“Hey, it’s me, Joey King!”

12 year-old Joey King is known best for her role as spunky Ramona Quimby from 2010's Ramona and Beezus. Already in her short career she has acted alongside Ashley Tisdale, Frankie Muniz, Selena Gomez and Steve Carell. And she's proved her staying power by already having several projects lined up for this year alone.

Rachel- Why don’t you start off by telling us a little about yourself?

Joey King- My name is Joey King. I am twelve years old. I’m in seventh grade. I have three dogs and a pig.

Oh! I’m working on a movie (well, I just finished a movie) called Oz: The Great and Powerful and I also just finished working on a TV show called Bent.

RH- A pig?

JK- Yes!

RH- What’s its name?

JK- My piggie’s name, her name is JJ.

RH- Oh, that’s cool!

How’d you first get into acting?

JK- Well, when I was younger I did stage for theater plays and my sisters were in acting, as well, so I really loved it ever since then. When I did the stage for theater plays, I just loved being on stage. I loved it! So that’s how I first got into acting.

RH- Have you and your sisters ever done a project together, or would you ever want to?

JK- {pause} I’m trying to think if we ever have…

But definitely yes! I would definitely love to work with my sisters on a project! I would have so much fun working with them!

RH- One of your first roles was on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody; what’s your favorite memory from that time?

JK- Hm. My favorite memory from working on that set would probably be meeting all the people. Dylan and Cole Sprouse and Ashley Tisdale and Brenda Song and all those guys are so awesome! They were so much fun to work with!

It was so cool to work with them, too, ‘cause that was one of my favorite shows.

RH- You were in Taylor Swift’s music video for “Mean;” are you a fan of Taylor?

JK- I am a fan of Taylor! I love her music and she’s so sweet! Working on the video was awesome! I’m a big fan of her music and I always listen to [it]. It was really cool to work with her.

RH- Which do you like better: live-acting or voice-overs?

JK- I like live-acting. But, you know, I do like to do voice-overs, too, but I like to be in front of the camera better! {laughs} But I do like voice-overs a lot!

RH- What was your favorite part of filming Ramona and Beezus?

JK- Like, the same thing with The Suite Life: meeting all the people. My favorite thing about working on sets in general is meeting new people and making new friends.

And I just had the best time on that set! It was so much fun! I got to travel to a place I’d never been and that was awesome! And I made long-time friends there, too!

RH- Where was it filmed?

JK- Canada. In Vancouver. Vancouver, Canada!

RH- Had you read the books before getting the part?

JK- I did only read one book before I got the part. But when I got the part, I read all of the books and I loved them! I was so excited to play Ramona!

RH- What was it like working with Selena?

JK- Selena is so sweet! She’s like one of my sisters now! We still keep in touch and I’ve been to her house a couple times. (I’ve slept over at her house, too!) She’s so sweet and it was really fun to work with her. It was really fun to have her play my sister, ‘cause she’s like my sister now in real life!

RH- Okay, so you’ve been really busy lately working on 3 or 4 movies and TV shows; how do you manage having friends and doing school work while staying so busy? Do you ever have time just to be a kid?

JK- You know what, I do! Even though people think I don’t, I still do have an awesome, awesome childhood, too! I have friends that I still hang out with. (I actually just saw my friend not too long ago.) I do manage to do it all. I do my schooling with an online program; home schooling. And I do make time to hang out with my friends. So, I’m on it! I’m having fun!

RH- What’s been your favorite character that you’ve played so far?

JK- Hm. I don’t know, you know? I love all the characters that I play! They’re just so cool and fun. I don’t really think I have a favorite. They’re all my favorite.

RH- If you got to work with anybody, who would be your dream co-star?

JK- There’s a couple people who would be my dream co-stars: Drew Barrymore, Sandra Bullock, Queen Latifa, Jason Bateman. {laughs} I want to work with those guys and there’s so many more I wanna work with, too. So, I have a lot of dream I-wanna-work-with co-stars! {laughs}

RH- I hear you like singing; so do you have any musical projects in the works?

JK- I do have a song that’s out on iTunes right now. You can get it. It’s called “Anything At All.” And I also have a song that I made with my sister, Kelly. It’s called “Ramona Blue.” It’s about how Ramona in the books has brown eyes but I have blue eyes and people got kinda mad. So I made up a song about it! Me and my sister did. It was really cool. So I hope you guys can check that out!

RH- Who are some of your favorite singers?

JK- Well, I have a lot of favorite singers! I love the band, the Black-Eyed Peas, I love Lady Gaga, I love my friend, Taylor [Swift], I love Katy Perry! (Let’s see, who else do I love?) I love Kelly Clarkson. I love Adele. I love her! {laughs} I love a lot of people! I love music and I love to listen to the radio, so I like a lot of singers.

RH- If you were given the opportunity to record an album and become a professional singer, would you do it?

JK- Yeah, I would definitely do it. I would love to have a singing and an acting career. That would be so much fun! I’ve always wanted to perform on stage, like songs and stuff. When Taylor invited me to one of her concerts, I was watching her and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I totally want to do this, too!”

So, I want to have both! That would be really, really fun for me!

RH- If Selena or Taylor were to give you advice, what do you think it would be?

JK- {pause} I don’t know. Let me think about that… I actually don’t know! Let me think…

Maybe they would say never give up, because they never gave up. Selena was first on Barney and look at her now! And Taylor was just living in a small town and look at her now! So, I think they would just tell me to never give up.

RH- Do you have any other projects in the works, besides the two movies we’ve talked about?

JK- Well, I just finished a TV show called Bent. So, I’m really excited for that to come out. Other than that, no.

RH- Tell us about Bent.

JK- Bent is a romantic/comedy. It’s gonna be on NBC. I’m starring with Amanda Peet, David Walton, Jeffery Tambor; I’m working with an awesome cast!

It’s really, really gonna be so funny! It’s about, like, everybody has their flaws and everything, and everybody trying to work them out together. It’s gonna be awesome! It’s hilarious!

RH- Who’s your character?

JK- I play Amanda Peet’s daughter. My character’s name is Charlie. I love my role because when Amanda’s character is going for David Walton’s character, I think I play a big factor in that. [Charlie] loves David’s character, Pete. So, I think [Charlie’s] mom definitely gives him a chance because of that.

RH- My last question for you is what advice do you have for aspiring actors?

JK- I say, as well [as Selena and Taylor], never give up! I think whatever you want to do, you can set your mind to it. I mean, look at some of the stars now. They just started off, when they were kids, dreaming of this and look at them now!

So, I think you just have to go get it and if you get turned down, don’t ever stop! Just keep going; just keep pursuing your dream.