Young Adult Magazine sat down with Actress Jessica Marcia Garia for an exclusive interview. Garcia talks about her role as Willow on Disney’s Liv and Maddie and what makes up her character. Enjoy!

Willow has been such a blessing in my life. I have been playing her for almost three years now, and it has been a blast. Willow is a tough girl who loves sports, Joey Rooney, and her friends. She has the confidence of Lebron James, and enough romance in her heart to be her own Nicholas Sparks novel. She is loud and in charge but she would do absolutely anything for her friends. I love playing her because she always goes for what she wants and doesn’t take “no” for an answer. 

One of my favorite episodes for Willow was one that aired a few weeks ago, called “Rate-A-Rooney”. In this episode, the girls of Ridgewood High are being rated on their looks from 1-10 by a group of guys, that Willow coins the “Jerktourage”. They rate Willow a 5 and she is devastated. It is the first time that the audience sees Willow being vulnerable, and not the tough jock. I love that we showed this side of her, because so many kids see that there is a “tough” girl in their class and they think she has no feelings, but most of the time, the “tough” girl is going thru the hardest time. Willow admits that she is hurt and actually wants guys to think she’s pretty, so she changes everything about her look. She puts on a dress, heels, makeup, everything. But at what cost? She lost who she was, to seek the approval of people that don’t truly care about her. She learns this by talking to her friends and listening to an empowering song by Liv Rooney, called “What a Girl Is”. She then goes back to being the real Willow. What I love most about this episode, is that she turns back to being herself and gets rated a 5, again. She doesn’t change back and all of a sudden the bullies go away, she changes back and realizes that bullies are always going to be there, but she chooses how they affect her. She becomes a much stronger person, and falls even more in love with who she is. Willow is about to embark on an exciting new journey on Liv and Maddie, and I am really excited for our fans to check it out!

If I could go back and be in any movie, it would have to be any of the installments of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I grew up watching these movies and being obsessed! When I was a kid, there were not many actors that looked like me on tv or film. So, I would take my favorite scripts off the internet and write my own parts in them. I actually took the “Fellowship of the Ring” script and wrote an entire character for myself from beginning to end! I still have it, but I think I’d freak out if anyone read it now!

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