Zoey 101
As far as my favorite real-life invention, I'd have to say the light bulb, actually. It's simple, because nothing would work if you couldn't see and we had to use only sunlight.
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You know her as a cool science geek at Pacific Coast Academy, but who’s the REAL Erin Sanders? Read on to find out.
JANE: I read that you were discovered when you and your Mom were going door-to-door selling Girl Scout cookies. How has being a Girl Scout changed your life?
ERIN: I don’t think it keeps me more grounded than I would be otherwise, but it’s definitely something I’m connected to back in Cherry Valley. I’ve met some cool people and done some really cool stuff that I doubt I would have done if I weren’t a Girl Scout. It also helped me realize that I have a knack for sales, which is nice.
JANE: What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie? And what’s your strategy for selling up to 1900 boxes a year? Wow!
ERIN: My favorite is a tie between the Carmel Delites (Samoas) and the Thanks-a-Lot. As far as selling, I’m good with people, but I know that’s not all of it. I think you just have to be really friendly and open, not shy, talk to your customers, and ask questions. Also, know your product. You have to want to sell and be really dedicated. And if you want to sell that many cookies, don’t complain, because it doesn’t do any good. Also, I’d never be able to do any of this if it weren’t for my Mom. I really appreciate all her help and support. It also helps to sell something like Girl Scout cookies. They’re inexpensive and everybody loves them. They kind of sell themselves.
JANE: Your character on Zoey 101, Quinn Pensky, is known as a “science geek”. Is there any “science geek” in Erin Sanders?
ERIN: I think that would be a big “yes”. Not that I’m necessarily as into science as Quinn – it’s not as much my thing as other stuff – but there’s definitely a lot of “geek” in me. I’m into school. I love reading and writing. I’m good with computers, and I love learning. I don’t consider it a bad thing to be a “geek” or a “dork”. I think labels, in general, are pretty silly.
JANE: Do you wear glasses, or is that part of your character?
ERIN: It’s funny that you ask, because most people maybe assume one thing or another, but I rarely get asked. The truth is, I don’t wear glasses in real life. I actually have slightly better-than-average vision. The glasses that Quinn wears have completely clear lenses. There’s kind of a funny story though…on one of the first photo shoots for Zoey Season 1, the prop department discovered they didn’t have the Quinn glasses I was supposed to wear. So I had to wear somebody’s actual prescription glasses. That’s why you’ll notice the rims are somewhat thinner and don’t look like Quinn’s normal glasses. Everything was blurry for that shoot. Then we had a photo shoot maybe six months later with the same photographer, and I guess she hadn’t realized that I was wearing prescription glasses at the last photo shoot. I told her, and she said, “Oh, I wondered, because you were always looking off to one side of the camera.” I thought that was kind of funny.
JANE: There is now a Zoey 101 clothing line. Do you and your character have similar tastes in clothing? If not, what’s your own clothing style?
ERIN: Quinn’s style has definitely evolved over the past few seasons and, more and more, it’s influencing my own style. A lot of the credit goes to Kris Dangl, our WONDERFUL wardrobe stylist. It goes both ways…she takes what I wear in my real life and amplifies it, just brings it up a notch, and uses that to inspire what Quinn wears. I really love that she finds things we’re comfortable wearing, and it keeps some of our personality in there. Definitely, I would wear nearly all the clothes that I wear as Quinn...I love so many of them...and Kris has actually given me some of them, which is awesome.
JANE: Would you ever consider going to a boarding school?
ERIN: Probably not. Honestly, I have all my friends here and my parents. I couldn’t imagine being away from them like that. My mom’s my best friend, and I’m really close with both my parents. There’s just no way I could do that...I’d go nuts.
JANE: What’s your schedule like? Is it difficult to juggle work, school, and a social life?
ERIN: You have no idea! It gets really, really tough. Everyone got a little bit behind on their schoolwork during filming. It’s not our fault. We’re busy all the time. Then I’d get home, and normally I’d do school, but I had to go to bed early so I could wake up early again. I also had to learn my lines for the next day and, depending on how many scenes I had, that could take awhile sometimes. As for my social life, I rely on the phone mostly. I try to focus on my closest friends when I’m working so much.
JANE:On the show, you’re famous for your inventions called “Quinnventions” like the “Dream Monitor”. What’s your favorite invention (both real-life invention and Quinnvention)?
ERIN: As far as my favorite real-life invention, I’d have to say the light bulb, actually. It’s simple, because nothing would work if you couldn’t see and we had to use only sunlight. We’d have to get up super early every day and go to bed really early. We’d have to light candles, and that can be a real fire hazard. I think everyone can imagine what life would be like without the light bulb.
My favorite Quinnvention? I always enjoy the ones that actually work! (laughs) One of my favorites was probably the Sonic Neural Neutralizer. In the episode “Prank Week,” Quinn pushed a button, and this sphere let out a really high-pitched sound, and everyone near it fall unconscious. Also, Quinn’s robot in “Robot Wars” was so cute and little, and it destroyed the other robot, so that was awesome.
JANE: Which of your cast mates do you hang with most often?
ERIN: I’d have to say Victoria Justice. We’ve seen each other a few times since Zoey wrapped. We stay really close, we talk a lot, and we’d hang out more often, but we’re both just so busy with school and auditions and all kinds of stuff.
JANE: Do you have a favorite episode? If, which one and why?
ERIN: I currently have two episodes of those that have aired. “Quinn’s Date” is probably going to be my all time favorite from Season 1. I thought it was so much fun. It was the first episode that really started to give some insight into Quinn’s character, and it was the episode of Zoey specifically that was nominated for the Emmy, which I don’t think I’m ever going to get over...it’s so incredibly surreal. But then, going into Season 2, I really, really loved “Robot Wars”. It shows that Quinn really has feelings...she’s not just a stone wall who doesn’t care what other people think of her. She’s a human being like everyone else and, in the end, she beat everybody and was victorious.
JANE: Congrats on being nominated for a 2005 Women’s Image Network Award in the episode “Quinn’s Date.” Do you feel Quinn is a good role model for tweens and teens? What characteristics does she have that show she’s a good role model?
ERIN: Quinn doesn’t let other people’s opinions get to her. She’s her own person and she stands up for herself. She has her own things separate from everybody else’s lives. She doesn’t revolve around her friends, which I think is really important. I don’t think it’s healthy when kids get completely wrapped up in their friends and have to do what everybody else is doing. She has her own life and her own goals. She has so many dimensions to her that I doubt if even half of them have been expressed in the show, which I really like. She’s a complex person. I think she’s really sweet and intelligent, and I think she’s a wonderful role model for all those reasons.
JANE: You and cast mate Dustin Brooks (Paul Butcher) work together on some Quinnventions. Do you two have fun with your science exploits? Do you enjoy working with younger actors?
ERIN: I’ve always gotten along with all age groups. In the neighborhood where I live, it’s all younger kids, and they all hang out with me, and it’s cute. With adults, it’s the same. I just kind of treat everybody the same, and I get that in response. But Paul and I do have a lot of fun. One of my favorite episodes was called “The Play”. Dustin came to me asking where Zoey was because he had a cold, so I spent the entire episode using all different Quinnventions, trying to cure him, which was a lot of fun.
JANE: You worked with James Garner in “8 Simple Rules”. What wisdom or life-tips did he give you?
ERIN: One thing I really liked about him is, he wasn’t stuffy as you might expect from an actor who’s been in the business that long. He had no real wisdom or life tips for me, but he was just a really funny guy. He tried to teach me how to play poker, and he made jokes all the time, which I loved. He was really easy to talk to. I always hope that someone I look up to will be like that, and that’s true less frequently than I hope, so I liked that about him.
JANE: Quinn has a science-lab in her dorm room. What do you have in your real-life bedroom that shows your personality?
ERIN: It’s probably a really bad reflection of my personality, but my room’s a mess! (laughs) It’s so weird, honestly; it’s a mixture of things that I’ve had since I was little – I still have the same comforter on my bed – it has pictures of fish all over it! And there’s this net above my bed that holds tons of stuffed animals. There are stuffed animals all over my room. There are shelves with tons and tons of books. There are magazines on the floor and clothes everywhere. It’s just really kind of helter skelter, which is kind of like me.
JANE: What is it like working with Jamie Lynn Spears?
ERIN: Jamie’s a really sweet girl. She’s kind of shy when you first meet her, but over the three years that we’ve worked together, she’s definitely opened up. She’s a cool girl to hang around with. I’m glad that I’ve had the pleasure of working with her.
JANE: What’s coming up next for Quinn? For Erin?
ERIN: As for what’s coming up next for Quinn, I don’t want to give any secrets away! And, as for Erin, I’ve just gotten back into the whole auditioning pool. It’s really limited as to the stuff that I can go out for while I’m working on Zoey – the same with the rest of the cast – and there are certain things I wouldn’t be able to do anyway, because it would be filming at the same time as the next season of Zoey. When something comes up, I’ll be sure to let you know.
ERIN’S FAVES:
VIDEO GAME (if you have one): I don’t really play video games, but I do play Nancy Drew interactive computer games with my dad. I know it sounds really dorky, but they’re so much fun!
TV SHOW: I love Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show. My friend, Amy, got tickets to it in December 2005. It was during Ellen’s 12 Days Of Giveaways, and we got tons of cool stuff. I also got to dance on stage. My mom and I always watch America’s Next Top Model together. I love watching late night reruns, like Will and Grace and Friends. And I love the food network – my favorite show is Good Eats. I also love Iron Chef and Iron Chef America.
BOOK: There’s no way I can pick my favorite book – I love reading so much. One of my favorite series of books is The Saga Of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. It’s not an autobiography – he just named the main character after himself. It’s a really good series of vampire books.
MOVIE: I absolutely love all three Back To the Future movies. They’re so, so good. And I think it’s really incredible how each one deals with stuff that’s gone on in the previous ones, and how things happen simultaneously with the same people in different time periods. It’s so cool. Love, Actually is a really good movie, and Groundhog Day is pretty trippy. Stranger Than Fiction is another more recently released movie that I really enjoy. Anything with Hugh Grant makes me smile.
FOOD: Thai food for sure.
FOOD YOU’D NEVER EAT: I’m really adventurous – I’ll taste anything once. Anything edible, that is. Anything that won’t make me sick!
SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: English – I love reading and writing. Or math. I really enjoy math. It can get tiresome sometimes, but I’m good at it.
VACATION SPOT: Any place with people I love. The best part of going on vacation is sharing awesome experiences with people I love being around. I always go on vacations with my parents or with my mom.
SPORTS TEAM: (laughs) I don’t know sports!
SINGER OR BAND: I’m into most everything, really. Rock mostly...I’m not so crazy about rap most of the time. I really like the band OK Go.
HOBBY: I probably spend way too much time on the computer. It’s not so much about just the computer, though – it’s about keeping in contact with people. Talking on line is an easy way to stay in touch with tons of friends all at once. As for hobbies, I wish I had time for something more. I take dance, which I really enjoy. I was getting really good at it for awhile, and I’ve been doing it for years, but over the past 7 months or so of filming, I didn’t have any time, so I’m a little rusty. But I’m getting the hang of it.
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