Mystery Solved! #ABCFamilyEvent #MysteryGirls

I have so many of you guys who want to know what Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth are “really” like, and let me tell you, they did not disappoint.  I’ve got so much to tell you about my on-set experience on Mystery Girls.

For those of you who don’t know, Mystery Girls is a great new series on ABC Family. Mystery Girls stars Tori Spelling as Holly, Jennie Garth as Charlie and Miguel Pinzon as Nick. The comedy series is executive produced by Tori Spelling, Jennie Garth, Andy Gordon (“Last Man Standing”), Shepard Boucher (“Men at Work”), Maggie Malina (“Single Ladies”) and John Ziffren. Tori Spelling and Shepard Boucher also serve as co-creators.  (Here’s one of the pictures I took on set.)

 

 Watching a show while it is being shot is completely not like anything you would expect.  I mean, I knew there were sets.  However, I didn’t realize how many times they shot and re-shot and re-shot again each scene.  I didn’t realize that they had people come in to “block” shots, so the camera people know exactly where the actors are going to be.  It was an eye-opening experience and very cool to watch.  I also got to see the actors of Mystery Girls at work, and I can tell you that Tori Spelling is NOT a diva.  The director would give her directions, and she would apologize and do the scene again like he wanted.  She took all of his directions and happily did what he asked as they shot different scenes with different angles.  It totally made me respect her as an actor, because she was there to do a job.

 

 

We also got to interview Jenni Garth and Tori Spelling.  Our interview with them showed how they are real people and not just celebrities.  (Tori’s dress that she’s wearing is from H&M).  When we asked about how the show came about, Tori told us:

I had done a Christmas movie for ABC Family, and I knew they were looking for comedies.  I used to be a huge fan of mysteries in the eighties and my dad’s shows.  I loved Remington Steele ,and I just wanted to pair that with comedy.

 However, the part of the story I loved the most was how Tori asked Jennie Garth to be a party of Mystery Girls:

I was praying that she would wanna do it.  When I thought of the idea, I was like no one else could do this.  However, I didn’t know at the time what she was doing, what her plans were so I just emailed her.  You know when friends ask you to do favors like, “Hey, I have this thing for you,” you always feel so like guilty asking?  It was one of those, but I felt like we had a pretty good script to back it up.

You could see their friendship shine through.  You can also tell that they’re moms.  When we asked Tori and Jennie about balancing their schedules, Jennie had this to say:

When you have kids, your priorities definitely change.  For me like, it’s always where do we shoot?  I won’t go out of town, or if I have to go out of town, is it when they’re in school? 

They are definitely working moms!  We also asked them about how they are like the character they play on Mystery Girls.  Tori told us:

Obviously we’re different than our characters, but I think there is a part of both of us in our characters. For example, the relationship we have in real life.  I feel like I’m in real life very trusting of everyone.  I go into everything kind of full force and I don’t really take into consideration what’s going on.  Jen always  steps in and protects me and has over the years.  I feel like that’s what Charlie and Holly are like too.

Jennie told us that:

I’ve always been more of protector and a big sister to her since the very beginning. I’ve always been a little tougher.  (She then laughed and said) You know I can, I can take care of myself.

One of the questions I personally was able to ask was if they  plan on having any more cameos from 90210, because I remember them from 90210 (did I just tell you how old I am?  LOL).  

Little did I know that this week episode has Beverly Hills, 90210 star Joe E. Tata (Nat from the Peach Pit)!  In “High School Mystery,” Holly’s high-school principal Mr. Frost (Joe E. Tata) hires the Mystery Girls to make sure he does not become the target of the senior prank before he retires. When the detectives go undercover at West Beverly in order to stop the culprit, Holly realizes this job is her chance to have the normal high school experience she never had but always wanted. Desperate to fit in, Holly becomes obsessed with being popular and momentarily forgets about their case, while Charlie takes her role as gym teacher a little too seriously. Once the mystery is solved, Holly asks Mr. Frost for her long-awaited diploma, prompting the student body to start chanting “Holly Hamilton Graduates.”

When we asked who they’d love to work with, they both responded with Shannon and Luke.  (Can I comment about how awesome that would be?)  That was our natural segway into working with Miguel Pinzon.  Jennie told us:

He’s a lot of fun. He’s our third mystery girl. He completes us. (She then laughed).  He’s a great partner in a scene, very dependable as an actor, but, a lot of fun too just as a person. We have a lot of fun with him.

Tori told us that:

It has to be hard to come into this, because we’ve known each other for so long.  We had just met him, and it was as if we’d known him for twenty years. We had this friendship that’s just instantaneous.

We then interviewed Miguel Pinzon who plays Nick on Mystery Girls. He was beyond funny, and he gave some great advice to up and coming actors. However, I feel like all of us can really apply this gem to our own lives:

First, I would say like just make sure they’re in all sorts of classes and anything they can get their hands on to just make their gifts, their natural abilities, as sharp as they can. Then target. Look at television and movies and figure out where they think they see themselves. For example, someone could say I see myself like on Vampire Diaries. Figure out who the director on that, who is the casting director, who are the agents that represent the talent on the show. Then target them — whether it’s a blank submission or sending a cover letter and your reel. I think it’s when you target specifically what you want that helps. Like if you say like oh, the casting director for Vampire Diaries is teaching a class, then take that class. Be specific about what you want because just a shot in the dark is a shot in the dark.

We had so much fun on set. Here are a couple of behind the scenes photos:

I can’t tell you how much fun the set of Mystery Girls was! Follow them on all their social media channels:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/MysteryGirlsonABCFamily
• Twitter: twitter.com/MysteryGirls
• Instagram: instagram.com/MysteryGirls

Make sure you watch the show tonight at at 8:30pm ET/PT and let me know what part my trip you loved the most!