Not in any way associated with the J-Lo song of the same name, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” is a light-hearted film with a real message. In this interview, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” star Christina Milian talks about revamping a teen classic and working opposite Nick Cannon.
Can you compare your high school experience to the movie?
I was living in Maryland and my first week was dreadful. My first week I actually got into a fight at school. I spent a couple of months, about three months in school, but my first week I'd gotten into a fight with the popular girl at school. She had really no reason to want to fight me. I really don't know why it happened. Compared to the movie, I wasn't very popular.
Was it a catfight?
It was a catfight, It happened after school, not in school. She followed me home. She was coming after me. I wasn't as popular as my character Paris. Paris is like the popular girl at the school. I was kind of more to myself. I had my one friend that I liked hanging out with. For one year I did go to Performing Arts School, and I had very weird friends. People that you wouldn't even imagine that I would hang out with. It was weird, but I like hanging out with different, eclectic people. I myself, just the type of person that I am, I like being friends with everybody. I'm not really picky-choosy. As far as Paris, she only hangs out with the popular people. But throughout the movie she comes to learn about that, and comes to love herself, and know that's not really who she is.
Does this movie improve on “Can't Buy Me Love?”
I think it does. I'm happy they didn't go with the exact story of “Can't Buy Me Love.” It's a cute story, “Can't Buy Me Love.” I loved that movie, it was simple, it was cute, and kids can relate to it. I think everybody can relate to it. I think I find now there's a little more depth to it as far as Paris learning about herself. There's also the relationship between her and [Alvin], it's more of a romance rather than them making fun of it. The other teen movies - like that Rachel Leigh Cook movie, “She's All That” - it was all about the kids making fun of each other. It's not all about that. It's really the relationship between Alvin and Paris and what happens with them.
In “Can't Buy Me Love,” it took a month to make the guy cool. Do you think it takes less time to get cool now?
[In] this movie, it was two weeks; I have to date him for two weeks. Within, I guess, the first week that's when I kind of make him over. I guess if he's going to hang out with me, I might as well make him cool. So I kind of hook him up early.
Was there a conversation about making Paris a Latino girl?
No, there really wasn't a conversation. Actually, when I received the script for Paris, originally she was just African American, and the name was even different. I think it was Latasha, or something like that. We felt ‘Paris’ would match the character. She was very popular, but it also didn't really put a label on her. You didn't know what she was, and I didn't want the character to have a specific label. She only has a mother, if you see in the movie her father's not around, and I just want all the people to be able to relate to it and not feel like she has to be one particular thing.
You had a big chance to do some music in this but you choose not to. Is that because you don't want to combine the two careers?
I didn't want it to come off as though, “Here's Christina Milian, the singer that got lucky to do a movie.” I actually started out with acting and I've been acting for about 12 years. I moved here to California when I was 13 to pursue my acting career. It wasn't until I was about 17 or 18 years old that I got into music. I just wanted to make sure, especially as far as my first movie and my first starring role - a lot of the musicians are doing that now, where they combine the music in the movies. I'm like, “'Maybe I'll do that later. I want to do it for the right thing.” I don't want to do every movie and be the singer in the movie, like, “Now she sings a song all of a sudden.” I thought that would be kind of cheesy, so I kept it separate.
PAGE 2: Christina Milian on Working with Nick Cannon and Choreography
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