‘Make It Pop’ cast talks with Long Island kids

We met the cast of the Nickelodeon TV show, “Make It Pop” — Louriza Tronco (who stars as Jodi), Dale Whibley (Caleb), Erika Tham (Corki), Megan Lee (Sun Hi) — while they were visiting the Nickelodeon offices in Manhattan recently.

How did you get into the show?

Dale: We all went through a vigorous audition process. We all sent in self-tapes originally.

Louriza: From all over the world. Yes, we had to audition and we had to . . . we actually got to pick which characters we wanted to audition for, initially. And then they’d bring us back for call back and we actually got put into the same group together as our characters.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Dale: We get to do what we love.

Megan: That’s most important. Always be happy with what you’re doing.

Erika: I think what you said is so true. We all love what we do and we work really hard. So the fact that we love what we do just makes it so much easier. We’re really passionate about it and we really hope that what we’re doing will make others happy. I think that’s my bigger thing knowing what we’re doing is going to be seen and hopefully make you kids smile.

How is your character like or different from you?

Louriza: I think part of being an actor, part of our job is we have to find similarities with them. I love Jodi’s fierceness and confidence and she’s very independent. She has a man but she doesn’t need him. She’s a lot cooler than I am.

Dale: I find myself a lot like Caleb. Caleb’s a little crazy, as you guys know. I think I’m just as crazy and I get carried away just as much as Caleb does and get myself in trouble just as much as he does.

Megan: I have to say I’m quite the opposite of Sun Hi. I do a lot of blogging, actually, in real life. I love to communicate with the fans. I’m very text savvy. What I find similar to Sun Hi is definitely that she’s very driven when it comes to her passion and what she loves to do. I hope when you guys watch the show . . . always follow your dreams and never give up. I feel like in that way I’m very similar to Sun Hi, who never ever gives up.

Erika: I share Corki’s determination and drive. She’s a very driven, focued character. I like to think I’m just as she is. Also she’s very girly, I think I’m very girly. She could be very naive. I think I could be very naive as well. I like the fashion sense. I think we share a little bit of fashion similarities as well.

Were you already friends?

Dale: None of us knew each other.

Erika: We’re all from all over the world.

What does your family think of you being on TV?

Megan: I have a 10-year-old sister and she always gets really excited watching “Make It Pop.” Everyone’s really excited. All our families.

Dale: My family is just focusing on keeping me level-headed, keeping me grounded and making sure the show doesn’t change who I am. I’m still Dale and I’m not really anybody else. As long as I focus on that and just realize that this is my craft and I like doing my craft.

Louriza: My mom likes to google me a lot.

Erika: My dad is in Thailand and I work in Toronto, that’s where we film, so we miss each other a lot and I think a good way for him to sort of feel like I’m with him and still watch our show, my show. He googles me a lot and texts me. It’s kind of surreal I think.

Which episode did you like to do the most?

Erika: My favorite so far that we filmed, I think, is the Christmas special. It’s really like a happy-go-lucky episode.

Do you play any instruments?

Erika: I don’t actually play the violin. We faked it for the show. It’s actually quite hard to fake playing an instrument and look good and realistic. That’s something I had to learn and I played the cello in school. I also did a little bit of piano when I was little. I’m not too good at it now.

When did you start singing?

Megan: Ever since I could remember. Ever since I could talk. Music has always been a really big part of my life. I like to sing to make people happy, sing at church, in front of my family members. All the time.

What’s your favorite song and what type of music do you like from the show?

Megan: We all made a unanimous decision that we all like “Light It Up” from Season 1.

Louriza: I like “Scales” as well because I get to be fierce in it.

Dale: That was a sweet music video.

Erika: There’s a lot of new music from this season that I love.

Did you take acting classes?

Erika: No I didn’t. I was super new to the whole industry professionally. I took drama in school, but not really any acting lessons.

Megan: Yes, I did take acting lessons. I also took drama a little bit in middle school. I did a little bit of theater within the community. I was always very active. It took a while to learn more about our craft. If you really love something, you want to learn about it. Really practice every day.

Dale: For me I’ve been with a really dedicated coach and acting school for I think four years now. Without him I’m pretty sure I would not be where I am right now. Yes, I did take acting classes.

Louriza: I still take acting classes. Whenever I’m not on set I’m in class. I’m very keen on actors getting an education because acting is telling a story and story is education. So yes, I’m ongoing a student.

If you could change the name of the show what would it be?

Megan: The show’s original name was called “The Drop.”

Erika: But for legal purposes they couldn’t use it.

Louriza: I think I’m so invested in the name “Make It Pop,” I can’t see it being anything else.

What’s your favorite scene?

Louriza: I love doing scenes with this guy [Dale] because he makes me laugh nonstop. I love all the group scenes, too. But Jodi I feel has a lot of drama in the second season. And a lot of boy troubles. I get to work with this guy as my date.

Dale: Actually my very first on-camera kiss was with Louriza. I thought that was a pretty cool moment.

Erika: I think from the season we’re working on now, Season 2, there’s a really special guest appearances that I think have been really fun. I love to do scenes with John-Alan [Slachta] who plays Jared, my on-screen boyfriend, and this season there’s a lot of funny scenes we have together. He’s so great to work with it’s always so much fun doing scenes with him.