Ricky Ullman
As the lead and title character of Phil of the Future, Ricky Ullman is the newest star to make his way to teen heartthrob status! His latest project is the ABC Family movie Searching For David's Heart. With a growing fan base and plenty of new roles, Ricky is sure to be around for a long time!
THE STAR SCOOP:
Before you became an actor, when you were little, what job did you always want to have?
RICKY ULLMAN:
A firefighter. I grew up in Connecticut, a small town in Connecticut, Fairfield, Connecticut and around the corner, literally just a two minute walk was the local fire station. And almost every day after school I'd go to the fire station and for my birthday they actually gave me a ride on the fire truck. And by that time I knew all the firefighters, and it was cool. Yeah, I wanted to be a firefighter - I still would love - like that's the backup job.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Tell us about your first big break.
ULLMAN:
The first big theater production that I had - I grew up in musical theater, just, uh, camps and school theaters, and I did a touring Broadway show of
The King and I when I was eleven and that big first huge stage thing that I did. And it was just really exiting because I got to tour around America and do a show and do what I wanted to be doing and it was great. I did a few independent films, but first probably one that anybody actually saw was the
Growing Up Brady which was a Brady movie on NBC that actually had Adam Brody and Kaley Cuoco. And we shot that five years ago. It aired in may of 2000. 4 years ago. And that was probably the first big TV thing for me. And I got to have a kissing scene. So it wasn't all that bad.
THE STAR SCOOP:
You’re the star of
Phil of the Future now. Tell us about the role and how you happened to get it.
ULLMAN:
Well, since I grew up in Connecticut, I was always auditioning in New York, I would in New York almost every day going to auditions and whatever, and I remember this audition particularly because I remember going into the audition and there being a ton of people there for the audition and I'm like oh, there are so many people here, I'm going to have to wait a long time to go into the audition and it's going to take forever and plus all the other guys auditioning for it were about half my size - they were probably all like eleven or twelve. And I was sixteen at the time - I auditioned two years ago now, and I'm thinking there's no way I'm gonna get this, they're obviously not looking for my age, why am I even here, and I went in and auditioned and got a call back and then ended up flying out here to LA twice to test in front of the network executives and the directors and the producers and everyone for the show. And then I got the part and we shot the pilot about two years ago now. And we started production about a year ago in august for the actual series and we've been airing ever since.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Your character in
Phil of the Future is actually going back in time. If you could, would you rather visit the future or the past?
ULLMAN:
I think I'd love to go to the past, because I think we're gonna see the future anyway in some sense, I mean we're not going to see thousands of years in the future but I think you learn about history and everything and you never actually get to see it. It'd be so cool to visit the renaissance as long as your head wasn't chopped off. Visit you know, the stone age or anything like that. I think that would be just fascinating, so I'd love to go back in time.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How are you the same as Phil and how are you different?
ULLMAN:
Well I think we're both the same in that - I moved out to Los Angeles for the show and I left my entire family, I left my friends and I basically left my home and everything there to come out and do the show and LA is so different from Connecticut - it's a totally different vibe, it's a new place, and I've been living out here for a year now and it's going great but it's a huge change. And while I'm not time traveling, I'm going to new place with new people and Phil and his family kind of do the same thing - they move from one time period, their home, to a whole new area and I think that's what's kind of cool about the show is that a lot of people in general can relate to the characters. And I think for the Diffy's they're moving to this new place and I think Phil and I are alike in that we both really embrace new places and embrace new experiences and adventures. I love going to new places, I love traveling. I'm always excited to see new places and meet new people and I think Phil has the same attitude where he doesn't go into relationships or a situation scared of what's gonna happen, it's more of being really excited and embracing what the possibilities are. And different wise, he's probably a little bit more goofy than I am, a little bit. But I think I have more guy friends than Phil. Phil seems to only have Keely as a friend.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Is there a person in your life like Keely from
Phil of the Future?
ULLMAN:
Absolutely. It's funny because now I have kind of two different groups. I've got two extremely close friends - there's one girl, her name is Julie, who I grew up with - we've been friends since we were two basically, and I basically grew up in her house and she in mine and her family is my family and we're still best of friends. And another buddy Alex from home -he's my best friend from home. We're extremely, extremely close, we know everything about each other, best friends, all that. And then I moved out here and I found two others - Evan Peters and this other kid Brian who I met because he lives in my apartment complex - the three of us are best friends out there.
THE STAR SCOOP:
We hear you’re quite a prankster.
ULLMAN:
I'm trying to think...I just finished this ABC family movie in New Orleans that should air around Thanksgiving time called
Searching for David's Heart. We had this one scene, it was in the evening and we were filming in this neighborhood in Louisiana and it's just a very small scene of me in my bedroom window looking across the way at my neighbor in her bedroom and she's typing on the computer and I just kind of look at her and I'm thinking and what not. And I figured it would be kind of fun to pull a prank and I got down to my boxers instead of wearing clothing and try to do the scene like that just for fun. And we did it and we all had a good laugh and then I got outside and realized that on this specific shot I guess the entire neighborhood decided to come watch us film and I couldn't see cause the lights were on me and the angle and what not, but the entire neighborhood saw me, uh, basically naked. So that was a prank that went through but maybe not to my advantage.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How have you dealt with the sudden rush of fans?
ULLMAN:
It is different, I think I watch myself in public more often just in terms of how I act because I'm representing Disney, I'm representing our show, and not that I acted inappropriate before, but - you know when I'm eating I'll just make sure my posture is good or silly things like that or I'm not eating messily. At the same time, I've met some kids who love the show but I can still walk around malls or a theme park or anywhere and not be noticed at all. So it's a mixed thing. There are definitely times that you get recognized, and for me it's an honor. We've been working on the show for two years now. And you just put two years of your life into a project and you hope that it's gonna work, and I feel honored that people enjoy it. And you put so much hard work into it and then to know that people are enjoying what you - and then somebody comes up to me and says hey saw the show, really liked it or an autograph or something like that, it just means that they liked the show, and if they like the show, that's great, that means all the hard work we put into it actually meant something. For me it's just kind of a cool feedback thing.
THE STAR SCOOP:
You don’t have to answer this but are you currently single?
ULLMAN:
Oh, goodness. I'm kind of in the growing stage of a relationship right now, where it's not a definite thing but who knows.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What does it take for a date to make a good impression on you?
ULLMAN:
To make a good impression on me? A sense of humor. And confidence. And confidence is such a huge thing. I hate when girls are like uh, I look fat or I'm really not cool or I'm not pretty or I'm not funny, I think just be yourself. I have so much more fun with people when we're just being goofy and hanging out and joking around.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you have any other projects in the works?
ULLMAN:
I did a
Law and Order episode, for
Special Victims Unit, it's gonna air in October, I believe. It's kinda crazy, it's all over the place, not extremely appropriate for kids, but uh, I'll just say that I don't play Phil. That should be out in October. And then
Searching For David's Heart comes out, I think November 21s ton ABC family it's the Sunday before thanksgiving. I did a
Kim Possible movie, just like for TV, an animated movie, I play Kim Possible's boyfriend, not bad.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Where would you like to be in 10 years?
ULLMAN:
Truthfully, I don't know where I want to be tomorrow, so I have no reason to worry about ten years. I think that, I'm extremely happy where I am right now, I mean, I'm doing what I want to be doing, I'm acting, I'm in this business that I love, it's ridiculous, but I love it. And I have a great group of friends and I have a great support group back at home. And I'm not worried about it. Everything's worked out. A year and a half ago I was working at a donut shop, and now I'm not (laughs). So uh, I have no idea where I'll be in ten years. And I'm not even sure I want to know.