Paige Hurd "Little Miss Sunshine"
Writer: Saudia Harris, The IDEAL Magazine
It has been said that the sun always shines in California, but lately the sun has been shimmering a little bit brighter because of the introduction of Hollywood’s newest young starlet, Paige Hurd. Perhaps she sparkles so brightly because she’s no rookie to the game, having acted and modeled since she was three. Maybe it’s because she’s been getting’ her shine on with the convincing way she plays the sweet and sassy Tasha on “Everybody Hates Chris”. Could it be the way she held her own as she played Vanessa alongside industry greats such as Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard and Della Reese in the 2005 hit Beauty Shop. Whatever it is, she is certainly burning up the screen and blazing a trail.
Despite having such a large resume at 15, Paige is rather, sweet, approachable, and polite. You won’t ever find her name smeared across a tabloid like some other members of young Hollywood. Instead, like most teenagers her age, on her downtime, you can find Paige playing basketball, watching movies, or catching some rays at the beach. She considers “music her life” and gushed about how much she loves artists such as Alicia Keys, Keyshia Cole, Lil Al B. Sure! and T.I., whom she considers “the best person in the world to listen to.” And with her sweet 16th birthday quickly approaching and a “Hollyhood” themed star-studded bash in the works, Paige continues to be all smiles. Keep your eye on Paige because her future is so bright, she has all of Hollywood wearing shades
IDEAL: So I heard you have a sweet 16 B-Day party coming up. Are you excited?
PH: I’m really excited but right now I’m really stressed because its like May and I’ve been planning a lot. And its really hard getting a list together, especially when you have too many people. So I’m mostly excited and overwhelmed with the list
IDEAL: So can you tell me a little about your party plans and what you are planning for the big day?
PH: Well our theme is gonna be “Hollyhood” and we’re gonna do a big big party. Other plans, I’m deciding if we are gonna have like a lot of special, surprise celebrity guests coming and its gonna be like red carpet and camera and like different picture booths and stuff and performances and like, its just gonna be fun.
IDEAL: Is there any special gift you are hoping to get?
PH: Yeah, I’m actually hoping that I get… I already asked for a car for Christmas and I’m not even gonna try to outdo it with another car, but I want a… I want something really expensive and nice. I haven’t thought of it yet. I was actually thinking a gun but that’s not appropriate, just to keep myself protected.
IDEAL: So outside of acting, what do you like to do for fun?
PH: I like to play basketball, umm I like to just shop I guess, go to the beach, tan, my feet need tanning, and um.. I love to got the movies and just do a movie marathon where you just stay at the movies all day.
IDEAL: What’s the latest movie that you’ve seen?
PH: The last movie I saw was, Juno, well on DVD. You mean like in the theater?
IDEAL: Either or it doesn’t matter…(ME)
PH: Well last week I watched Juno and Hotrod on DVD and then in the movie theater, ohhh its been a while, I think it was umm.. what was that movie with Martin Lawrence “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” and the Raven Symone movie “Road Trip” ohh and I just saw “A Plum Summer” with Neeta actually. Yeah, we went to the premiere of that.
IDEAL: So do you like listening to music?
PH: Yeah, music is my life
IDEAL: Who are some of your favorite musical artists?
PH: I love T.I. he is like the best person in the world to listen to. And I like Alicia Keys, Keyshia Cole and Landon Brown and Lil B. Sure (son of Al B Sure) and Al B. Sure. I like Earth Wind and Fire, I like a lot of old school stuff, like I was raised by that stuff. My dad raised me by that. And, I’m not gonna lie, I like Hannah Montana!
IDEAL: I heard you are in the ATL group “Small Change’s” video “Don’t be Shy”. What is your role in this video?
PH: The youngest brother of the group, Peyton, I played his main girl. And the singer Shani, I played one of her backup main girls who was dancing with her and just you know, flirting with the boys. But I played Peyton's main girl.
IDEAL: Did you have fun on the video shoot?
PH: Yeah, that was a lot of fun. It was only 2 days, but it felt like it was a week, it was fun.
IDEAL: You play Tasha on “Everybody Hates Chris”, how’s that going for you?
PH: Its going good. I just started coming back and stuff and I’ve done two episodes and the first one they were, basically Tisha Campbell Martin plays my mom now and then the last one I just did was really weird because I had to tell Imani, she plays Tanya, why boys like her and about wearing bras. And they had to make my chest bigger, so it was really weird.
IDEAL: What are some of the distinguishing characteristics about Tasha? What type of person is Tasha on “Everybody Hates Chris”?
PH: Well, the first two seasons I was on there, she was very sweet, quite, innocent little girl, now every since the kissing scene, she’s a little, like outrageous. She’s bad now. That’s what I would say like she just kinda, secretly undercover bad. Like she’s just bad.
IDEAL: Do you identify with any of the characteristics of Tasha either before the kiss or after the Kiss?
PH: Before, because I can be quiet, until you get to know me.
IDEAL: Outside of acting, what is important to you?
PH: My family.
IDEAL: Neeta mentioned to me that you are involved in a charity right now that involves children with cancer. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
PH: My little brother had cancer, or he has, I’m not sure if he’s in remission right now with it and I often do charity events to support children, especially anything dealing with cancer. I did the “Kids for Kids" walk. And this weekend, I’ll be going to the “Britianna Henderson’s Walk” and she passed away a couple of years ago. And basically its walking for her and other children who have cancer and donating money and whatever you can and just giving out awards.
IDEAL: That’s very admirable. So do you see yourself as a role model for teen girls?
PH: I hope so. I think so, yeah.
