Published in the Contra Costa Times
By Casey Capachi
Though she plays a mean girl in the new movie “Bratz,” Chelsea Staub wants you to know she’s nothing like her character.
“It was weird being mean to my castmates. It was so funny when we had our first table read,” said Staub, 18, during a recent stop to promote the film in San Francisco. “Nathalia Ramos (who plays Yasmin) invited all the girls over to get to know each other over dinner. Nathalia’s mom came over and said to Nathalia, ‘I can’t believe you invited that girl who plays Meredith — isn’t she mean?'”
Staub, unlike most actresses, is worried she might have done too good of a job as evil Meredith. “I’m worried girls won’t like me after the movie comes out. I don’t want girls being like, ‘Ew it’s that mean girl from “Bratz.”‘ If they recognize me, I hope it’s in a good way,” she said.
Further demolishing that mean girl screen persona, the film’s director, Sean McNamara, has nothing but praise for Staub. “Chelsea is absolutely amazing. As a director, I look for someone who can act first, then sing and dance. Chelsea has all three. Plus, she is the nicest girl in the world,” he said.
Though she has had some TV credits, Staub makes her big-screen debut in “Bratz,” in which the popular dolls literally come to life. Staub, who is from Phoenix, started doing theater at the age of 6. She is now pursuing a film career while taking classes at UCLA in areas other than theatre so she’ll have “something else to focus on and talk about besides acting.”