Photo: Retna

The newest hit to come out of Disney’s original movie-making machine is Lemonade Mouth, a sort of Breakfast Club-meets-Glee story about five high school kids who meet in detention and discover that 1. they all have musical talent, and 2. together actually make a pretty good band (and yes, there is a competition involved!). The movie makes its DVD debut tomorrow, May 24, but in the meantime, we caught up with star Bridgit Mendler on her musical inspiration, what embarrasses her, and of course, the biggest thing she ever got busted for.

ELLEgirl: You play a singer in the movie. Are you planning on continuing with music?

Bridgit Mendler: Definitely. I just signed with Hollywood Records, so I’ve been working on my own album. I have a lot of my own songs that are ready to go they just need to be recorded and produced. I’m really excited about that.

EG: What’s up with the band name?

BM: The name of the band actually comes form one scene in the movie where Wen is being picked on by a bully. The cool kids in school are trying to taunt us, and Stella spits lemonade in his face. He calls her lemonade mouth as an insult, so we turn that into our band name. I think it’s really cool that we do that, kind of as a way of sticking it to the bullies.

EG: What’s your favorite song from the movie?

BM: I really like the bonus track Highwire. I thought that was a really cool song. From what is in the movie, I really like Turn Up the Music because that is the first one we play together. Oh! Also She’s So Gone is another favorite, Mo’s got a great solo in that.

EG: There are lots of romances going on among members of the band in the movie. Did anything similar happen on set?

BM: Not really. We all bonded really quickly; we all spent so much time together that it turned into this big family where we were all like siblings. We would literally get off set and go watch movies in each other rooms or get dinner. We got along like best friends instantly.

Photo: Courtesy of Disney

EG: In the movie, Olivia has to get over her stage-fright to perform on stage. Did you get nervous before any big scenes?

BM: I totally did. I think that it helps a lot that I was on stage with friends. And you know, we were performing in front of extras who were hired to applaud us. You’re still putting on a show though, and you really want to do it right. Especially the performance in Madison Square Garden- the anxiety was real because that is such a huge, important venue.

EG: Who’s your favorite recording artist?

BM: I love Adele! She is my ultimate at the moment. I’ve been such a fan since her first album and just been waiting excitedly for the new one. My all-time fave is Bob Dylan, those are my two key inspirations.

EG: Your character rocks a Taylor Swift, girly meets country style throughout the movie. What’s your real-life wardrobe like?

BM: Kind of eclectic in a way—a little bit like Olivia. She throws together random patterns and colors and it all comes together in a really cool way. I’m a lot less girly than she is. Right now I’m wearing combat boots with jeans and a T-shirt.  I’m totally the person who is embarrassed if I’m too dressed up at an event or a party. But I love adding color and patterns and fun jewelry to an outfit to make it more funky and cool!

EG: The movie’s characters meet in detention. What’s the worst thing you ever got busted for?

BM: I was such a good kid. I was definitely not the kid who would get caught for doing bad things! The worst thing I ever did besides being tardy for class was once I was sitting in class checking over homework and the teacher thought I was trying to rewrite in my answers. But he was wrong! That’s the worst thing I ever got busted for, and I wasn’t even really doing anything! Enter our Lemonade Mouth Giveaway for your chance to win the DVD, soundtrack, and Mo’s pink bag from the movie!