MONSTER HIGH - MIIA HARRIS, NAYAH DAMASEN, & CECI BALAGOT INTERVIEW

It’s Alive!!! That’s right! Nickelodeon is bringing the iconic Mattel franchise Monster High to life with a live action movie musical, MONSTER HIGH THE MOVIE.

Monster High The Movie, a live-action movie musical based on the iconic Monster High franchise about the children of famous monsters and creatures, follows Clawdeen Wolf (Miia Harris, Just Beyond), who was born half human and half werewolf, after she arrives at her new school, Monster High. She quickly makes friends with her classmates Frankie Stein (Ceci Balagot, Dispatches from Elsewhere) and Draculaura (Nayah Damasen, Grey's Anatomy), and for the first time in her life, Clawdeen feels like she has finally found a place where she fits in and can truly be herself, despite keeping her human half a secret. When a devious plan to destroy Monster High threatens to reveal her real identity, Clawdeen must learn to embrace her true monster heart and find a way to save the day alongside her new friends.

Mattel first introduced Monster High in 2010, and it quickly became one of the most successful and beloved kids’ properties of all time. The franchise seeks to foster a more accepting world where everyone is proud to be their authentic self, which is more relevant than ever. Today, Monster High is back with a reimagined set of fantastic characters, inspired by the original ghouls, for a new generation that embraces what makes them unique and rallies people everywhere to express themselves.

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Miia Harris stars as Clawdeen Wolf, a half werewolf/half human with big hopes of attending Monster High just like her mother. Harris got into acting around the age of 6 when she took her favorite childhood books and read them as scripts. Soon after, she began dancing and her love for singing led her to songwriting. She guest starred as “Aspen” in Disney+’s anthology series Just Beyond.

A Bay Area native, Nayah Damasen stars as Draculara, a 1599-year-old vampire, who is a bit of a rebel and obsessed with magic, even though it’s strictly forbidden. Damasen is 17 years old and has performed live since the age of five with early roles in productions like The Wiz and The Little Mermaid. She sang the National Anthem for her hometown team, Golden State Warriors, in Game 1 of the 2015 and 2018 NBA Finals and was recently invited by the team to sing again at the 2022 NBA Western Conference Finals. She has appeared in television shows including: ABC’s Grey's Anatomy, ABC’s Blackish, Disney's Bizaardvark, Warner Bros’ Little Big Shots in Germany and Nickelodeon’s Henry Danger, and in the films How To Be A Latin Lover, DEADCON and Do Not Reply. She is also a member of the girls’ pop music group “The Good Newz Girls,” signed by Roc Nation and Nickelodeon.

Ceci Balagot stars as Frankie Stein, the bold and peppy child of Dr. Shel E. Stein and Dr. Mary F. Stein. Balagot (he/they) is best known for playing 'Smackle' in Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World and 'Grace' in ABC’s Desperate Housewives. Most recently, he appeared as 'Clara' in AMC Network’s Dispatches From Elsewhere, opposite Jason Segal & Sally Field. He has been acting, singing, and dancing since he was a toddler and graduated from the Orange County School of the Arts in 2019.

I spoke with the three stars Miia Harris, Nayah Damasen and Ceci Balagot about how much fun they had working on this film.

Monster High The Movie Premieres on Thursday, October 6th, at 7pm ET/PT On Nickelodeon and Streams the Same Day on Paramount+