Joanna Garcia talks REVENGE OF THE BRIDESMAIDS

Tonight on ABC Family, Joanna Garcia and Raven-Symone star as best friends who set out to exact revenge on an old boyfriend in the really charming new movie REVENGE OF THE BRIDESMAIDS.  Joanna, who will be a bride herself one of these days, spent some time chatting with me about what drew her to the movie, her upcoming new show on ABC, and her wedding to the man of her dreams!

Let’s talk about REVENGE OF THE BRIDESMAIDS.  What a fun movie – I love when they bring some of my favorites together – you, Raven, so well done!
Well, thank you, we had a lot of fun doing it!

Tell people who maybe aren’t sure what it is, tell us about the movie.
Raven and I play best friends.  We got back to my hometown for my parents’ anniversary party and we run into an old, kind of frenemy and it turns out that she’s getting married, and then we find out that she’s getting married to one of our childhood friends, the love of her life.  So of course, we have to ruin her wedding.

Absolutely!  You wouldn’t have it any other way!
Absolutely not! [laughs]

How did you get involved with the movie – did you read the script and just know it was something you had to do?
Yeah, I read the script, they offered me the role, and I really liked it.  I thought, what a fun way to spend six weeks.  Six weeks in New Orleans, I thought it would be really fun.  I was really excited, and then Raven signed on a few weeks after I did, and it was like, oh this will be amazing.  I knew that I would have someone that was willing to play ball.

Exactly – you both play well off of each other – did you know each other before?
No, we didn’t!  We immediately kind of clicked.  We got each other’s sensibilities.  Our comedies are very similar.

From the chemistry on screen, it does seem like you’ve known each other forever, so that’s great to see.
Thank you – we had a lot of fun.  It was easy, it was really fun, easy to slip into, you know, girlfriends.

So why do you think that people should be tuning in?  Why is this a movie that people will love to watch?
You know, it’s a lot of fun.  It’s light-hearted. It’s a little mischievous, it’s a little naughty. We’ve got all of the elements.  We don’t play cookie-cutter girls by any stretch of the imagination.  They’re very well established.  It’s a beautiful film.  It looks great, and I think it’s a great way to spend a couple of hours!

Of course you have the wedding practice in there!  How are wedding plans coming?
I’m very excited about it!  [laughs] It’s been fun.  I’ve taken a very laid back approach to this wedding.  I hired a great wedding planner, my mom’s been amazing.  At the end of the day, I would go to the courthouse tomorrow and that’s the God’s honest truth.  Everything else above that is a cherry on top. It’s going to be fun.  I’ve met the person that I’m going to be in the foxhole with.

I also want to switch gears and talk about BETTER WITH YOU (starts Wednesday, September 22 at 8:30/7:30c on ABC)!  A funny pilot, a great cast.  You and Jennifer definitely seem like sisters, which is great.
We’ve known each other for years.  We have a lot of history.  She is as good as it gets.  Pretty much amazing on every level.  And I love her and I love being around her.  I was so excited when they brought up her name to play my sister.  So exciting.

When do you go into production?
In three weeks! Well we shot the pilot, and we got 13 episodes, but we’re hoping for a full season, and many years to com

I love the cast and what I enjoyed about the first episode is that it didn’t seem like a pilot.  It seemed like it was something an established cast would do.
Thank you, that means a lot.  We all kind of felt that way.  I mean, we’ve all been around the block a time or two, so you know when it feels really right.  And we all felt that.  We knew we had a great shot, and we had the support of one of the best networks, if not the best network in my opinion. They’re all so behind us, and they have been since the beginning.  It’s not such an uphill battle.  It’s been a matter of putting together a great cast with amazing writers and just letting us roll!

Why should people tune into that in the fall?
You know, I think it appeals to all different kinds of audiences.  It’s a really nice, fun approach to a traditional sitcom and we don’t have enough of that , so it’s something that will stand the test of time.  And we have the writers of FRIENDS and there’s not better talent than that, so it’s exciting!