Ainsley Bailey

She plays Dina on Shake It Up and has a bright future ahead of her. I’m talking about the newest member of the Disney family, Ainsley Bailey.
At a young age, Ainsley is making her mark on the show and off. She is involved with anti bullying organizations and has a recurring role on the hit Disney show. Ainsley and I chatted about her acting and goals with her career. Make sure to watch her as Dina on the show!

Q: What got you interested in acting?
A: Well, when I was a kid I tried sports and gymnastics and stuff, and I never really found my niche until I auditioned for a play at a local community theater, and I just immediately fell in love with it. I’d always enjoyed doing little skits with friends and stuff, but it wasn’t until that first play that I realized that was really what I wanted to do. I felt like I was where I was supposed to be.

Q: How’d your audition for Shake It Up go, and how’d you get that role?
A: My manager got me the audition, and I flew out to California the next day for the audition. Then I had the call back the day after, and I found out I booked it that night. So it was a pretty fast process. It was really exciting.

Q: What was going through your mind when you were going into audition and you had to bring your character to life?
A: Well, I was really excited! Just from the break down, it seemed like a really fun character. The show hadn’t aired yet, so I didn’t know that much about the show. It wasn’t until the actual audition though that I found out about the accent. So, luckily they gave me that little tidbit, otherwise I would not have known to do the accent!

Q: What’s it like to be on the show for as long as you have been on it?
A: It’s been a very welcoming, amazing surprise because originally the show was just for a little costar on that one episode, and basically they just decided to keep bringing me back.

It’s been really incredible. I mean, I’m thrilled Because I thought it was just going to be one episode and now it’s been a year and a half later. I can’t even believe that this is my life. It’s just really, really exciting, and I feel very fortunate.

Q: What can people expect to see with your character coming up?
A: I think there’s going to be a really cool episode that people will get a kick out of. It’s called Wrestle It Up, and there’s another male guest star and it definitely throws me and Cici’s relationship through a, uh, through a loop! So I think that’ll be a really fun episode for people to see.

They’re also going to get to see a little bit of a girlier side to Deena when there’s a Spring Dance episode coming up. So, there’s going to be lots of new, different sides to Deena that people are going to get to see.

Q: Do you have a favorite episode or line on the show that you’ve said on the show?
A: Oh, they’ve all been so much fun. But one of my favorite shows was called Slumber It Up, and we got to eat ice cream out of these giant tubs and I love ice cream, so that was a really fun one to shoot.

Q: What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?
A: I guess it’s kind of boring, but I like vanilla. But I really like it with caramel sauce and stuff, or butterscotch. I like toppings, but I like keeping it simple with vanilla and adding lots of delicious toppings.

Q: What goals do you have for your career?
A: For me I definitely want to be versatile and do lots of different things. I want to do films and more tv shows and everything, but I really love comedy. That’s always been my main passion, so I really want to continue doing comedy — that’s the main thing in my career.

Q: Do you have a few actors you dream of working with?
A: Oh yes, oh gosh! I love Ed Holmes from The Office — he’s probably my favorite actor. I love Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, Steve Carrell, Emma Stone, Christian Wig — all those funny people. I love them.

Q: Do you have a tv show that if you could guest star on right now, you would die for the opportunity?
A: Ooh, ooh! New Girl! I love that show! I think it’s so funny. New Girl and The Office — just because I’ve always loved The Office from the beginning, but New Girl is one of the best new shows on tv, and I love Zooey Deschanel and all the guys on that show; I think it’s hilarious.

Q: I know you’re big in your twitter account in communicating to your fans, so what’s the best way for a fan to get your attention from their tweet?
A: I try to respond to as many as I can. For some reason, whenever people ask me to wish them good luck on something like a test or a band competition, I always respond to those because I’m very into wishes and luck! So I like wishing people good luck I guess! I’m always more than willing to give wishes of good luck. And also, tweet that make me laugh — I love that laugh. If someone talks about a new video game, I love video games. I always respond to those because I’m a huge video game geek. Those always catch my attention.

Q: Are you at all like your character on the show?
A: I think we definitely have some similarities, but we’re also very different. But that’s what makes it so fun — she’s more of a tomboy than I am, so that’s fun to play.
She’s also more outspoken than I am. I tend to be pretty quiet and shy despite the whole acting thing.
But I think we’re both very loyal friends, and I like to think I’m a good, loyal friend. So I think we have that in common.

Q: What’s your favorite part of acting in general?
A: I think I just really love making people laugh. I love becoming the character — I just feel so at home when I’m in the scene or finding the different comedic beats and kind of playing with it. I feel like my job is just to pretend all day. I think that’s the coolest thing — I just use my imagination and have fun and play different characters.

Q: Are there any non-profit organizations or charities you are or would like to get involved with?
A: I’m currently in the process of trying to do some work with the FPC L.A. I love animals, and I would really like to help get the word out there. I support that cause because I have two dogs myself and animals have always held a very special place in my heart. So I definitely want to work with animals and also to get involved with any anti bullying organization. I saw the documentary, Bully, and I just want to help get the word out. It was amazing.