The Deadbolt Interview - A TV Tumbling Pass with Josie Loren and Cassie Scerbo of 'Make It or Break It'

A TV Tumbling Pass with Josie Loren and Cassie Scerbo of 'Make It or Break It'
by Troy Rogers

After a huge and successful debut in the ratings for the new ABC Family series, Make It or Break It, it's clear a lot of teens and families involved in the world of gymnastics have been waiting patiently on the sidelines for a show about their favorite sport to arrive. In the new era of ABC Family programming, in which the once too-overly-cautious network has come of age in a world ripe with perhaps even more daunting challenges for teens than ever before, some of the more sensitive and often silent family issues are front and center for daughters, sons, and their parents to openly explore. Although Make It or Break It follows the drama within the lives of the budding Olympic hopefuls on the gymnastics mats and floors in Colorado, Make It or Break It has already delved into the serious issues of Bulimia and Anorexia in society and the pressures young girls face to be thin for competition of any form.

Airing Monday nights at 9pm on ABC Family, Make It or Break It has vaulted nicely into the summer schedule, with actors Josie Loren and Cassie Scerbo in the gymnastics mix at "The Rock" as the perfection pressured Kaylie Cruz and the fierce Lauren Tanner, the ultimate Make It or Break It competitor.

With two dramatic episodic rounds of Make It or Break It TV competition already behind Josie Loren and Cassie Scerbo, we tumbled and back-flipped our way across the room where we grabbed the phone in mid-air before performing the perfect crash landing and dialing into a conference call with Loren and Scerbo.

Cassie Scerbo on what appealed to her most about Make It or Break It:

"I think what’s so great about it is that we just got off the Olympics and it’s got a lot of female power to it. It’s such a great sport for males and females. But I think it really let’s women take a stand and I think it’s such a great script for girls. It’s athletic, and I love athletic scripts. I’ve done two before this and it’s just really fun to be able to basically work out and act at the same time and all the athletic involvement is really fun. And, like I said, just coming off the Olympics with Nastia (Liukin) and Shawn (Johnson) being such idols to young teenage girls, and to many people around the world right now, it’s just really fun. I mean, because it’s really cool coming right off the Olympics and being able to do a gymnastics show right after that.

"Actually, Nastia did stop by the set. So we’re hoping she wants to do a cameo or something in our show, one of the upcoming episodes. But she did stop by the set, which is really cool, and she was a big sweetheart. So hopefully we can see more of her in the future on the show."

Josie Loren and Cassie Scerbo on what they enjoy most about working on Make It or Break It:

JOSIE LOREN: I think what I enjoy the most about it is the fact that I get to play a gymnast on TV and be passionate about something on television. I think a lot of the shows right now pretty much revolve only around relationships and drugs and alcohol and sex. And what I love about it is that we get to show a different aspect of teenage lives and show teenagers who are passionate about something, who are driven about something. And that’s my favorite part of just being on the show, being able to bring a different element to the stereotypical teenager.

CASSIE SCERBO: I used to say, one of my favorite things about being on the show, obviously, is that I get to play the mean girl once again. It’s really fun. Like I said, it’s really stepping outside the box. And the cool thing about my character is that when you watch that person for the first two to three episodes, you’re just going to think, "Oh, this girl. She’s such a big brat." But it’s really cool, because you see where it comes from, and a lot of her anger and a lot of her impulses and the way she acts towards people, all her bratty moments come from a place of pain, which is really interesting. And as the show progresses, I think the viewers are going to find it really interesting [about] what’s really going on in Lauren’s life and why she has so many issues. I think that really, she just masks everything with this huge attitude. It’s just basically one big façade because she has had so many issues in her life, as all the girls are having issues going on in their lives.

"It’s so cool, because it’s like watching the Olympics yet a really cool teen drama at the same time. I think it just has something for everyone. I love being able to be a part of something that teens can watch with their friends and boyfriends can watch with their girlfriends, and mothers can watch with their daughters, and it’s just really got something for everyone. There are so many different life situations going on and different love triangles and relationship drama yet you still have, like Josie said, a really awesome sport that these four girls are so passionate about that they basically give their lives up for, and it’s just really interesting.

"It’s cool that it has all the gymnastics along with all the drama. It gives it something different and a whole new dimension. Like I said, it’s really cool that we have a broad casting of adults. We have kids, teenagers, and there’s basically just something for everyone, and I like being a part of that.

Josie Loren and Cassie Scerbo on the type of reactions they’ve had since the series premiere:

LOREN: I think we were all very shocked with the exceptional ratings that we got. I mean, a lot of praise and surprise and pleasant surprise, obviously. So the message that I’ve got in this past week is just keep doing what you’re doing because what you’re doing works. Basically what my dad says is that the formula that you’re using, it works. So keep doing it and finish off the season with a bang so that you can finish just as well as you started.

SCERBO: I was really, really excited about the ratings. I think it’s really cool that we got the second highest ratings for ABC Family’s premieres, for any TV show. And I also thought it was really cool that - I don’t know exactly the age range - there was a certain age range that we actually got the highest ratings for. I think it was teenage girls, somewhere in that age range, I don’t remember what it was. But I think that really just means a lot to me because it shows that there are all these teenage girls watching us and we have to really remain role models and show them [and] be able to express that we really have this amazing passion for this sport and anyone can have a passion for what they’re doing and take it to that next level as long as they focus and concentrate. And just remain focused, like I said. I think that was really cool that we got all these young girls, women viewers, so that was one of my favorite things about when we got the ratings.

LOREN: I also heard a lot of "wow!" You know, this is a great, wholesome family show that parents aren’t afraid to sit their kids in front of the television to watch. That’s also really nice to hear because we have the dramatic conflict in it, but it’s not the drama that parents shy away from or is taboo. It’s something that I think more kids should be exposed to because then they’re kind of channeled to focus on one thing, whether it be gymnastics or whatever sport, or it could be simply baking. But do something that you love to do, and so that’s like the message that it gives. I think that’s why parents are really embracing it.

Cassie Scerbo and Josie Loren on portraying the issue of eating disorders:

SCERBO: Well, I think it’s really cool because it’s showing teen girls that nobody is perfect and girls do have problems, and no teenager out there is perfect. There are girls that have problems with their bodies and turn to Bulimia and Anorexia and it’s really sad, and it’s showing that here are these strong, wonderful women who are training for the Olympics yet even they have problems. Even they have Bulimia issues and body issues, and no one is perfect. So I guess the whole "being a role model", that will be shown in how passionate we are about our sport. And I hope that young girls become passionate and realize how passionate we are and they become passionate about what they’re doing. But they can also see the risks that we’re taking that aren’t working, like maybe my Bulimia is not working for me.

"I mean, I think that they’ll be able to see both sides of the spectrum like the way that [we are], the places that we’re progressing and the things we’re doing that aren’t helping us. Like maybe being in relationships and having all that drama in the show isn’t helping us focus on the sport. Having Bulimia issues and problems is, mentally, not helping us with the sport. So it’s going to show both sides of the spectrum, which I think will be really important because no one is perfect, and I think it will be important for girls to see that.

LOREN: To be honest, after the pilot, those issues aren’t addressed again, the bulimia, the anorexia. That kind of, I think, was an idea that was introduced in the pilot, and they didn’t follow up with it because they wanted to make us role models for young girls, and show young girls that you can be these fantastic athletes and not go to these lengths of eating disorders. But then again, we do have the comment in the scripts later on, you know, that some girl, one of us might not be very happy with our bodies. We watch what we eat, to show that flaw that we’re not perfect. We might not have eating disorders, but we definitely have the concerns that every other girl has because no one is perfect, and everyone has their own issues. But the anorexia and bulimia is definitely dropped after the pilot.

Josie Loren and Cassie Scerbo on the gymnastics moves and stunt doubles:

LOREN: We have the most phenomenal stunt doubles ever. They’re definitely stunt doubles. Some of them have been in the Olympics. I mean, one of them was like a three-time national champion. So basically we do the move, the beginning of it and the very end of it, the landing. All the dancing of it, like the floor routines, the beam routines that aren’t the actual tricks, we actually do that. We learn those routines, and we perform them to the best of our ability. But all of the tricks are done by doubles. Sometimes they fly them in. Others they’ve recruited from the LA area, just a great, great team of gymnasts that really work hard to make it all seem realistic and look the way it does.

SCERBO: Yes. If it was up to me, I’m like the biggest daredevil ever, and I’m sure Josie feels the same way. We would love to be able to learn how to flip and do all these crazy stunts. I’m not doing it because I’m being lazy. I know none of the other girls are either. We would love to be able to learn some more stuff and learn how to vault, but the thing is, you have to also realize there’s liability issues and there’s laws and certain regulations where we can’t get hurt in our contract, so that's the reason why we also need - also because we’ll never be able to do some of the things they can do, but that’s just another reason we need the stunt doubles there, just for safety, and so that none of us get hurt during the time that we’re filming.

But we do try to learn as much of the routines as possible, and we have all learned a few tricks here and there on the beam and the bars, and we try to do as much as we can to show how much we do respect all the gymnasts out there and how hard they work. I mean, it is tough. It’s not easy, so we have the utmost respect for everyone, for all the gymnasts out there.

-- Troy Rogers