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Interview with
INDI STAR

(21st November 2021)

Interview by Eliza Carretero

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So, you are an actress, a musician, a model, and a dancer, you’ve got the whole package! What came first?
Um, I’d say dancing came first, because I started dancing when I was three years old. At my home studio.

And how did you make the transition into everything else? And now music?
Yeah. So, when I was three, I started dancing. And then me and my friend, we auditioned, I think it was for the Annie play. It was just like, at a little place near our house, that they’re just doing a quick little Annie play. But we auditioned for it. And then I think we also may have audition for The Sound of Music, just for like, just for fun, because we were both dancers. And from there, my family was like, we see how much I enjoyed all of that stuff, and so did my sister a lot. And she was actually the singer before I was. So, then we moved out to LA when I was eight years old to pursue all of this. And then I got into this dance studio. And they did singing lessons there. So, I started doing singing lessons there. And then I started just getting a bunch of auditions, which was awesome. But yeah, that’s kind of how it all happened.

And acting as well, you’re in a new role in the brat series, “Charmers”!
Yes, I am!

How’s that going?
It’s going very well. We started filming in the beginning of the year. And hopefully, there’s going to be a season two, we just finished the season one in the beginning of the year, and then it came out and everybody started liking it. So, I think there might be a season two. But that’d be really awesome. And I met so many of my best friends on there. So, it was just such a fun experience.

That’s amazing! That’s sounds like so much fun! How is it juggling everything? Is it stressful?
It can be stressful, because I have to do a lot of like influencing and social media stuff online. And then I also have to like, for auditions, I have to learn scripts, I’ve been getting a lot of over 10 Page scripts, which are a lot, but they’re also super fun to do. And then I have to go to the studio. Like a couple days ago, I went to the studio to write for five hours. And then I had to go to an event right after and I was like, “Oh my gosh”, it was a lot, but I do pretty well with juggling it. Plus, I have my family to help me, which is also amazing.

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Yeah, they’re time management people, your family, they’ll always remind you. Cool, and then “EXPOSED”, that’s your new single, it’s amazing. It’s so beautiful. What was the inspiration for it? Because the lyrics are very deep.
Thank you! The inspiration behind exposed was my relationship in the beginning of the year. And I was just about, like… because I have been into two relationships my whole entire life. And the first one was not really the greatest. And then the second one was a lot better not to compare them. But it was like trying to figure out how to be in an actual healthy relationship after being in a not so good one. So that’s kind of where the inspiration came from.

Yes, for sure! And your lyrics really kind of talk about that as well. Did you write them all or did you have any help? Or was it a really fast writing process? Or was it kind of really slow and were you, you know, experimenting and stuff?
Yeah, um, I co-wrote with my producers, so I didn’t write the whole song by myself. But I’d say whenever I write with my producers, we always like, we go pretty fast. We write it in like two hours, I’d say, which is pretty fast. A couple days ago when I was in the writing session. It took us more than five hours to write a song and we haven’t even finished it yet. So that was probably my longest writing session. But it was it was fun. We were just hanging out basically. And the first two hours wasn’t even us like writing. I guess that was pretty much how it started.

With the success of the song is there an album coming out soon are we getting anything?
I really hope so. I haven’t started on an album. But that’s one of my dreams: is to write an album. So hopefully in 2022 I’ll have an album out.

That’s very exciting! And so far because you’ve got quite a big, you know, past in your career and in all the different industries. What’s one of the or… let’s go top three because I feel like you’ve got a lot, top three of the biggest highlights of your career so far.
Okay, so definitely…okay, there’s so many. Okay, top three, I’d say either getting on “Charmers”, which was a lot of fun, because I got to be like the ‘Mean Girl’ on it. And I was in every episode, so that was awesome. Or I was in a movie, it hasn’t come out yet. It’s coming out next year. It’s called “The Hyperions”. And I got to be a superhero. Which was like, really awesome! And that’s also always been one of my dreams is to be a superhero on a movie. And then also, just making a bunch of more music and putting it out. I was really excited for Exposed to come out because it’s one of my favourite songs that I’ve made. Um, but yeah, so those would probably be my top 3.

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That’s really cool! And they’re completely opposite roles, from the mean girl to a superhero. What’s that like, the difference between them.
I was the young version of Penelope Mitchell. Have you heard of her? She’s on the Vampire Diaries. So, I was the younger version of her, which was super cool, because I used to watch The Vampire Diaries all the time. And she was one of my favourite characters. And now so many people comment on it. They comment on my Tik Tok and Instagram. They’re like, “Oh, you look like Penelope Mitchell”. I’m like, “Oop” because they don’t know that I was younger version of her. Yeah, so I’m like, “Oh, thanks!”. But yeah, it was really awesome. And then I also got to film with Carrie Elwes. Have you heard of him? Yeah! So, he was awesome to film onset, because he was like, basically my dad in the movie. It’s kind of confusing, but he was basically that and it was so much fun to work with him.

Yeah, that’s amazing! How is that different to the role that you’re in? In “Charmers”.
Oh, goodness. It’s so different. Because in “Charmers”, I have to like… I’m so mean in the show. And I have to actually be mean to my best friend. She’s like, my best friend now. It’s very different, as you can imagine. But I love playing the Mean Girl on “Charmers” because it’s so different from my actual personality. So, I like to actually make a character.

Is there a certain process that you take to get into the roles that you’re playing? Like, is that something that you do?
Well, when I was thinking of my character, her name is Paris. Which is weird because I watch Gilmore Girls. And the mean girl is also named Paris. And that’s kind of actually like… I watched Gilmore Girls after I filmed the show. And that’s actually kind of how I made her character. And I never watched Gilmore Girls before that. So, it was weird to look at it. I was like, “Wait a minute, my character’s name is Paris, and she acts like the exact same”, which is so weird. But I don’t know, on set me and my friends normally just go back and forth doing like… not improv but kind of improv, just going back and forth acting like your characters. And it’s so much fun before we film the scenes. But yeah.

That’s really cool! Gilmore Girls is one of my favourite TV shows. I love it.
Me too!

And I love Paris! She’s one of my favourite characters. She’s awesome!
Yeah me too, I just finished it a couple of weeks ago. It’s so good.

And then so there’s your highlights and are there any specific goals that you have for your career?
Yeah, I really want to go on tour. I was in KIDZ BOP, but I never got to actually go on tour. But I went on tour, right as COVID hit, which was awful because we only went to two places. And then COVID hit and then we were like, “we can’t go anymore”. So that was really sad, but I had a lot of fun on tour. So, I definitely want to make an album and go on tour. Two of my main goals.

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And have you performed any of your songs live?
Yeah, I performed my first song that I came out with is called “Just Might Dance”. So, I perform that live. So yeah, I have performed live before and it it’s super fun.

Do you have a certain like way of performing?
Yeah, I like to engage with the audience a lot. On tour, I engaged with the audience a little too much. And then I kind of forgot a line because I was like, high fiving everybody and then I forgot my line! But it wasn’t too bad. I like to definitely engage with the audience a lot. And it’s so cool because they’re all singing my song, which is awesome. But yeah, it’s amazing.

And who… I’ll split it into two because you act, and you sing. So, if you had to sing and act with any famous person, alive or dead who would it be?
Okay. I feel like I answer Melanie Martinez for literally anything someone asks me. But I’d definitely go with Melanie Martinez, because she’s just, she’s so cool. Or Billy Eilish because I met Billy Eilish once, and she was the sweetest person ever. Because the security guard. He was like, “Oh, are you family or friends of her?”. And we’re like, “no”. And then he was like, “Okay, you can’t come back”. And we’re like, “okay”. And then Billy. She looked at us. She was like, “Oh my God! Hi, how are you guys?”. And she was like, “It’s okay. They can come back”. And he was like, “Okay”. And so, she’s like, “How are you?”. And she acted like, we’re best friends with her. We were like, “Good!”. It was so nice.

That would have been so cool! And then which actor would you choose?
I’d go with… I don’t know. There’s so many, I’d go with so many Marvel people. Because I love the Marvel Universe. Tom Holland would be pretty fun. Chris Evans, I love Chris Evans. Yeah, I’d just say anybody from Marvel. I literally love anybody from Marvel.

Is that a goal as well? To be in a Marvel Movie.
Yes. Definitely!

Do you have a certain like routine for your career and the future? For example, is it music and then acting, then music and then acting? Are you just kind of going to do a little bit of both, mix it up here in there?
Yeah, I think I’m going to just mix it up a little bit. Because I randomly get auditions and stuff. So, it really depends on my auditions. I kind of base my singing, like, the writing sessions and recording sessions around what days I’m not busy. But with acting, you can’t really do that. So yeah, I’d say it’s just like a mix of all of it.

Cool. And so, you kind of base the music around the acting schedule kind of thing.
Yeah. Yeah, I’d say so.

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Your life is very busy!
Yeah! It is.

And are you in school? Are you home-schooled.
I’m home-schooled.

Okay, on top of everything else!
I know yeah, I’ve been home-schooled since first grade.

Oh! What’s that like?
It’s pretty fun. I’ve definitely gotten a lot of social anxiety from not being in an actual school. Um, but it’s good because my brother and my sister also do home-school with me. So, we all do the same program. And we’re all in the same grade kind of. So, we all just work together.

Yeah, that’s really good that you have people to help you out. And would you say that with the social anxiety, does that sometimes limit you from feeling like you can do a lot of things? Or is it kind of, just a ‘work in progress’ for you to of get out there a little bit more?
Yeah, I’d definitely say it is harder to go to, like big events and stuff. Especially because some events, I can’t…if I’m invited to an event, I can’t really bring my sister or my friends. So that’s definitely hard to go by myself. But if I have my sister and my best friend there, it’s much easier. Because then I know if, I don’t want to talk to anybody else I can just stay there with them. So yeah, plus, my sister she also has social anxiety. And my best friend she does not. She’s super out there. So, she kind of gets us out of that.

And you said that your sister sings as well?
Yeah, she used to sing when she was younger. She hasn’t really sung in a while but yeah, she’s more behind the camera now.

Well, those are all the questions I have! Let’s just chat!
Hahahaha okay!

So, did you have a busy day today?
Not really it was kind of more like just chill.

What are your busiest days of the week, that you know that you’re going to be prepared for?
There’s not really a specific day. It’s more like…

Everyday
Yeah, honestly! But like, there’s some days that I can just chill and I don’t have anything, which is today. I didn’t have anything today.

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And do you try and fit home-schooling around the same routine? Or do you have a specific day?
I’m pretty bad at keeping up with school. But I need to do more school. Because my program is like, we can finish our whole high school year in basically one year, so we can do our school whenever. And it’ll get done in like a year. So, I don’t really have any rush to do our school, but we still have to do school.

And what’s your favourite subject at school?
Hmm. I’d say, I really do like math. I don’t really like history. History isn’t that fun. But I do like math. So yeah, I’d say math.

And you said that you had a brother as well. And what is he like? Is everyone on the same-ish schedule?
Yeah, my brother is a gamer. So, he games a lot. And he has a Twitch. And he like, live streams, a lot of gaming. But he’s been going to a lot of events with us. So that’s pretty good.

And then you said your sister is behind the camera and stuff?
Yeah, she’s been doing a little bit of YouTube videos with her friends. Because her friends are all YouTubers, and her boyfriend is a YouTuber. So, she’s been like, doing YouTube videos. But she’s been more behind the camera.

Is that something that interests you as well, going into film, doing something more behind the camera as well as on screen, like learning about both?
Not as much as my sister, that’s kind of more her thing. And then my things kind of being more on camera. Which I’m not the greatest at being on camera, but I still love it. So that’s kind of my thing.

What’s the hardest part of acting?
Hm, I’d say probably, maybe learning the lines. Because that takes quite a bit. It doesn’t take as long. But like, it takes quite a bit. And then also, just getting up early for shoot days. I am not a morning person. But I love getting up early for shoot days. So, it’s so much fun. But also, I go to bed at like, three in the morning. So, I get like no sleep, yeah, but I like it.

How early are we talking?
Oh, yeah. One time, I did have to get up at five. But mainly, I get up at six for a few days. But yeah, a couple of days ago, I had to get up at six. But it was fun.

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Wow, I couldn’t do it, no way. And how long would it take to learn lines? Is it like you get the script weeks in advance? Or a day? Like, how would it work?
Yeah. So, when I was on Charmers, I would get it the night before. So, I had to learn the whole script that night and then get up at six in the morning and then go there and then film it. But it was fun. It was fun. Um, yeah, it was pretty hard to learn the lines because I had to learn it like at 12am. And then I had to get up at six to film.

Wow! So much information going into one head. And do you like ever mix it up? Because it was the night before? Would you ever mix up different scripts? Or is it easy like to stick to one script?
I’d say it’s easy to stick to one script. So, when we’re filming charmers, we would film different scenes, we wouldn’t film episode by episode. We would just film whatever we need to film at the camp, and then we would have to film at the studio. So, it was like, you either had a lot of lines that day or just a couple.

And what’s your next song going to be on? Have you already started?
Yeah! It’s all finished. They’re just editing a little bit more. But I think it’s coming out like, around December. We haven’t really made a set day though. I have a couple of songs I’m working on, like writing. So, I’m super excited about that.  I’m really excited for it to come out.

Okay! Well, thank you so much! Good luck with everything you’re doing. It’s amazing! It was great chatting with you!
Thanks! That was really, really fun! Thank you!

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Follow INDI STAR
TikTok – Instagram – YouTube

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About INDI STAR

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Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Indi began dancing at age three and is trained in tap, ballet, hip hop, and jazz funk. With a passion to perform at an early age, Indi was determined to chase her dreams in the entertainment industry. At just eight years old, Indi relocated to Los Angeles and began training at Gray Studios drama school. A few years later, Indi booked her first guest appearance role on the popular web series Teens Wanna Know (2017). 

Indi is quickly rising to the top with her impressive range of creative endeavors.  Best known for playing “Kimmie” in Nickelodeon’s Henry Danger, “Brandy” in Betrayed, “Chloe” in My Haunted House, and herself in Q Wonder, she is now a series regular playing mean girl “Paris” in the new Brat TV’s series Charmers (premiered on May 27th). Charmers is about a coven of teen witches attempting to defeat an evil demon with their powers that is haunting their camp, Whispering Sky. Indi can also be seen as a recurring dancer in Netflix’s popular Dramedy Dead To Me (2020). Now, after the successful release of her single “Afterglow” Indi recently released her powerful ballad “Exposed” on 9/30 with the music video out TODAY 10/6! She can also soon be seen as “Young Vista” opposite Cary Elwes in the upcoming feature film The Hyperions(set to release in February 2022). 

Formally a member of Kidz Bop USA/Canada where she has toured and performed around the Country, Indi broke out as a solo artist in 2019 and has released 5 original singles to date and has amassed over 2.5M Followers on her social media channels. In 2020, Indi joined popular social media collective Vibe Crew and has also been recognized as part of the popular social media influencer group The Squad collaborating on content with her friends. Indi is extremely active on her Youtube Channel where she posts weekly videos showcasing her bubbly and upbeat personality with videos surrounding fun challenges, funny reactions, and fan favorite pranks! 

Along with her many artistic projects, Indi used her voice for change as one of the singers for the theme song of the commercial campaign for Creatable World, Mattel’s new all-inclusive doll line. Additionally, Indi has been a lead in national commercials and campaigns with big brands including, Samsung, Marvel, Hasbro, among other national toy companies appearing on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. Indi aims to inspire Gen-Z and beyond by promoting self-confidence and passion for her crafts. She is also interested in philanthropic endeavors, such as Autism Awareness, Racial/Sexual Equality, and Save The Earth.

Indi has previously partnered with brands such as Nickelodeon, Casetify, Starburst, and One A Day Vitamins. In her free time, Indi loves to spend time doing yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, boxing, weightlifting, cycling, hiking, skateboarding, swimming, surfing, shopping, gaming, dancing. 

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