As if on cue, just for our Liv And Maddie set visit, as we start to interview the cast, the show’s theme song starts blasting from the monitors above. A moment that might have otherwise felt awkward, the cast of Liv And Maddie instead start singing and dancing.
Before the first question of the interview is even asked, already we can see that this cast is a fun one – much like a real family – and we’re in for a really fun time.
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Liv And Maddie is the Disney Channel series that follows two identical twins; Liv is the popular television star whose hit show has just finished its run, and Maddie is an outstanding student and school basketball phenom whose popularity was on the rise. Once Liv returns to their Wisconsin high school, their teenage life becomes even more complicated, especially since both of their parents work at their school.
This sounds more like a teenaged nightmare, but a hilarious premise for a Disney show, and perfectly cast, including hot Disney star Dove Cameron.
“So, super, super short version of a very long story, Liv and Maddie wasn’t originally Live And Maddie,” Dove Cameron tells us. “I only played one character. Then, when they brought us back after nine months of testing, they sort of informed all of us that it was now a twin show. I didn’t audition for either character so when the opportunity presented itself, our director, Andy Fickman, was sort of like, “Who do you want these girls to be?” and so I just sort of split my personality down the middle and then turned it up to extreme Disney style.
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With a teen in the house, and a preschooler with a thirst for all things Disney, Liv and Maddie have become a household favorite. One thing we’re excited about is this Sunday’s episode with the talented singer/songwriter (and not too bad-looking) Andy Grammer! “We know everybody,” said Joey Bragg (Joey Rooney) about the dynamic of the cast and crew of Liv And Maddie. “We’ve done three seasons so for the most part… you get to know these people. Coming here is like a safety zone. This feels like home base.”
“We have kids, we are a mom and dad,” said Kali Rocha, who plays Karen Rooney, the Rooney family’s mom. “A TV schedule is just so lovely for that. This has been a nice experience for us to be able to incorporate our kids into this world – and they watch the show. I had a friend [that starred on] Hung. Her kids ain’t watching that show!”
The cast of Liv And Maddie was amazing! Their humor, their chemistry even off-screen, and the banter between one another truly was like watching a close-knit family talk over dinner. Maybe even one that confuses their kids with one another?
Even my son had no idea that the talented Dove Cameron played both Liv and Maddie.
“I can’t go through a scene with Liv or Maddie without calling them the wrong one,” said Bragg.
“Do you remember this moment in the first read-through?” Rocha says to Ben King who plays dad Pete Rooney, who interrupts her as he says he knows exactly the moment to which she is referring.
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“We had chills. It was the first time she came in – we didn’t know!” said Rocha. “We’d done another pilot with here, but it was not a twins’ show. Magical things happened over those nine months. She came back and then…”
“I think it [was during rehearsal] and we were about to enter into the kitchen,” King explained, “and she was talking to herself for the first time. It was the first time we’d seen it happen so we were watching Dove make the turn from one character to another and we looked at each other – this is exactly what Kali did – she just went like this…” Ben said, and indicated this look of awe.
The whole cast mentioned how impressed they’ve been with the way that Dove handles her roles, especially with how different Liv and Maddie are.
“Sure enough,” Bragg laughs, “right after that, she climbed the rope, she got to the ceiling and she rang the bell – we were all so proud of her.”
“See how I teed that up for Joey?,” King jokes back.
