Hayley was discovered when she tagged along with her friend to a photoshoot at their elementary school.
Hayley needed 6 haircuts before completion.
Adam raps in real life.
The camera was right in Blake's face during the scene in the car at the beginning of the movie.
To Naomi, eating apple skin is like nails on a chalkboard.
Naomi's jewelry was carefully selected from a large stockpile.
Christopher loves racing anything with wheels.
The people got the idea for putting cameras in Principal Brenigan's office after visiting another school.
Schedule: ride to set, breakfast, makeup trailer, filming time!
When Ray was little, he called grapes "beeps".
There were four schools used to film the scenes in Mesa High.
Naomi & Nick stashed snacks under the bleachers of Mesa High's set, and Nick stated that he often would leave a scene to take some snacks and eat it with Naomi.
Lyle's character was barely in the novel.
The 1990 Mel's Lemonade machine was found broken, and they fixed it so it spat out lemonade cans. ("Hey, do I want Mel's, Mel's, Mel's, Mel's, or Mel's?")
Bridgit: "The reaction to Tisha's screech was real."
Adam & Blake made up the jingle for Rising Star.
Nick played piano before the movie, but only played guitar a little.
While they were filming this scene (when Mo forgives Scott), a thunderstorm passed through.
The kitten used at the end of the film never stopped squirming.
The script called for a giant New York theater. (Breakthrough scene)
Because the drums were so close to the speakers, Blake had to wear earplugs. (Breakthrough scene)
Shooting this concert was everyone's favorite day! (Breakthrough scene)
The unrehearsed scene was played under the credits. (Breakthrough scene)
What do you do when the you like comes up to you? "You smash your face into a locker and run off."
The bash was known as Breningan's Waterloo because he was dressed as Napolean Bonaparte.
When Mo asks Charlie if a guy doesn't call, should a girl worry, it shows Blake's arm blurry. But it really is Nick's arm.
When Stella spits lemonade all over Ray, to make a perfect spit, they had to make a machine. It was placed behind Hayley's head. It also wasn't lemonade, it was a green liquid that when it touches skin it appears yellow.
Real spies lived next door to Olivia's house during World War II. They were captured in 1950 for giving away military secrets.
Nancy the cat is really as old as she looks.
During "Here We Go", the person dressed up like a bee in the background was Mark Peter Hughes.
The cast went to a toy store to buy water guns and chalk to play with. They had water fights and at the end of the day after filming, they would all go in the parking lot to draw.
Chris: "Naomi's serious about her chalk drawing." He mentions that Naomi is really good at drawing with chalk.
Naomi (looking at Blake's chalk drawing): "It looks great but I don't really get it..."
Nick: "What about mine?" (his chalk drawing)
After all the chalk drawing, they played hopscotch and drew a huge 100-step hopscotch game. They had fun because they had to hop backwards, etc. Chris ended up winning.
The cast nicknamed Chris "Adventure Chris" because he was always up for adventures.
During the scene where Wen and Olivia were talking about Rising Star and they were drinking smoothies and how each of their band memebers were injured (Mo was sick, Charlie has 3 broken fingers), Naomi and Hayley were around the corner of the building buying Nick a gift.
Blake challenged Naomi to a staring contest and Naomi ended up winning. The next challenger was Chris and Naomi thought it would be easy but it wasn't: It lasted 11 minutes. Until this day, they're still arguing over who actually won.
Because the cast got so close together, they gave each other nicknames.
Blake was "Blaker Laker"
Adam had 2, one of them was "A-Money"
Bridgit was "Shrimpus"
Hayley was "Schmuffin"
Naomi was "Banaynay"
The girls even made actions for their nicknames ("Schmuffin. Bake! Shrimpus. Swim! Banaynay. Peel!")
During their downtimes, Nick would go to the gym and work out and Naomi would hang out with Bridgit and Hayley.
While filming the She's So Gone scene, when the guy spun Mo and Mo smiled at him then Scott left, it said "Wait, Scott! That guy wasn't crushing on Mo, he just needed a napkin!"
The scene where Charlie confessed his crush to Mo then Mo entered her house and expained everything to her dad, that was the last scene she filmed.
Naomi: "When the Director yelled 'Cut', fountains came out of my eyes and I hugged everyone, even those I didn't know!"
The author's family got close with the cast and would often hang out.
Lyle's character was there to explain what the Underground was to the audience and to Stella. ("I've served my purpose. Good-bye!")
The warehouse used in the And the Crowd Goes part of the movie was actually an old train repair warehouse. The book says it took place in a desert, but they coudn't light the desert enough and it was too dark.
During the scene where Scott is sitting and tries to apologize to Mo, it was one of the few scenes they filmed out on public. Crowds were gathering to watch.
Naomi: "The crowds didn't throw me off at all. It was like live theatre"
This scene was Nick's last scene to film. That's what helped him be more emotional when Mo mentioned that this changed nothing between them.
The auditorium that Mel donated was actually a real auditorium of a high school.
Naomi: "It was an amazing theatre. I was actually quite jealous"
Tisha: "I haven't seen such beautiful high schools until I arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico"
The big banner of the cast singing Determinate that was on top of Dante's Pizzeria surprised the cast.
Bridgit: "The big banner definitely freaked us out a little"
The Director told the 5 of them to have the same reaction they did when they first saw the banner in the movie so the audience will know how they really felt.
Mudslide Crush originally was only suppose to have 1 song in the movie, but since the songs were so good, the got 2.
Nick auditioned for the movie 6 times.
The actor who portrayed Mo's father got really close with Naomi's family. He even visited them in London, England.
During the Breakthrough scene, both Naomi's brother and Blake's was in the audience, rocking along.
Mel's Lemonade was actually water, powdered lemonade mix and power drink.
Olivia's backyard was actually a place for a lot of weddings.
Nick's hair naturally stands up, so he tried hard to keep it down because Scott's hair is suppose to fall over his eyes.
The break dancers from the Breakthrough scene were flown in from LA.
Hayley: "I have a little crush on them"
Naomi: "I second that. They're great dancers.
When Determinate was on the radio, and Mo, Charlie and Stella were dancing in a house, it said Charlie's signature move... the Spinning Chicken!
During the scene where Charlie was staring at Mo (who was talking to Scott) during the soccer tryouts, he was actually daydreaming about dancing with Mo (which is the deleted Tango scene between them). Unfortunately, that scene was cut out.
Naomi learned how to play the upright bass, the bass, and the violin for this movie.
Before filming the Determinate scene, Naomi was suppose to wear these boots with heels. But, they were to hard to dance and play in, so the Costume Designer came out and gave her flats to wear. She says their not exactly rocker-type shoes, but they are comfortable. She also said that she rehearses and practices in barefoot, so the boots weren't really good to dance in.