Cordelia, one of the characters you play in Monte Carlo, is a tabloid fixture. There’s a lot of tabloid interest in you too, especially since you started dating Justin Bieber. Does it limit the way that you live?
Yes. But at the same time I’m only 18. I don’t want to be scared or hide because everything that I’m doing now should not be taken seriously.
Can you give me an example of something you can’t do?
I try not to ever encounter that question because I feel like I don’t want this to live my life for me. I know that there are certain places that maybe I shouldn’t attend, but I don’t want that to ever stop me.
Many female tween stars moving into adult roles seem to feel pressure to amp up the sex appeal. Do you?
I’ve never been the kind of person who thought that I needed to be that way. I have a core audience around the ages of 7 to 15. Now that I am getting older — I’m about to be 19 — of course I’m becoming a woman, and I want to explore that side of myself but at the same time, I have to be true to those people that have been with me. I still get awkward if I’m in a bikini so I don’t think I’ll be doing anything too drastic anytime soon.
Young male stars don’t have the same pressure. Do you feel that there’s a double standard?
Yeah. But I have it better. Sometimes fans for male pop stars or actors can be a little crazy. I was that way with Jesse McCartney, and N’Sync. But I could probably have lunch with every single one of my fans. I like that I don’t seem unapproachable and that they’re not trying to get with me.
When you started dating Justin, the Twitterverse went postal. It’s got to be weird to have people talking about you that way.
Yes and no. Half of these girls that are saying things [they] would never say to someone’s face. I’m human, so of course it hurts my feelings, but ultimately, I got to the point where I laugh at it.
