Famous Teens: Anna Maria Perez de Tagle & Kherington Payne
Not Another High School Musical
The Fame remake may take liberties with the characters and plot from the 1980 original, but it keeps the edge and the grit. And that’s what sets this drama about talented teens apart
By Ingrid Randoja
Before Canadian Idol, before So You Think You Can Dance, there was Fame, the 1980 movie about kids with talent trying to prove themselves at a high school for the performing arts. Although it featured songs and dance numbers, Fame took an honest, not-so-pretty look at the hard work and heartbreak that goes into training to become a performer.
Now another generation gets the chance to experience Fame with this month’s remake, starring up-and-comers Naturi Naughton, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, Kay Panabaker, Walter Perez and Kherington Payne (pictured above) as some of the students who learn what it takes to break into show biz.
“Everyone who was part of this movie wanted to do the original justice, and I think we really did,” says de Tagle on the line from L.A. The 18-year-old plays fiery actor Joy in the new movie. “The characters and storylines aren’t exactly the same, but you’ll definitely notice the similarities. We tried to make this generation’s Fame just as real and gritty as the 1980 classic.”
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Anna Maria Perez de Tagle in Fame.
Above: Kherington Payne
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De Tagle, best known for her role as Ashley Dewitt in the Hannah Montana TV series and as Ella in Camp Rock, didn’t attend an artsy high school, but that was because she was already a professional actor by age 15.
“My parents never wanted me to be in the business,” says de Tagle. “I literally had to beg them. I got an agent from being on Star Search
and they said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this because you have to
have a thick skin, and we’re scared people will be rejecting you, and
rejection is so hard.’”
But de Tagle
wouldn’t give up her dream, a trait she learned from her grandmother,
legendary Filipina singer and actress Sylvia La Torre. “My grandmother
was a big influence,” she says. “I grew up watching her on stage. She
would always grab me from the audience to sing and perform with her at
her concerts.”
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It’s a very different story for 19-year-old Kherington Payne, who plays snotty dance pupil Alice. You may remember Payne as one of the more popular dancers from season four of So You Think You Can Dance. Fame director Kevin Tancharoen saw Payne on the show, and when she was eliminated asked her to audition for the movie.
“Kevin thought, ‘She can dance, let’s see if she can act.’ And I guess I did pretty good,” Payne says with a laugh via cellphone from her home in Anaheim, California. But don’t think the audition was a piece of cake for the Whittier, California, native.
“Oh my God I was so nervous,” she remembers, “I almost walked out. I didn’t feel prepared, I had never done anything like this. I called my mom and said, ‘I’m just going to go home mom, I don’t feel like this is right for me.’ She said, ‘Just stay, stick it out, they know that you’re not an actress, you’re fine.’ So I ended up staying.” Payne fell in love with dancing at an early age, but acting was never far from her thoughts.
“I dreamed of being both a dancer and an actor,” she says, “but I had the opportunities to be a dancer more than I did to be an actress. Everyone has that in the back of their minds, ‘I want to be famous, I want to be an actress.’ But dance was my whole life, and So You Think You Can Dance did wonders for me.”
Both de Tagle and Payne are here to tell anyone who dreams of becoming an actor, dancer or singer that it can happen to you, but it takes a lot of hard work.
“It’s all about sacrifice, hard work and perseverance,” says de Tagle. “Because I really wanted this I would miss parties on the weekend when I was growing up. Instead, I’d go to musical theatre practice or acting classes or voice lessons. You have to sacrifice a lot, that’s the number one thing.
“And you have to love it,” de Tagle continues. “I know a lot of parents here in Hollywood are forcing their kids to go into show business for their sakes, and you can’t really force your kid to do it because they have to love it, I mean I begged my parents.”
“If you love it — if you have that goal — you can so do it, it’s not even funny,” says Payne. “I was a regular girl, I was going to school and I was going to be a nurse. I wasn’t planning on doing anything, but I took a chance and I worked my butt off and it happened...it was so crazy. I’m a true believer that miracles do happen, and if you put your efforts towards it, it will happen, one way or another. Good things happen to good people.”
Ingrid Randoja is the deputy editor of Famous.