“IT’S REALLY SAD THAT RIGHT NOW EVERYTHING YOU SAY HAS TO BE RUDE, RACIST OR SEXIST. USUALLY I’M JUST MAKING FUN OF MYSELF.”
Thorne also doesn’t care if people take issue with some of the parts she has taken on this year, including playing a mean girl in The DUFF and a heroin-addicted dancer in Perfect High (slated for release in June). “Honestly, I know some people are going to trash me,” she says. “But I’m trying to show everyone what is happening in the world. If you close your eyes and think that bullying and drug abuse are not issues for your kids or your best friend—you’re wrong. I want to show that good people do bad things too. I know I’m going to get a bunch of hate, but let them hate. I’m not a bad person for choosing a role that shows people how life is.”
Thorne has often spoken of her own experience with being bullied when she was a young girl, so it’s rather ironic that she was cast to play the character who torments the DUFF (a.k.a. Designated Ugly Fat Friend) in the film. “I stopped going to regular school in third grade and have been home-schooled ever since,” she recalls. “My first language is Spanish, but I had to drop it to learn English. People just called me ‘the pretty dumb girl,’ and I would literally walk home crying every day. When I was offered the role in The DUFF, I actually wasn’t going to take it because I didn’t want to be typecast as ‘the mean girl.’ But The DUFF is such a great story, and I love the message behind it.”
The subject matter in Perfect High, which was filmed on location in Victoria, B.C., also resonated deeply with Thorne. “You’re not a bad person because you get locked into something stupid,” she says. “My character gets caught up in this world because of something she loves [dancing] more than anything.” She says she was nervous about taking on the role because she didn’t know anything about drugs and was worried the film wouldn’t be authentic. “Playing someone who is addicted and being in those scenes was surreal. It made me feel like I was hungry for... something,” she says and then pauses. “That is scary.”
She credits the director, Vanessa Parise, with helping her understand the emotions her character feels. She encouraged Thorne to explore some of the pain she was hiding deep down. “Some directors say ‘Pretend like someone just gave you a great sports car!’ And you’re like, ‘Has anyone ever given you a great sports car? Because I’m not really sure what that feels like,’” she says. “We talked to a lot of heroin users; I even Skyped with a few. In the end, it was actually nice to feel that pain and what these characters are caught up in.”
Thorne undoubtedly drew upon her own experience with loss—her father was killed in a car accident when she was 10. She is clearly still grappling with this profound grief, a subject she explores in her three-part book series for Random House. (The first, Autumn Falls, was released late last year.) The story centres around Autumn, a teenage redhead who is dealing with the death of her father. Autumn suffers from dyslexia, as does Thorne. Seventeen magazine describes Autumn as a “lovable klutz,” but Thorne takes a different view. “Actually, people ask me why I made Autumn so unlikeable in some parts,” she says. “But if you’ve never felt that kind of pain, you don’t know what it’s like. Like I said, there is darkness and light in everyone; if you don’t like Autumn, you don’t like yourself. Because one day you’ll get to that dark place, and it’s not easy.”
Autumn does find happiness again—with the help of a magic journal that grants any wish she writes in it. It’s a touch of whimsical realism that captures Thorne’s own optimistic outlook. “Life is magical and special,” she exclaims. “You may not believe that a book can grant you wishes, but I believe that if you want something strong enough, it can happen.”