Ava Jean is living and loving the dream. Her whole life has been a never-ending musical. From starting as a dancer like her mother to becoming a singer and actor. Ava Jean has always been eager to pursue the full breadth of the arts and stake her claim in the path she creates for herself. What was once a pipe dream to star in a Disney movie has now become a reality as Ava stars in the new Camp Rock 3 movie, 16 years after the iconic 2nd came out. An entire generation apart, but the summer camp and teenage experience is still ever so relatable for her. But while writing music and juggling these various roles has led her to become such a promising artist, Ava keeps herself grounded and attributes a lot of her strength and growth to her special connection to her family and friends who support her on this lifelong journey to create and tell stories with her mind, body and soul.
1883 sits down with Ava Jean as she discusses coming full circle with Camp Rock 3, playing the fiery Madison and looking toward the future as she carves out her career path.
Who is Ava Jean?
Who am I? I grew up as a dancer. My whole life has been a musical. From my very first moments, I watched Camp Rock as a kid and fell in love with the Disney space through Hannah Montana. Disney actually shaped a large part of who I have become as a woman. I was always intrigued by music, dance, and the arts, and I carried that throughout my life. It’s funny because Disney is really all about family, and I’m all about my family too. I love to go home; I love to get out of Los Angeles; I love to see my family; we have chickens in North Carolina. I love seeing the chickens; I love seeing my brother, my mom, and my dad.
What was your first Disney film that you watched and your favourite?
The first Disney film I watched was probably the Hannah Montana movie or High School Musical. I don’t know which one I saw first. They were all happening at the same time. My favourite Disney movie, hands down, is High School Musical 3.
What is your perception of Camp Rock? The second film came out in 2010, so it’s been 16 years. How does that feel to you?
It’s really interesting, because I think things happen; timing happens for a reason. I’ve been in the industry for several years now, but I’d never worked for Disney before Camp Rock. I don’t think there’s any other project that I would have loved to be a part of more in the Disney universe. Camp Rock 1 and 2 were an amazing part of pop culture; so many iconic moments and memories have stayed with me over the years. I think Camp Rock 1 really got us falling in love with Demi and the Jonas Brothers, and then in Camp Rock 2, we got to see them play again, with more songs, more dance, and more lessons in friendship. Being part of the third one really is a surreal experience. I remember getting the audition and being like, what? I know many remakes are happening, but I hadn’t considered this one. Then getting to do it is a whole other thing, because there are so many layers and rounds to auditioning, so by the time I was doing callbacks and tests, I was freaking out. When I got the initial audition, I was trying to keep it cool; I was trying to play it cool, and then the callback, I was like, no way, and then the test, I was like, no way, and then a week later, I was on a plane to Vancouver.
What was your childhood dream, and what is your dream now?
That’s a very good question. I think my childhood dream was to be a little Hannah Montana. I really fell in love with that whole world. I really wanted to sing, dance, and act, and I wanted to be around places and friends who did the same. I loved travelling as a kid, and I think that sparked that dream. Now, it’s so funny because your dreams change as you get older. I feel like that childhood dream of mine has come true, which I think is a real honour to say, and I don’t take that lightly. Little Ava would be very happy. My dream now is to keep doing what I love in a healthy way; I guess that’s the best way to explain it. Keep acting. Keep having new experiences, but have my priorities in order, like my family and my friends. My time outside of work. Those things are really important to me now, and I think the dream is to keep doing what I love and stay open to new experiences that let me use the dreams I’ve had up until now. I want to keep moving on this train, because I really love to act. I want to keep acting for as long as I can. So, the Disney popstar dream might not be as much of a thing anymore. It’s clear that I’m living it and loving it, but I think the real dream is getting to act in a variety of ways.
If you’re on a moving train, would you say Camp Rock 3 was that stop for you, as some point of reflection and a turning point in your life?
Camp Rock was definitely monumental and very full circle for me. It does make you reflect and look back at how far you’ve come. I tell this story sometimes, but it is important. When I was 18 or so, I had been in the industry for probably 4 years, and my dream as a kid was always to work for Disney. I remember calling my mom and saying, “Hey, I think I’ve aged out at Disney.” I’m going to have to give up on this childhood dream. I love acting, and I’m so thankful for everything I’m getting to do, and I want to keep acting, but maybe I have to say, okay, I’m not going to be a Disney star, and that’s okay, because there’s so much space in the industry. Then 2 years later, I got the call that I was going to do Camp Rock. I immediately called my mom, and I think it was surreal for my whole family, because my whole family knew that was one of those things on the list that was like, I feel like Ava’s supposed to do this. I think all the work, all the hours, the dance training, and the voice training, and the acting training, all the things you do to try and develop who you are as an artist, I feel like that’s where it came to fruition. To share that moment with my family was sweet. I hold it with so much honour. They are so excited, and I feel really proud.
As an actor, dancer, and singer, you are juggling three different roles at once. How do you portion it in your mind? How much of yourself are you as an actor, how much of it is as a dancer versus a singer? Is there a hierarchy to make sense of your priorities, or how you see yourself?
It’s interesting. At different times in my life, they’ve all taken a different front seat. So, I grew up a dancer; that was the first thing I ever did. My mom was a professional dancer, and so I was around the theatre a lot. I was around dance; I was around more of the stage arts. I danced for a very long time, as really my only thing, until I was about 14 or so; I started singing. That’s because I wanted to do theatre in my community, which I never did. Everyone always thinks I’ve done so much theatre when I talk to people, but I have never done a theatre show, fun fact. I wanted to really bad. Then I started writing music during the pandemic. I would sit at the piano and figure it out. I had been playing piano my whole life, but putting lyrics to it was new. Then, right after, I started acting at 15. The dream was always to act. I always knew that I wanted to be an actor. But it was never a priority until I had the resources. That is how it goes with a lot of things in life. I had to make a decision. I had danced my whole life; I’d been singing, and then adding in another thing was not something anyone dragged me into.
I told my parents I wanna start acting, and they were so supportive. They gave me the freedom to figure it out. They didn’t know anything about the acting industry. So I started to figure that out, and the first time I walked on set, I knew acting was where my heart was, and I’m still in class every week. It is something I love to learn about. I read a lot about acting; I’m very passionate about it, and so the past several years have been very acting-forward for me. But what’s really cool about a musical project is that I get to use and bring back all the dance training I had as a kid. That, in a way, feels very nostalgic for me. I think music is a step I’ve been hesitant to take for a second, because it is so vulnerable, and I write everything myself, and I’m at a point now where I feel like I have a strong enough point of view to share my music, and so I’m excited. There is a hierarchy, and it’s ever-changing. I don’t think it is super solidified, and that’s part of growing up, but everyone also has seasons in their life where they focus on different things.
In this film, you’re doing all three, sometimes simultaneously. If it weren’t a film of that nature and was strictly one of those roles, would you see that as a limitation or something that you can just hone in on your specific strength and focus on that?
I don’t see it as a limitation. Honestly, some of my favourite jobs have been when I’m just acting, or sometimes I’ll help a friend write a song for a project, and my involvement is simply to help them write a song. I always talk about how I love fitting into a puzzle piece, so wherever I belong on a project, I can focus and hone in on that specific thing. It’s fun to have a variety of projects; I love the musicals, and I love projects that don’t have music in them. They’re both so unique and special in their own ways. What I love about the musical projects is the sense of community. All the dancers, all of the musicians involved, and all the actors involved. Camp Rock felt like a summer camp. It feels like everyone’s involved in making something, and I think the same goes for the non-musical projects too, but it is really fun to have a bunch of musical kids in the same room.
How was that pandemic period like for you? As actors, you thrive on being with people, finding creativity in the world itself, and experiencing it. But when you’re isolated in your own bubble, your own space, and distant, how do you find your own creativity and keep ideas brewing?
Actually, I think it was a really challenging time for the whole world, and we can all look back at that as a very sombre time. I personally needed a break. You know what I think is interesting about high schoolers? High schoolers get really overworked. That’s not anyone’s fault. Kids go to school from 8 am to 3 pm, and then they have dance practice, soccer practice, etc. A lot of kids experience high school burnout, so for me, it actually gave me a second to reset. I started going to school online after the pandemic. It let me focus on my education while also developing my artistic craft.
I started writing music during the pandemic, and I had this huge exploration of who I was as an artist. I was also quite young. When you’re around people at a young age, you’re really influenced by their perspective and their take on things. So, it gave me a chance to be alone and figure out what I wanted to do. Again, it’s interesting that it was a childhood dream of mine. I had pretty much given up on it. I hadn’t ever utilised it. Say I was 3 years old, and I was like, oh my gosh, I want to be Hannah Montana by the time I was 14 or 15, and that wasn’t happening, or I wasn’t auditioning. I wasn’t in the industry at all. I was thinking, “Oh, I’ll just go to a four-year college in person”, and it was not even on my radar, so the pandemic gave me a chance to sit with myself and be like, what is my dream? And then I found it again, and it kind of found me.
For an American, what is summer camp like to you? Have you been to one?
I have been to summer camp. I spent a lot of my childhood at summer camp. The most refreshing thing is putting your phone away and focusing on making friends and having experiences that feel a little isolated to a small group of people you can bond with during your week together at camp. I was a Girl Scout growing up, so I know how to make a fire, and I lived in cabins, while the Boy Scouts had to be in tents. It was really awesome. I learned a lot about nature. I went on hikes where I learned about different kinds of plants. I learned what I could eat and what I couldn’t, and we had to cook and do all these things, like hospitality skills. But we also had fun. We made friendship bracelets, made songs, and made handshakes. Camp Rock felt like camp to me.
What’s one thing about being a Girl Scout that people wouldn’t know?
Most people think being a Girl Scout was super fluffy, and I may have made it sound that way with the cabins, but I actually learned so much about business. For one, we would always have speakers come talk to us. Women who were successful in business, and when we’d sell cookies and stuff, which on the surface can seem like whatever. But we learned about money; we learned how to handle business and work in sales. We learned a lot of practical skills that I’ve carried throughout my whole life, and it’s actually why I went to business school. One reason I went to business school is that I enjoyed learning about marketing and how to run or scale a business, and much of that came from my time in Girl Scouts.
Would you say that your business background helped to inform your understanding of the industry?
Business-focused people are problem solvers. I grew up watching a lot of that, and I hope to have my own business one day. I don’t yet know whether it’s a production company or what it will look like, but it definitely shaped my understanding of the industry. And then, I was in college; I graduated last year from Purdue, and I loved being in school because I was in acting class, but I was also in college online. I learned how to take care of my own business, and I thinkthat’ss important. For me, I love academics. I want to go back to school and get my master’s. I’m also very passionate about it, and it’s definitely helped me as an adult in the industry.
Maybe you could have your own dance academy one day.
Oh yeah, my mom has a dance school.
How did you first find your character Madison on the script, and what did you personally inject into the character that you wanted to make your own?
Yeah, Madison is very fiery. It is interesting to find the layers of these kinds of characters, and it’s one of my favourite things to do. For Madison, when I initially looked at her. I kinda got her. This girl knows exactly what she wants, and she’s brave enough to say it. She’s also a little bit covert. She’ll be direct with you, but she’s also smart. She’s not stupid. There are layers to her. In relation to her, I think what I wanted to include was pressure. Pressure to perform, and anytime you add that, it can make people act out of character. Something I thought about while I was working with her.
How do you contrast your character?
I’d say I’m very different from Maddie day to day. I wouldn’t think to do some of the things Maddie deems reasonable. I like to listen. When I’m hanging out with my friends, I want to hear what’s going on with them. I want to be there for my friends. That’s something I really care about, along with my family. Madison likes for people to listen to her, and it was fun for me to play that. She is a relatable teenage experience these days. There were times that I was scared to step into her because of that, but the most important thing is to have fun with it. We always joke about how contrasting our characters are. But if you have fun with it, it’s enjoyable for everybody.
What is your star sign?
I’m a Cancer. I don’t know what Madison’s is, but it’s interesting. Maybe I’m more in tune with my emotions than Madison.
Madison reminded me of Tess in the first two Camp Rocks. How do you feel about that connection?
I love Tess. She is that diva. Meaghan Martin is so iconic for creating her, and I feel like I watched Tess a lot while I was learning about Maddie. I was watching the intentions there, and we get to see some of Tess’s development throughout 1 and 2, as well as what makes her mean. I think she’s really misunderstood and has a lot of layers. For Tess, something was going on at home that made her act a certain way with her peers. I think that’s also a really common teenage experience. I will say for Maddie, Tess challenged me to find my own backstory for Madison that I carried with me throughout the film, and that was a cool experience for me. I got to create her, and I hope one day I can meet Meaghan and tell her she is such a diva. I really admire and look up to her, and she has some of the most iconic moments in her role in the movie, which was really fun.
If there’s one thing for sure, Tess’s favourite character would be Madison.
Maybe haha.
What was it like working with the returning cast members, the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and Maria Canals-Barrera, who made these movies and shaped a generation 16 years ago?
First of all, the Jonas Brothers are some of the kindest people that I have met in the industry. They are exactly how they appear on social media. They’re funny, they’re kind, they’re authentic. It was a real honour, honestly, for them to not only be there, but to include us in their world. We got to go to a Jonas Brothers concert, which was insane. I was screaming at the top of my lungs; childhood Ava was having the time of her life. It was so fun. We had a blast. I feel like they really set the tone for the cast. That’s how it is on any job. Whoever is involved in creating it really sets the tone for how the cast interacts, the spirit, and how everyone feels on the job; energetically, it was the happiest set I’ve ever been on. It was just straight joy. There is no Camp Rock without Demi Lovato. Seeing her influence throughout this movie was cool. I’m sorry, but this movie feels like Camp Rock. I was so excited to see it for the first time. I wasn’t on set every day, so there were moments that I hadn’t seen of the cast, and the cast is like family. I hold them very close to my heart. I’m very protective of them. I love them very much. Maria is everybody’s mom. I grew up with Maria, not only on Camp Rock, but on Wizards of Waverly Place, and she is a warm hug. She is the kindest person. So intentional, and I have been very lucky to go to dinner with her a couple of times since we’ve been back in LA. My family isn’t in LA with me, so I find it really special when I meet people I can build community with while I’m in California, and Maria is one of them.
What is your favourite Camp Rock song from the first two movies, and your favourite to perform in 3?
I love “Hasta La Vista”. I also love “This Is Our Song”. Our cast had a very special moment with that at the end. After shooting, we made a video where each cast member thanked our director, and we edited it together with photos and stuff. We used “This Is Our Song” as the backing instrumental for it, and so it makes me think of that. My favourite song to perform was “Start the Party”, because I feel like I got this. It was a fun moment. And “Start the Party” was a full-circle moment for me. I grew up with that song on a CD. I’m not kidding. My grandmother used to scratch CDs for me, and she put on “Start the Party”. I don’t think I even first heard it; it was random, and then when I saw that, I saw that, and then getting to do it was just so fun.
Camp Rock 3 is available now on Disney+. Follow Ava via @itsmeavajean
Interview Zakariya Ahmed
Photography Jesse Volk
