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Zoe Manarel, Alison Fernandez & Lauren Donzis Talk New Movie “An American Girl Story: Summer Camp Friends For Life”

Courtesy of Amazon Prime

Celeb Secrets: Can you tell us about your new American Girl special and the character you play?

Lauren Donzis: “The special takes place at a STEAM summer camp for girls. The girls must work together using their collective knowledge to solve the mystery of the missing counselor. It also has heartwarming themes of friendship and forgiveness.”

Zoe Manarel: “Summer Camp – Friends for Life is American Girl’s first contemporary special and it revolves around the S.T.E.A.M program which stands for, science, technology, engineering, art and math. It’s also about friendship, teamwork and ESPECIALLY girl power!! I play Z, which is short for Suzy. Z LOVES photography, stop motion film, and vlogging. She lives in Seattle with her dog, Popcorn and her mom is a film-maker. Z is a sweet, optimistic person and loves making new friends. And like all people, she makes mistakes, but she owns up to them and tries to make them right. I think that after watching the special, many kids will look up to Z because she’s loyal, smart, cool and has a great personality!”

Alison Fernandez: “Well, the Amazon Original “An American Girl Story: Summer Camp, Friends for Life” is about the new American Girl, Z and her best friend Paz, and Drew trying to deal with the fact that their summer is ruined when tech is restricted, until they meet Jordan who sends them on and adventure. It’s written and directed by Alison McDonald and features Cameron Manheim. It’s a story about friendship and teamwork.”

Celeb Secrets: Your characters are in STEAM camp. Do you have any involvement with STEAM activities in your own life?

Lauren Donzis: “My school has a STEAM program for the lower school, and we have robotics, technology and art in the middle school. I really enjoy them all!”

Zoe Manarel: “My favorite part of STEAM is math, because I love the way math is like a puzzle, and how everything goes together in certain orders! I also love making and playing with slime, because it can have all different kinds of textures depending on what ingredients you add into it! I also like to experiment with my slime by using different recipes. Slime is a part of science, because after you put in glue, you put in the “activator” which makes the slime group together and make slime!  I also love taking photos of nature and natural shots of sculptures or animals. To me, one “simple” photo can express so many ideas and thoughts depending on the tiniest of details. Even a single angle or bug can change the entire meaning of a photo! So, the answer is yes, I do really like some STEAM activities!”

Alison Fernandez: “Yes, when I was at school in Central Valley NY I was in an STEAM program called “Expand”. We would build things, draw, paint, and solving equations and problems using STEAM.

Celeb Secrets: The movie is an American Girl movie — did you have any AG dolls growing up?

Lauren Donzis: “Oh my gosh! Between me and my  sister we had seven! I loved my dolls and going to the American Girl store.”

Zoe Manarel: “Yes, growing up, I loved the dolls and would always play with them! My favorite American Girl doll that I have is my “Truly Me” doll because it was customized to look like me and I LOVE it! Also, when I was in Matilda the Musical on Broadway, Peggy, from our wardrobe department made a mini replica of one of the costumes that I wore in the show, and put it on the doll! And then my mom put the dolls hair up in Lavender Hair – and Lavender is who I played – so the hair was like these two puffs which were all teased and lopsided. It is super cute and I keep it up on display in my room!”

Alison Fernandez: “I actually had a few. I had Chrissa Maxwell, Melody and Maryellen, which are now streaming on prime video with Ivy and Julie.”

Celeb Secrets: The movie takes place at a summer camp. Have you ever gone camping or to summer camp?

Lauren Donzis: “Yes, I have been to sleep away camp twice. I loved the variety of activities we could choose from and how much fun it is all the time.”

Zoe Manarel: “I have never gone camping before, but I REALLY want to go one day, because I LOVE nature and I think it will be really cool!  And I have gone to a summer camp, but it wasn’t a sleep away camp. It was in our town, and I got to go with a lot of my friends! It was mostly focused on swimming which is one of my FAVORITE summer activities and I loved going there!”

Alison Fernandez: “No not yet, but I am looking forwards to it someday.”

Author

  • Juliet Schroder

    Juliet is the founder and executive producer/host of Celeb Secrets and Celeb Secrets Country. When not reporting on the latest news in pop culture and country music, she enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, watching sports and exploring the latest fashion trends. Juliet holds a B.S. in marketing from St. John's University.

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Juliet is the founder and executive producer/host of Celeb Secrets and Celeb Secrets Country. When not reporting on the latest news in pop culture and country music, she enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, watching sports and…

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