SPRING FEVER THE BEST SPRING 11 TOURS YOU CAN'T MISS! ARTISTS YOU YOUR MUST BEST LISTEN BLOWOUT TO EVER YOUR NEXT WINTER FAVORITE TO SPRING MANICURE MAKEUP TRENDS AMANDA + ON TOUR WITH SCHULL FOR TODAY FEB/MAR 2015 www.clichemag.com COVER STORY | AMANDA SCHULL FROM BALLET TO THE BIG (AND LITTLE) SCREEN Photographer: QUAVONDO Makeup: CRYSTAL TRAN Hair: GUI SELOPERDIDO Wardrobe: JA'NIYA WALKER Gown MIREILLE DAGHER Earrings MIRANDA KONTANTINIDOU Ring NINETEEN PIECES | 76 FEB/MAR 2015 FEB/MAR 2015 | 77 COVER STORY | AMANDA SCHULL Top ADOLFO SANCHEZ Skirt FOREVER UNIQUE Bracelet CECILIA GONZALES I also knew that I wanted to be able “to live out my dance “ career while I was still physically able. manda Schull’s journey from her role in 2000’s Center Stage, a drama about a group of dancing ballet to acting in young ballet dancers, though she had done some musical both film and television has theater growing up as well. been anything but ordinary. “I think that in the back of my head I knew that I Her latest project 12 Monkeys, always wanted to act, but I wasn’t completely certain how a television adaptation of the to go about doing it,” she said. “I also knew that I wanted 1995 film by the same name, to be able to live out my dance career while I was still which starred Brad Pitt, physically able.” Bruce Willis, and Christopher Growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii, Schull began A Plummer, premiered on dancing when she was 3, after her mother, who is the January 16 on Syfy. Schull stars as Dr. Cassandra Railly— president of Ballet Hawaii, enrolled her in classes. who is based on the original film character Kathryn Railly Dancing became more than just a hobby, and (played by Madeleine Stowe)—a virologist whose life when it came time to head off to college, Schull left the changes when she meets Cole (played by Aaron Stanford), a sun, surf, and sand of Hawaii for the changing seasons of man claiming to be from 2043. He warns her of a plague that Bloomington, Indiana to study music and journalism at must be stopped before it destroys a majority of civilization. Indiana University. “He has been sent back in time to 2015 because “They are two very different places, beautiful in of a recording that my character has made (or will make) their own ways,” she said. “Being from Hawaii, I had never specifically requesting his help,” Schull explained. “The experienced seasons before, and Bloomington has some two of them must try to stop the plague from ever even of the most incredible fall leaves. That is something I will starting, and there are a lot of people who have reasons for always remember.” them not to be successful in this mission.” The summer before her junior year at IU, Schull Since wrapping the first season, Schull said she’s traveled to San Francisco to participate in the San Francisco just now getting back to the real world and is looking Ballet’s summer program. She was given a scholarship forward to seeing what comes next, whether it’s another to stay for the year in the school, which then lead to an project on TV or a movie role. apprenticeship. Afterward, she landed her first role in “I enjoy both film and television. With film, you Center Stage. have a starting and ending point with your character, so “It was really a matter of being in the right place you are able to understand the arc of where you need to go at the right time,” she said. with your role. Television isn’t always so finite; it can be After traveling to several dance companies around much more open-ended and unclear where your character is the country in search of dancers who could also act, the Gown COCO JOHNSEN headed,” she said. casting director ended up stopping at the San Francisco Ballet. Earrings MARIANNA HARUTUNIAN Schull’s first foray into professional acting was 78 | FEB/MAR 2015 FEB/MAR 2015 | 79 Gown JAD GHANDOUR Everyone has a “ Gown COCO JOHNSEN secret, whether it Earrings MARIANNA HARUTUNIAN “is large or small. | 80 FEB/MAR 2015 FEB/MAR 2015 | 81 COVER STORY | AMANDA SCHULL I think being “a dancer will always be a strong part of“ who I was and who I am. just happened to be in rehearsal when portray. she popped her head in our studio to “Everyone has a secret, whether it is large or small,” have a look at the school students. I she said. “I think that saying the words that are written in a was given a script, and the next day script while having a particular intention or motivation that might she put me on tape for the role of Jody not necessarily be known to everyone else in the scene is more Sawyer,” Schull said. exciting to embody as an actor and more thought-provoking to Also starring Zoe Saldana, Peter view as an audience member.” I Gallagher, Ethan Stiefel, and Susan May Schull’s last feature film was Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar Pratt,“ Center Stage follows a group of 12 dancers at the fictional (2011), which also starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, American Ballet Academy as they attempt to land spots on the Armie Hammer, and Judi Dench. fictional American Ballet Company. A number of professional Schull said there are benefits to both television and film dancers, including four in the main cast, were used in the film. and doesn’t have a preference for either. “Doing the dance sequences with all of the wonderful “I love the luxury of time that is afforded with film, dancers from New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater being able to spend a day really perfecting a scene, and with was a lot of hard work and very rewarding,” Schull said. “I also television, I love that a character can be explored over several remember having complete giggle fits with the other actors on set episodes or even seasons,” she said. on a pretty regular basis. I really had a blast that summer.” As for the dancing that dominated much of her life, Over the span of her career, Schull has landed a number Schull said she misses it, but hasn’t left it entirely behind. of guest roles on shows such as Bones, Grimm, Hawaii Five-o, “I think being a dancer will always be a strong part of and The Mentalist. She also had recurring roles as Katie Ryan on who I was and who I am,” she said. “I continue to take ballet seasons seven and eight of One Tree Hill, Meredith Sorenson on classes three to four times a week, and I am still friends with a lot seasons one, two, and three of Pretty Little Liars, and as Katrina of dancers, so I am involved in the community. When I go home Bennett on seasons two, three, and four of Suits. to visit, I often teach or watch performances [at Ballet Hawaii].” Many of her recurring roles have been for characters with some dark secrets, which Schull said is exciting and interesting to Gown JAD GHANDOUR | 82 FEB/MAR 2015 FEB/MAR 2015 | 83.