By: Izumi Hasegawa October 16, 2014
One of my favorite young talented actresses, Liana Liberato, made her adult-ish romantic role debut in The Best of Me. At 19 years old, Liana might be too young to ask about love but she talked about her thoughts. Also she told me about the experience of her first onscreen intimate scene with hot Australian actor, Luke Bracey! Plus, she discusses her relationship with Patrick Schwarzenegger, the secret of not derailing as a young star in Hollywood and her least favorite part about herself.
Q: What do you think about romance, love and relationships?
That’s one of the main reasons why I was so drawn to the script. It’s really rare nowadays to come across such a touching and heartwarming story. It’s really all about action and whatnot. So it’s nice to come across something so pure. It was wonderful to be a part of too. I’d never really had the opportunity to do something like that before. And Nick Sparks, he’s just so iconic. There’s so many people out there who just have a love for all of his stories. Everyone in some way can relate to love. They either have it, want it or have had it. I think that’s why his stories are so loved because everyone in some way can relate to it.
Q: Was your scene with Luke Bracey your first onscreen intimate scene? What was that like?
Yeah, it was the first time I’d ever done something that intimate before. I’d done a couple things here and there in some other films but this was my first full-on love scene. It was a bit difficult just because it was hot in the room [laughs]. Even though it’s obviously a very intimate scene, in reality you have people surrounding you. You have a boom guy hanging over you and a camera panning around you. But the great thing is that me and Luke had already become such good friends that we were just so comfortable with each other. As soon as they said cut, we could just laugh about it and be like, “That part was uncomfortable,” or whatever. It would have been 20 times more difficult if we hadn’t gotten along. I’m just very fortunate because I can’t imagine how it would be if we weren’t comfortable with each other. He’s such a laid-back guy. He’s a good dude.
Q: How have you managed to not go off the rails with drinking or drugs like other teen talent such as Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus?
Just don’t mix business and pleasure, in my opinion. When I decided to do this, I definitely took on a responsibility to be a role model and a good person to people. I’m definitely going to keep that intention as long as I continue in this career. And I also just have a wonderful support group. I’ve got an amazing team who keeps me in line and supports me. And I have really great friends who as soon as I finish all of this, I get to go home and go watch Parenthood with my best friend, and take off all this makeup and put my hair in a bun and go to Chipotle. I have a very, very normal life back home. All of this, it just comes with it. This is my job and I definitely don’t take it lightly. I want people to be able to look at me in a positive light and not a negative.
Q: You walked the red carpet for If I Stay with Patrick Schwarzenegger… What is your guys’ deal?
Patrick and I did a film together back in 2012 called Stuck in Love and we have another film coming out most likely next year called Dear Eleanor. I love Patrick. He’s one of my best friends. He’s just such a good dude, such a stand-up guy, and so sweet of him to come around and support me like that. I think that’s great. He’s just a down-to-earth dude. He’s just the guy that you call up and be like, “Yo, you want to go get some pizza later?” He’s such a chill, really, really good dude.
Q: What do you like and dislike about your looks or personality?
I guess I’d say like a flaw is I’m very stubborn. [Laughs] I’m a very stubborn person but in some ways that can be kind of a good thing as well. It just kind of depends on the situation [laughs], I guess. But I actually, while I was filming The Best of Me, I saw a lot of traits in Amanda that I thought were very admirable. She’s got some very admirable qualities to her. She is such a driven and passionate person. I’d like to say that I’m like that as well. Normally, if I put my mind to something, I’ll do anything and everything to get it.
The Best of Me opens in theaters October 17th.
