College - BEHIND THE SCENES

"College"
BEHIND THE SCENES
by Tim Nasson
August 24, 2008

Watch "College" Trailer

About the "College" Stars; Their Boring Bios

DRAKE BELL

Nurturing an impressive body of work that encompasses film, television and music, Drake Bell is positioning himself as one of Hollywood’s most promising young talents as his career continues to evolve with exciting and challenging projects.

Drake recently starred in the David Zucker produced Weinstein film Superhero, a spoof on the popular Spiderman films. Drake portrays the title character “Dragonfuly.” He next stars in College, a new comedy directed by Deb Hagen.

Bell has also signed a deal with Virtus Pictures giving him active producing and starring roles in the upcoming film The Miracle of Santa Rosa. Other projects in the works for Drake include the voice of Butch Hare in The Weinstein Company’s Unstable Fables, and the animated film The Nutty Professor.

Drake is best known for his role in the hit Nickelodeon series “Drake and Josh.” His performance made him the most popular personality in the 9-12 age group, according to Nielsen ratings. Before appearing in his own series, Drake starred on Nickelodeon’s sketch-comedy series “The Amanda Show” with Amanda Bynes and in the HBO film The Jack Bull playing John Cusack’s son. His other television credits include guest starring roles on such prime time hits as “Seinfeld,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Home Improvement” and “The Pretender.”

Film credits include starring opposite Rene Russo and Dennis Quaid in the Paramount film Yours, Mine and Ours. He reunited with Cusack in High Fidelity playing a younger version of Cusack’s character and played opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, playing the memorable role of Jesse Remo, the kid who tells Cruise exactly where to go. His other film credits include The Neon Bible, Drifting School and Fresh Paint.

Drake is also an accomplished musician. He toured extensively in support of his indy release “Telegraph” on which he wrote, performed and produced all the tracks. Recognizing his immense talent, Universal Motown signed him and released “It’s only Time” in 2006. He composed all the music his character performs on “Drake and Josh,” including the show theme song. Drake is also credited for composing the score for Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101.” He evolved into this musician-composer of rock, pop and ballads after winning private music lesions with The Who’s Roger Daltrey and a co-starring role and in the film Changing Destiny at the age of twelve.

Drake recently wrapped his tour with Aly, AJ and Corbin Bleu for Nextfest, said to have been the hottest teen tour in recent memory. Drake continues to tour and is working on his next album due for release this year.

Drake currently resides in Los Angeles, is an avid Beatles fan and has an extensive collection of Vinyl Beatles albums.

KEVIN COVAIS

Kevin Covais stars right along side Drake Bell, Andrew Caldwell and Haley Bennett in MGM’s teen comedy, College released nationwide in theaters August 29th. The film, directed by Deb Hagan, also stars Gary Owens and Ryan Pinkston. “From a screenplay by Dan Callahan and Adam Ellison, “College “centers on three high school seniors who have the wildest weekend of their lives when they visit a nearby college campus as prospective freshmen,” says The Hollywood Reporter.

Kevin is best known one of the top 11 finalists from Fox network’s “American Idol.” He was so well received that upon exiting the show, he was a guest on "Live with Regis and Kelly", “The Today Show", "The Ellen Show" and has made numerous appearances performing with past “American Idol” finalists Melissa McGee, Anthony Federov, Constantine Maroulis and Season Two Winner, Ruben Studdard.

A native of Levittown, New York Kevin began singing at the age of 10. Over the past seven years he has performed in a number of choirs, choruses and chorales and has been featured in his school musical and comedy productions. For the past two years, Kevin has been selected to sing with New York's all-State Chorus. He has entered and won several local talent competitions, including "Reach for the Stars" in 2003. Covais still plans on pursuing his music, but his long term goal is to one day be a sports newscaster.

At the young age of 18, Kevin devotes much of his free time to raising the level of awareness of diabetes and the challenges facing diabetics. He has performed at fund-raisers and diabetic support groups all over the country. Presently Kevin resides in Los Angeles.

ANDREW CALDWELL

Andrew Caldwell is one of the funniest young rising stars in Hollywood. Currently, Andrew has a recurring role on Disney Channel's hit show “Hannah Montana” as “Thor”, Jackson's hilariously funny friend from Minnesota.

Recently, Andrew starred as Bubba Bixby opposite Devon Werkheiser, Tim Meadows and Mindy Sterling in Shredderman Rules, Nickelodeon's first original made for television movie. The movie is based on a series of best selling children's books.

Andrew's other film credits include: The Transformers with Josh Duhamel, Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny with Jack Black, My Best Friend’s Girl with Dane Cook and Kate Hudson, All About Steve with Sandra Bullock, and Drillbit Taylor with Owen Wilson. His television credits include: “My Name is Earl,” “Medium,” “The Bernie Mac Show” and “Punk’d” on MTV.

HALEY BENNETT

They dynamic young actress gained world-wide recognition as the star of the Warner Brothers film, Music and Lyrics. Haley beat out over 600 girls for role of Cora Corman in which she played a pop singer opposite Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. Like the true artist she is, Haley effortlessly transitions from actress to singer, performing all her own songs in the film. She can soon be seen playing a lead role in the film, College, opposite Drake Bell. She recently completed shooting the lead in the dramatic psychological thriller, She Lived, opposite Chace Crawford, for director Mickey Liddell which is being edited and submitted to film festivals. In addition, Haley is shooting a lead role in the feature film, Marley And Me for director, David Frankel, opposite Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston.

A talented singer, Haley is also in the process of recording her debut album. Although she has been singing her whole life, Haley’s voice seems to resonate beyond her 18 years. Her sound has often been compared folk/pop singer Jewel who unsurprisingly is one of Haley’s biggest influences.

Haley Bennett was born in Fort Myers, Florida and grew up in Naples; she was destined to be a star. During a trip to Los Angeles with her mother in 2005 Haley was discovered by a music producer who quickly put the wheels in motion to start her new career. Just a short while later Haley booked her first feature film and began recording her album. She says that with life as her stage, she’s been performing since day one and now it’s time for the world to see Florida’s best-kept secret.

With both Aubrey Hepburn and Jewel as her mentors, Haley is surely on her way to becoming an inspiration to both young singers and actresses all over the world.

When Haley finds time in her hectic schedule, she enjoys songwriting, writing poetry, singing, reading, boxing, working out and hanging out at the beach.

Haley currently resides in Los Angeles.

NICK ZANO

Born in Nutley, NJ, Nick Zano's passion for the movies began when he first watched Goodfellas at the age of 12. He had long dreamed of becoming a Navy Seal, but all that changed in one afternoon at the cinema. Shortly after that, Zano and his family moved south to West Palm Beach, Florida, where he finished his high school education. Throughout his high school years he was active in both the drama and TV production departments. In his junior year, Zano and his closest friends produced a weekly television program at Wellington High School. The wildly humorous and offbeat skit comedy show landed Zano in detention quite often, where he would kill time by writing a series of short films. Those shorts, which he starred in and helped to direct, made their way to the JVC Universal Film Competition semifinals 3 years in a row.

Shortly after high school, he was offered a position with Prelude Pictures (Lost in Space, Black Dog) in Television and Feature Film Development. During that time he also acted as Associate Producer on the “World AIDS Day TV special, Living Positive,” hosted by Lou Diamond Phillips. In June 2001, Zano made the move to LA where he began the daily grind of auditioning. His quick wit and charming sense of humor immediately made him a favorite among casting directors, who would call him in for reads even when the character description was totally opposite to his looks.

Not long after, he landed a covetable assignment as an MTV correspondent on its cinema-themed talk program “Movie House,” and later on the makeover-themed reality show “Why Can't I Be You?” He then went on to play 'Vince' on the WB hit "What I Like About You." Zano's cinematic breakthrough arrived in 2008 with a plum role in the teen comedy, College. The same year, he also signed on for the fourth installment of the long-running Final Destination franchise.

RYAN PINKSTON

Ryan Pinkston is best known for working on the 20th Century Fox hit show “Quintuplets”, where he starred as ‘Patton’, the smooth talking, girl crazy Quint who was always trying to score with the girls. Others may know Ryan from the MTV hit show “Punk’d” where his convincing attitude and straight-laced humor made the show’s most outrageous pranks believable, leaving celebrities stunned and audiences hooked. His impressive work on both shows led to several other opportunities, most notably the lead role in New Line’s “Full of It”. He also starred in MGM’s feature “Soul Plane”, procured a holding deal with MTV for his own show, “The Ryan Pinkston Thing”, performed a cameo in the Miramax feature Bad Santa, and guest starred on “Veronica Mars”, “Teachers” and “How I Met Your Mother."

Ryan’s other exciting projects demonstrate his versatility and amazing skills. In Miramax’s blockbuster franchise Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, he starred as the tough character Arnold, in which he gets a chance to display his martial arts techniques. Already a veteran competitor on the Karate circuit, Ryan was a white belt at the young age of four, but currently holds a Second Degree black belt in Wushu Kung Fu, a First Degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do Karate, and World Titles in the U.S., France, Canada, and Central America. He has competed in many cities, including Quebec, Guatemala City, Washington, D.C, and New York City. In March 2002, he competed before 25,000 spectators at the famous French sports complex, “The Bercy.”

GARY OWEN

Gary Owen has been entertaining America for over a decade with his side-splitting comedy. Having performed in all of the major comedy rooms across America, including The Laugh Factory Hollywood, The Comedy Store, all of the Improvs, numerous Funny Bones and Punchlines, and Caroline’s in New York, Gary is one of America’s most loved comedians. He has been seen in such films as Little Man with the Wayans Brothers, Rebound, and Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy.

Owen was always the class clown growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. After high school, he got serious and enlisted in the Navy. He was chosen for the prestigious Presidential Honor Guard. However, spinning rifles and carrying flags for George Bush and Bill Clinton turned out to be the wrong job for a funny guy. "I was always smiling," he remembers, "I got yelled at for smiling all the time."

After leaving his ceremonial position, Owen became a military police officer at the Naval Installations on Coronado Island in San Diego, but he says he was too much of a pushover to be a cop. Owen only made two arrests in three years, but during that time he embarked on his true calling: stand-up comedy. One night while hanging with his service buddies, Owen worked up the nerve to go at a nightclub. After only a year of doing stand-up, he was named "Funniest Serviceman in America."

Owen continued doing stand-up in San Diego, and had a huge African American fan base. He went onto win the "Funniest Black Comedian in San Diego" contest. That led to his first big gig at the Comedy Store in Hollywood.

Then in July of 1997 he auditioned for BET’s “ComicView”. Two appearances on the multi-cultural comedy showcase won him his own one-hour "Grandstand" show. At the end of the season he was selected from the year’s four "Grandstanders" to be the host. Not only is Owen the only white man to have ever hosted “Comicview”, but he is the only white on-air personality the network has ever had.

Owen has produced two stand-up DVDs, Breakin’ Out The Park and this year’s Urban Legend.