LAST year, Canadian actress Shenae Grimes was making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Not only did the media focus on her tiny frame, speculating that she had an eating disorder, but Grimes herself also played diva.
Then, her management was said to refuse all interviews with the starlet, unless promises were made to put the starlet on the front cover of each publication.
The 25-year-old, speaking to my paper from Los Angeles recently, sounds nothing like the drama queen of yore.
Instead, she was down-to earth and sweet – though her management still warned this reporter not to ask questions of the speculation about her weight.
Grimes – who plays the lead role of small-town girl Annie Wilson in the remake of 1990s teen drama series Beverly Hills 90210, which premiered its second season last Tuesday – revealed that much has changed since last year.
She isn’t such hot tabloid fodder, for example.
“It’s calmed down a lot because there’s a new series (The Vampire Diaries) to distract from us (on 90210),” she said.
“(Seeing myself in gossip magazines) is not an everyday occurrence anymore.”
But she added that, initially, it was all “new to me and shocking”.
“But you get used to it, you know,” she said softly.
It’s better for her career that she isn’t the subject of gossip anymore, though.
She can concentrate on developing her character and performing well at work.
So, what has changed about the show and its characters this season?
“Each of us has established a stronger sense of self this year, as we delve deeper into the characters at the core of the series,” she explained.
She added: “As far as the look of the show, the clothes are better, the hair and make-up are better... Now we really look 90210.”
The show’s second season in the United States premiered in September to 2.56 million viewers.
Aside from 90210 and acting, Grimes revealed that she hopes to someday dabble in
fashion.
“I interned for a fashion network in the past and I write for a couple of fashion blogs,” she revealed.
“I just love that world and I hope to immerse myself deeply into it.”
One thing she won’t be doing, though, is attempting to break into the music industry like fellow teen idols Leighton Meester of Gossip Girl and Heidi Montag of The Hills.
She said: “Singing is not necessarily a creative task I see myself doing in the near future. I do love listening to music, but I’m not exactly the most talented singer in the world.”
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90210 is on Star World (StarHub Ch 18) every Tuesday at 8pm.
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