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RadioFree.com: Congratulations on not just one Nickelodeon movie, but two...
CIARA: Well, thank you very much!
First up is Swindle. I'm getting an Ocean's Eleven vibe from its previews...
You nailed it! That's exactly what people are saying, yeah: it's a kids' version of Ocean's Eleven. There are these two kids who are swindled out of this million dollar baseball card, and so one of them, Griffin Bing, who [is my character's] older brother, sets up this heist team, and we go and we perform the ultimate swindle and win it back.
Were you acquainted with most of your co-stars going into this project? It seems like they've assembled a Nick All-Star cast...
[laughs] They have! It was really cool...Honestly, I didn't know any of them going into it, and I was really nervous, because every once in a while, you [hear about] people who "aren't so fun to work with." But luckily for me, I haven't had any of that experience. Going into Swindle, everyone was so nice and so welcoming, and I feel like we meshed together really well. And it was cool because it was my first time working with kids around my age--even though they are all older than me, it was still much closer than, you know, four 23-year-old boys. [laughs] So it was awesome because we got to hang out after set, watch movies...It was a really cool experience.
How does the energy change for you when there is that kind of chemistry, and your castmates are closer to your age, and there are other girls on set?
It makes it so much easier to work. It makes everything flow so much smoother, and you have other people to talk to and look up to--which the guys were great for as well, the four boys on Big Time Rush. But you see them more as friends, so it makes the bond that you have in the script [stronger]. Like while filming the movie, [the bond] kind of transfers over into real life, and the real life transfers over into the movie.
 
Ariana Grande has created such a distinct persona as Cat Valentine on Victorious and Sam and Cat that it's easy to forget she doesn't actually sound like her in real life. Do you think fans will recognize elements of Cat in Ariana's role in Swindle?
I'd say they probably won't see Cat in her new character. She still sounds a little bit like her, but not as much. She definitely has a different voice for this new character. They won't see Cat. They'll see a new form of Ariana, and I think they'll enjoy it a lot, because it'll be something different and something new.
You and many of your co-stars are active on social media. In what ways were you able to use it to get the word out about the movie?
Twitter is my favorite form of social media, so I've been one to tweet photos from the set and tweet about, "The movie's airing, make sure you watch it!" Because I think it's a great way for your fans to keep up to date with not only your personal life, but also your work life and stuff like that. So I think Twitter was a huge help with that, because everyone's been really great about keeping everyone updated.
The previews feature your character in front of a computer. Is she the techie of the group?
Yes! [laughs] She is the tech girl, through and through! She's so tech savvy, and she's really great with all things technology, and hacking, and all that incredibly interesting stuff that I have no idea how to do in real life. It was so much fun to play, and it was so much fun to pretend--like, you know, typing on keys that don't make any sense, but it looks cool on camera!
So despite your embracing of social media, you wouldn't say you're as adept when it comes to things of a more technical nature?
Not at all. [laughs] Yeah, definitely not. When it comes to, like, hacking and breaking through firewalls (as you can tell, I don't know any of the terminology), it all gets really complicated, and all the zeros and ones and crazy code...Yeah, I have no idea. [laughs]
So if you were to pull of a heist in real life, what do you imagine your role in that group would be?
I would say since I'm so tiny, crawling through small spaces and being the quiet one to sneak in and switch things up. All that sort of thing.
Given the heist elements of this movie, did you get to do any action-oriented stunt scenes?
I got to do one little stunt during the wedding scene that was pretty cool, where I would run and I'd jump on [the villain's] back and grab his face. But before the run, I kind of pushed this waiter away, and they were like, "Throw your arm! Knock his tray out of his hand! Spill his champagne all over the place!" That was pretty fun, because it made quite a mess.
Multiple takes, or did you just nail it the first time?
Multiple takes. [laughs] Because you always have to work out the timing, which is really difficult, and figuring out how [the other actor is] going to walk up right after I say [my] line and go to run--like, the whole placement of it all. It's much more intricate than it seems for such a simple little thing. But it was very cool to film. It was very fun.
Between this and our earlier conversation about the action in Man of Steel, it sounds like you're really interested in the prospect of doing some hardcore stunt work in the future...
Oh yeah, I would love to do stunt work eventually, besides the fact that I'm terrified of breaking myself in half. But it's so cool! Like flipping off of buildings, and setting yourself on fire, and running in front of cars...So many crazy things that people don't do in real life! But still getting to do it, and being that person...That's so awesome that people watch you during the movies and they're like, [gasps] "What?! How?! That's a thing people can do?!" I think that's really cool.
Stay tuned for part two of our interview with Ciara, in which she previews Jinxed, coming in November!
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