(andPOP) - Mandy Moore has done it. Britney Spears has tried it.
Hilary Duff is doing it in reverse. Singers have had mixed results attempting to launch movie careers. Hannah Spearritt, a former member of S Club 7, stars as Frankie Muniz' Secret Service counterpart in "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London," but Spearritt is not a typical singer-turned-actor. Although S Club had four albums released in their five years of existence, Spearritt says the world has never even heard her sing!
"I'm not that good a singer really," she tells andPOP. "We mimed. We did sing the songs in the studio but the amount of singing that we did in the band wasn't that much. We hardly did any singing."
Coming from S Club, where movies and television episodes were being produced faster than eyes could view them, Spearritt found shooting Cody Banks 2 an extraordinarily slow process. Eight pages of script were shot daily on an S Club project, compared to just two per day on Cody Banks 2. Scenes had to be shot over and over again from different angles.
"It did seem quite slow at points but you need the time to shoot it to make it look cool in the finished product," she explains in her thick English accent, on the line from Los Angeles.
In the movie, which hits theatres March 12, Spearritt is involved in a fight scene where she had to perform a mammoth high kick. The movie was on a very tight schedule and there was no time to give her proper training. Having never learned how to execute such a feat, how did Spearritt pull it off?
"I just jumped and hoped for the best! I was extremely stiff the next day."
Two days after S Club decided to split, and without an agent, Spearritt auditioned in her hometown of London, England for this role. She anticipated the ramifications of coming from the famed S Club career, but used it to her advantage.
"I think you always do have a little bit of typecast on your forehead being in it for five years. You can't worry about it. You have to use it as a platform to do what you want to do."
That's exactly what she did to win the role, even though she was still "disorientated" from her intense S Club schedule. To her delight, the film was also shot in London.
"I've never worked from home that much before. Most of S Club we were traveling around a lot and we did a lot of shooting in America. So this is the first time I've shot anything in London so I got to come home every night rather than stay at a hotel."
A good night's sleep, every night of shooting the movie, was a relief for Spearritt, who was constantly drained while with S Club.
"We were completely exhausted throughout the whole experience [of S Club]. It would be nice to experience it not as tired because then you'll enjoy it more."
Last summer, the group decided to call it quits after a successful run with music, movies, and television shows.
"We just felt like we wanted to do our own thing. We chatted about it and decided when was the right point. It wasn't a final straw situation because there wasn't anything that pissed us off or anybody in particular or any argument that provoked us to split up."
After a week of promoting the movie in L.A., Spearritt will return home to London, where she already has two auditions lined up.
"I've always wanted to do acting and I'm just happy to be pursuing this in a minute."
Visitors to andPOP sent in questions for Hannah Spearritt, and she graciously took the time to answer a few.
1.Do you still keep in touch with your ex-S Club partners?
I still date Paul. I live with Paul. Jo comes around the house all the time.
2. How often do you get to see your family?
Not as much as I'd like. They live about two hours from London on the countryside. They come to London every now and again at Christmas time and when I get a few days off I go back home.
3. I heard that you might be doing a movie with Madonna? Is that true?
That might come from because she was a producer on Agent Cody Banks. I never saw her, but I saw her on the call sheet. That might be where that came from because I'm not doing a movie with Madonna.
4. Did you enjoy the fight scenes in the movie and is Martial Arts something you're interested in learning more about?
I'd love to. I always try to do things like that in my spare time but its difficult when you're working and I'm quite lazy anyway. But I'm interested in that sort of stuff and I when I get into it, I enjoy it.
5. If you were a bar of soap, whose shower would you be in?
I would be in (thinking?)Johnny Depp's because he's hot.
6. Who are some actors you would love to shoot a movie with?
So many people. It would be a privilege to work with anybody that's good. I like Helen Hunt, Susan Sarandon, Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, all sorts of actors so anybody really.
7. If a movie was shot about you, what would the title be and who would play you?
The title would probably be "Confused" and who would play me? Probably one of my friends because they know me best. I just feel quite confused.
8. Do you want people to see you as Hannah Spearritt instead of always Hannah from S Club 7?
Hopefully. I feel as time goes on, people will see me more removed from that. You can't diss what you've done before. It's part of what I've done. There's no need to deny it. Hopefully what I want to do is become a successful actress. We'll see in time. I like to think I would have made money from acting without the band, but that could have been the reason I got the job.
9. What was the best advice you got about acting and who gave it to you?
The camera is your best friend. I think my boyfriend did.
10. What do you think of Rachel's album (another former-S Club member)?
I haven't heard it. I've only heard her singles that have come out actually. I must get a copy.
