Thorne Joins the Voice Cast of the Animated Film “Underdogs”

It’s okay to call Bella Thorne an underdog

The 17-year-old half-Cuban American actress/singer and former Disney Channel star has joined the voice cast of the animated film Underdogs.

Bella Thorne

From The Weinstein Co., the Argentine-Spanish family flick from director Juan J. Campanella tracks a shy but talented foosball player who defends his town and his girl from a nefarious soccer player with the help of his foosball table figurines, who come magically to life.

The film is undergoing a Hollywood revision and Ariana Grande, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Morrison, Katie Holmes, John Leguizamo, Eugenio Derbez, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, and Chazz Palminteri are currently recording English-language dialogue with some script retooling for the domestic audience.

Thorne will voice the younger version of love interest Laura, also played by Grande and Holmes.

Thorne is known for Disney Channel’s Shake It Up and her recurring roles on Dirty Sexy Money and Big Love and was recently seen in theaters in Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. She also guest-starred on CBSCSI.

She joins Underdogs after starring in another Weinstein Co. release, the Blumhouse/Dimension-produced Amityville: The Awakening.

Underdogs is set to open in theaters on April 10, 2015.

Thorne Releases Debut Single “Call It Whatever”

Bella Thorne is ready to drop it like it’s pop

16-year-old half-Cuban American actress and former Disney Channel recently unveiled her debut single, “Call It Whatever.”

Bella Thorne

The former Shake It Up star’s bubblegum track has earned more than 153,000 views on YouTube since its May 13 release, and previews a debut album that Thorne says won’t follow in the path of the network’s other former stars like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez.

“I don’t think about anything close to that,” Thorne tells Billboard when asked about the inevitable comparisons. “I don’t think, ‘Well, Miley went this way, and Selena went that way, so I have to go in the middle.’ That’s not it. I’m just being me. My song is called ‘Call It Whatever.’ You can call me whatever, if you like me or not like me. I really don’t care.”

The release of “Call It Whatever” — which was produced by Paro and co-written by Par Westerland, Rickard Goransson and Skyler Stonestreet — comes roughly a year and a half after Thorne signed to Hollywood Records, the home of Gomez as well as young female stars like Lucy Hale and Demi Lovato.

When the deal was finalized, Thorne was already starring on the network’s hit sitcom Shake It Up along with Zendaya. Thorne released the song “TTYLXOX” on the Shake It Up: Live 2 Dance soundtrack in 2012, but for the Florida native, a full-fledged pop career was always going to take a bit longer to kick-start.

“I really wanted to work on my voice,” says Thorne. “I never sang before, and I didn’t want to put an album out that I wasn’t proud of, or that was Auto-tuned or anything like that. I waited so that I could take a lot of vocal classes, so that I could work on my voice every day.”

The music video for “Call It Whatever” will premiere on May 29, and was filmed in Los Angeles — at the same location, Thorne points out, that Kelis filmed her “Milkshake” video. Thorne’s debut album is due out later in the summer, and won’t necessarily feature the kid-friendly vibe of its lead single.

“‘Call It Whatever’ is my youngest-sounding song,” she says. “This song is definitely for my younger audience. I don’t want to eliminate them, but my album is geared a little bit older. I have some more indie type of songs, some hip-hop, some with an 80s feel, and I have dance music on there.”

While Thorne hopes to tour extensively behind her first album, she has a handful of other projects to promote: she co-stars in the new Adam Sandler comedy Blended and the upcoming film adaptation of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, among several other film projects. Her first book, Autumn Falls, is due out in November, and is featured in a Neutrogena beauty campaign.

“I want to try everything,” says Thorne. “And I want to be great at everything, if it’s the last thing I do.”

Disney Releases Official Trailer for “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” Starring Thorne

Bella Thorne will be having a very bad day in October…

Disney has released the official trailer for Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, featuring the16-year-old half-Cuban American actress and former Disney Channel star.

Bella Thorne

The film adaptation of Judith Viorst’s book of the same name centers on 11-year-old Alexander (portrayed by Ed Oxenbould). Just when Alexander starts having the worst day of his life, he discovers all of his family members (Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Dylan Minnette and Kerris Dorsey) are having bad days of their own.

Thorne portrays Celia, the girlfriend of Alexander’s older brother.

The film, which was directed by Miguel Arteta, also stars Megan Mullally and Jennifer Coolidge.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day will open in theaters on October 10.

Thorne Starring Opposite Kyra Sedgwick in the Thriller “Big Sky”

The (big) sky’s the limit for Bella Thorne

The 16-year-old half-Cuban American actress and former Shake It Up star has signed on to star opposite Kyra Sedgwick in the thriller Big Sky.

Bella Thorne

The film is the English language debut of Jorge Michel Grau, who directed the original Spanish language thriller We Are What We Are.

Thorne will portray Hazel while the former The Closer star will play her protective mother Dee.

On their way to a desert facility to help Hazel deal with her paralyzing agoraphobia, the two find themselves attacked by gunmen and the teen has to fight her own demons for the mother-daughter duo to survive.

Production on the film, from an original screenplay by Evan M. Wiener, starts this week in Albuquerque.

It’s the latest project for the Disney Channel star, who is taking on more mature material.

Earlier this year, Thorne joined the cast of Home Invasion and starred in the Adam SandlerDrew Barrymore comedy The Familymoon (previously called Blended).

She is next set for Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Arteta May Direct “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”

Miguel Arteta could be working with Disney next…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican filmmaker, who directed the pilot for CW’s The Carrie Diaries, is in talks with Disney to replace Lisa Cholodenko as the director of its live-action adaptation of Judith Viorst’s children’s book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Miguel Arteta

Alexander is the key character, and he starts a wretched day with the realization that the gum he fell asleep chewing is now hopelessly tangled in his hair. Things get worse from there, to the point he threatens to chuck it all and move to Australia.

Cholodenko, who wrote the script, stepped out as director of the project last month.

Disney has Steve Carell attached to play Alexander’s dad.

Production will begin in the fall.

Arteta’s big screen credits include Cedar Rapids and Youth In Revolt.