coming from tons of different characters and not being in as much as Amanda was in to just playing one character but having way more dialogue and more to do. It's a pretty big change.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you like it better, having your own show?
BELL:
Um, yeah. I think so. Totally.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Are you more like Drake or more like Josh on
The Drake And Josh Show?
BELL:
More like Drake.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Is your character similar to you in a lot of ways?
BELL:
I guess so. I guess I'm not as cool as he is, but, I basically just play me.
THE STAR SCOOP:
So which episode that you've done for
Drake And Josh is your favorite?
BELL:
The Blue's Brother's episode. It hasn't aired yet. It's going to air in the new season.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What's your favorite dessert?
BELL:
Crème Brule
THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you have any favorite video games?
BELL:
Super Mario 1. For the original Nintendo. Super Mario.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Favorite animal?
BELL:
Dog.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Favorite color?
BELL:
Orange.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Favorite TV show?
BELL:
Curb Your Enthusiasm.
THE STAR SCOOP:
When you were little, did you ever watch Nickelodeon, did you ever think that you would be on it yourself?
BELL:
Never, dude. I grew up on Nickelodeon. I grew up man, on Nickelodeon. On
All That and
Are You Afraid of the Dark, and
Salute Your Shorts and
Rocco's Modern Life and all that. That was my generation.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Of all the songs that you've written, which would you say was the hardest to write?
BELL:
Hmmm. Well I guess the theme song. The theme song took a while because we didn't know really what we wanted to do with it. We just kind of sat around and were like thinking of all the other theme songs we – you know, we were like (sings) “days go by…” and (sings) “wake up in the morning, the alarm goes off…” so we had all these theme songs in our head. And I was like okay, forget that. Let's just write a good rock song. And then we wrote the verse to it and I was like oh, dude, that totally…and then it just went on. But it took a long time to get to that initial start.
THE STAR SCOOP:
You recently turned 18. How did you celebrate for that?
BELL:
Me and my brothers went and hung out, I got some friends together and we just kinda hung out.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Another thing that you did was the FeFe Dobson video. What was that like?
BELL:
That was awesome. It was a lot of fun. We got to go to New York for two days and just run around New York and hang out at night and I got to hang out with FeFe, she was really cool. And uh, you know, a lot of fun.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What was the video about?
BELL:
It was sort of like the movie
True Romance, which is a Christian Slater movie. And I'm sort of like the Christian Slater guy and she's running from the CIA and I'm helping her run away. And she has this briefcase that they're trying to get that has her microphone in it, which carries like all of her I guess…mojo, I don't know what you'd call it – you know like all of her aura or whatever. The CIA wants it so they can like, you know, whatever. And we're running, we run through like the subway station and we run down the fire escape and out the window, all this kind of stuff and jump in a pink Cadillac and drive around and end up at CBGB where like the Ramon's started and Blondie and all that kind of stuff. And so we get to play on stage at the CBGB club in New York.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Did you have to do any stunts on your own?
BELL:
There weren't many stunts. I mean, I did everything myself like jumping into the car or coming down the fire escape. Nothing spectacular.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you have any advice for someone who would like to play the guitar and write their own songs?
BELL:
Advice? Play every day. I don't know. I'm not sure what kind of advice I would give. You just have to do it every second that you can.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Clothes wise, how would you describe your style?
BELL:
My style? You know, I'm kinda like, hmmm. I like all like classic rock bands like The Beatles and The Who and stuff and Led Zeppelin so I kinda dress like that. Kinda retro I guess. Well not retro but, like tight. I don't know. Like just jeans and shirts. I don't know. Kinda rock and roll I guess.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What's it like for you to be a teen heartthrob?
BELL:
I didn't know I was a teen heartthrob.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Tell us about a normal day in your life.
BELL:
A normal day in my life – well right now it's kinda just like hang out and be lazy ‘cause I'm on hiatus from the show. So I'm just kinda like enjoying my break, you know, basic, what everybody does. Hang out in my pajamas and eat cereal and watch cartoons.
THE STAR SCOOP:
So what's it like when you're on Drake And Josh?
BELL:
Well it's hectic, man. You get up seven o'clock every morning, go to work every day. Then it's like hard work. But it's fun too. It's really great. I get to go to work with Josh every day; I know that I'm in for a good laugh every day.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What music are you into and who would you like to work with in the future?
BELL:
I would like to work with Paul McCartney in the future. Or Brian Seltzer. But I guess like, like I said – I'm into The Strokes, like Ben Folds, Eliot Smith, the Beatles are my favorite, the Beach Boys, Queen.
THE STAR SCOOP:
A lot of old stuff.
BELL:
Yeah, a lot of old stuff, a lot of new stuff I like. I mean I listen to so much music.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What would you say is the hardest thing about being famous?
BELL:
The hardest thing about being famous? Just working I guess. Just work. The famous part's the luxury.
THE STAR SCOOP:
So you don't mind that people recognize you?
BELL:
No, that's why I do it. I love it. I think it's totally radical.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What's your ideal first date?
BELL:
My ideal first date? I'm horrible at these things, ‘cause I'm a horrible date. I don't know. What's a good date? A nice dinner and a movie? I don't know. What are dates? An amusement park? What am I supposed to say? Hmm. I have no idea.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What is one thing you think everyone should know about you?
BELL:
Should know about me? That I have a record releasing called Telegraph and it will be out soon.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How long have you been working on that?
BELL:
Well, I've been working with this producer/writer for about three years but this actual record has probably been a few months. One of the songs off of it is the theme song of course for the show [
Drake And Josh] that I wrote and then another song which is gonna air on the new season.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What kinds of things inspire the songs you write?
BELL:
Just life in general.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you write the lyrics to a song or the music first?
BELL:
I don't know. It depends. It's however it comes. Usually the music first, and then the lyrics. Music, melody and then the lyrics. Usually that's the way it goes. I don't really have a certain format that I go by.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Besides your album and
Drake And Josh do you have any other projects that you're working on?
BELL:
That's all for right now. Just trying to get this album out.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What are you planning on doing once it comes out?
BELL:
Well hopefully I'll tour and support it. And do that kind of thing. That'll be great.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you have any celebrity crushes?
BELL:
Samaire Armstrong.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Is there an actor or musician's career that you would like your career to go kind of in the same direction or the same way?
BELL:
Jennifer Lopez. She acts and she does music. And hopefully I'll fit the television in there. Maybe it'll be like music and television and movies. I mean, who knows? But hopefully I can be successful at everything I do.