Debby Ryan is Loving Life as She Takes on New Role for Disney

Debby Ryan discusses her new series, Jessie, and her love of BC!

From the start of her career on the Disney Channel as Bailey Pickett in The Suite Life on Deck, Debby Ryan has proven herself in the entertainment world. Ryan is now taking on a new role in the upcoming series Jessie by not only acting, but helping to write and produce the show as well.

Jessie is about an 18-year-old girl from a military family who moves to New York City to become a nanny for a wealthy, high-profile couple with four kids.The show is promising to be a new direction for the Disney Channel as it explores the life of a girl who has already graduated from high school. Ryan excitedly discusses the ups and downs of starring in her new show, which is set to premiere on the Family Channel on September 30, 2011.

YT:  When did you realize that acting was going to be the focus of your career?
DR: I guess I knew that I wanted to do it when I was 12 or 13.  I didn’t actually think that it would pay my bills, but it actually ended up being very fruitful!

YT: How would you describe your character Jessie in three words?
DR: My character Jessie is resourceful, strong and funny.

YT: What was it about the script and the role of Jessie that appealed to you?
DR: Something that I love about Jessie is that she comes from a military family.  I feel like when someone writes a character from Texas, it is easy to write them as like “country," but I lived in Texas and I never rode horses, never lassoed anything, never went to the rodeo.  I ultimately can be resourceful and I love the military family and the whole strength of it. 

YT: You must have been able to relate to Jessie, in what ways are you similar to the character that you play?
DR: We’re similar in that we don’t take life too seriously. We have dreams and then we act upon those dreams to make things actually happen.  We can laugh about things. That’s what I like about Jessie - she doesn’t take things too seriously - she’s not a stressed nanny who's freaking out.

YT: What do you think Jessie will bring to the Disney Channel that we haven’t seen before?
DR: You know, it’s got really cute fashion and I feel like a lot of times people joke about Disney fashion. It’s a little more sophisticated. The characters each have their own vibe too. A lot of Disney shows haven’t been about life after graduation... it is definitely a new vibe.

YT: Is the filming of Jessie being done in New York, and if so how has that experience been so far?
DR: It’s being done in Hollywood, actually, which has been super fun and we have amazing set decorators. It’s been amazing watching things come together. Our Central Park set is beautiful! It’s intricate and it’s really just a cool set.

YT: Last year you were on location filming in BC. What are some of your best memories of spending time in our province?
DR: It feels so much like a home to me and it’s so comfortable. I stay downtown because I like being able to walk to any restaurant and those underground sushi places and this amazing record store... I spent a lot of time here last year. My favourite memory was when I had like 20 different fans who were tweeting me and being like, “Yo!  You’re in BC, let’s hang out! I’d love to meet you, where can I meet you?” and I was like, “Alright. Let’s hang out. Let’s have an ice cream party.  Meet me at this ice cream parlour.” So I direct messaged like 20 fans saying, “Meet me at this ice cream parlour at this time tomorrow night,” and they totally did and we actually shut the place down and had tons of fun.  We just hung out and talked about music and art. I think I’m going to be doing it again while I’m here. It’s just a really fun thing to do to get to know the locals and hang out with them. My fans are really cool, they’ve got cool vibes and the things in their art and the way they think about things is very interesting so I dig them for sure.
 
YT: How would you like to see your career evolve in the next few years?
DR: I feel like I’ve been learning and growing for the last few years so I would love to have a few more opportunities to put that into action and to actually produce. I'd like to produce the second season of Jessie and produce maybe a movie and create a concept for it. I’d love to direct a music video for one of the songs that I’ve written and produced for someone. I feel like you have to trust yourself and you have to allow yourself to try really fun new things and I am, and I’m growing everyday and I couldn’t be happier.