Molly Quinn is one busy young lady in Hollywood. She stars in the hit television series “Castle”, is part of a new film “Finding Hope” that hopes to raise awareness about teenage homelessness, and she is part of the hit Nickelodeon Series “Winx Club”. Molly is about to turn 18 and like any teenager, she has some reservations about this milestone. We asked her if she was excited about her upcoming birthday and she replied, “Oh my gosh! I ‘m scared to death.” I asked her why it is so scary an she replied, “I don’t like to see time fly by and the older I get the more responsibility I have to take on. I like having my mother around and I don’t know how I’ll manage if she ever leaves.” Molly and her mom live in California with her father still living back in Texarkana, Texas. She wants to enjoy her time as a teenager and is in no hurry to grow up. Knowing that some teens tend to have a tense relationship with their parents, we asked Molly about hers and she said, “My mom is awesome. She’s really here for me and our relationship has been strengthened by coming out here. I’m eternally grateful  for that.” On the subject of whether or not she has found “mister right” she said, “Oh Dear, Mister right? I haven’t even started thinking abut that yet…..life is to be enjoyed and I’m 17….I want to experience lots of different things and not get serious now.” Her dad seems to be a typical father as when we asked her about dating and the possibility of her mom leaving to go back home she said, “My dad says mom can’t leave until I’m 35 and that scares me too.” Next we talked “looks” and how Molly has gorgeous red hair and blue eyes and we asked if those features have helped her or hindered her in Hollywood. She replied, “It has definitely helped as being a natural “red head” makes you part of a very small market. I was lucky because when I came out the “in” thing was blue eyes and red hair so it definitely helped.”

Nickelodeon’s Winx Club is an animated tale of “girl power” as Molly described it. We asked what the main message of the show as and she said, “I have three neices and I love the fact that I can do something that shows them that you are strong by yourself,  but can be so much stronger when we work together with others.” She plays the character of “Bloom” an ordinary teenager that realizes she is a fairy of the Dragon Flame and leads the other fairies in a fight against evil. “Bloom” looks a lot like Molly with red hair and blue eyes and Molly commented, “it’s fun playing someone like…..gosh I wish I could be her…..isn’t that funny to want to be an animated character?” We think she is right here as there are lots of little girls dreaming that they were just like “Bloom.” You can check out Winx Club more by clicking  here.

Finding Hopeis a new pilot by writer/director Dianne Nammthat focuses on the problem of teen homelessness. This pilot looks at the 1 to 3 million teenage kids living on the streets in

the US alone. It tells the tale of Esmee, played by Molly Quinn, and how she has escaped from an abusive cult only to land in the hands of “pimps” trying to use her. She is on the run and has no where to go. We asked Molly how to recognize a troubled teen on the street and she said, “Evasiveness, and posture, seeing an older man with a younger girl. It’s a lot of subtle things that point to a teen being out on the street.” As for signs that your or a friend’s child might be having trouble at home she said, “Changes in behavior like staying away from home for days at a time, missing school, staying out late at night are all possible signs that you might need to talk to them about a possible problem.”  Molly said that the film also wants to encourage people to get involved by visiting places like Covenant House that has lots of programs to get troubled teens help with a place to stay and a new direction in life. She said from volunteering a little time to just go talk or even donations will help solve this problem and maybe change someone’s life.

Molly was a pleasure to interview. This humble and outgoing young lady is well on her way to making a difference with her life and is a star that will just get brighter in the future. We thank her for the interview and wish her all the best in the future.

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Castle kicked off its fourth season this week with a flurry of new revelations (Beckett knows about Castle’s three little words!) and a bigger flurry of new questions (who’s that Smith guy?) And yet there’s a part of me that yearns for the fun times of season 3 — you know, when all that happened between Castle and Beckett were teasing, and Alexis was just a little girl…

Well, the Castle season 3 DVD has just hit stores (you can buy it here, like, now!) and it contains, apart from all episodes of the past season, bonus clips and deleted scenes. More on that later. First, let’s talk to Castle, Beckett and Alexis — well, Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic and Molly Quinn — about what we can expect in the fourth season!

 

Nathan Fillion on why a Castle/Beckett relationship is unfamiliar territory:

Kate Beckett’s an authority figure, but Castle has never had an authority figure in his life. She’s an expert and, in a lot of ways, she’s smarter than he is. He’s not used to that. He really likes this woman, and yet there are all these complications. He doesn’t quite know how to tiptoe around, and he pushes too hard in areas where he ought to leave them alone.

Stana Katic on how Beckett deals with relationships:

I understand that she is a girl who doesn’t want to break up something that’s really great. She doesn’t want to break up a great friendship and a great working relationship. I think any girl in Beckett’s situation would probably make the same choice.

Molly Quinn on her similarities to Alexis Castle:

I would love to say that I’m like Alexis in that [I never seem to get in trouble], and I guess I am a bit — but I’m not totally like Alexis. One reason Alexis doesn’t rebel and do all these things is because she’s worried to death about her dad. He really scares her, especially right now when he’s involved in all these crazy murder cases.

Nathan Fillion on Castle’s relationship with Martha and Alexis:

I think one of the really neat things about Castle is that he’s not very macho. He’s not very swagger manly. He’s more boyish than anything as he’s never had an opportunity to grow up. At one point I remember — and this was one of those wonderful times when we could collaborate with the writers — Castle was apologizing to Alexis for blowing on something, and I came up with the lines saying, “Be patient with me. Be forgiving. I’ve never been a dad to a teenage daughter before.” And I think that part of Castle’s truth is that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s just doing the best he can, but he has a good heart.

Stana Katic on what she liked about Kate Beckett:

I like the way that Kate is imperfectly perfect. She doesn’t always make the right choices, but she will try to. When she doesn’t make the right choice, for whatever reason, she wants to get it right in the end … I like it when a person fails by accident, but they then try to step up to the plate in order to try and fix things. Kate always tries to do better. She always tries to improve.

Molly Quinn on being a role model to other teens:

I try to be a good example for girls my age because I know how difficult it is. There are so many distractions, like boys and parties, and it’s really difficult to compartmentalize what you want to do whilst having fun at the same time. I try to find a healthy balance. It’s tough, but I think I’ve got there now.

Yes, I promised deleted scenes! You’ll find this and more on the Castle season 3 DVD, again out in stores. Watch out for the second clip — it must be awkward for Castle having to explain those things to Papa Beckett.

 

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The new season of Castle airs at 10 p.m. Monday on ABC. We caught up with teen star Molly Quinn, who plays Alexis Castle on the show, which stars Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic. We talked to her about Castle and her new movie Finding Hope, about a teenage runaway who gets caught up in a polygamist cult.

What’s it like playing Alexis Castle?

Alexis is an incredible young woman. I am fascinated at how she is growing and the way she is facing challenges.

Do you two have anything in common?

Alexis and I are both easy to underestimate, but when we are challenged, we rise to the occasion.

What can we expect to see on the new season?

It is very exciting because each character is being studied deeper, and the relationships are getting more complex. The writers are pulling out all the stops.

What are the pros and cons of being in Hollywood?

A pro is all the advanced teachers of the arts and other people with similar interests. A con is being so far away from my extended family.

Tell us about “Finding Hope.”

We’re bringing awareness to both the issue of child brides in polygamous cults as well as the existence of one-three million teen runaways in the U.S., both of which very real problems in America.

Have you been to Miami?

I went to Miami as a child and had a great time. My friends and I are looking forward to a trip there next summer. We are excited about the beaches and the night life. We all love to dance.

On your iPod right now?

The Civil Wars, Danger Mouse, Steely Dan, ZZTop and The Raconteurs.

Future goals?

To remember to have fun as I learn and grow.

Hey everyone, should have posted this while ago but have been super busy. Anyway, tomorrow night at 10 pm on ABC the fourth season of Castle will be starting up right were season 3 left off. Be sure to tune in to see our very own Molly Quinn in action!

“Castle” fans who love Richard Castle’s smart, level-headed daughter can see her in a different light next week.

Molly Quinn, who plays Alexis Castle on the ABC hit that launches its fall season Monday, stars in the movie “Finding Hope” as a teenage runaway who gets caught up in a polygamist cult.

“Finding Hope” can be seen starting Monday as part of the New York Television Festival’s Independent Pilot Competition at Tribeca Theaters.

Directed by Dianne Namm, “Finding Hope” is one of the festival’s three dramatic selections. The winner gets a guaranteed pilot deal with IFC, FX or MTV.

Quinn says the real goal, though, is more ambitious: spotlighting the often invisible teenage runaway crisis.

“When I first heard about it, I thought it sounded like a Third World problem,” Quinn says. “It’s not. Right in this country, there are 1 to 3 million runaways, and most of them are living on the streets.”

Seemingly sympathetic cults are only one danger they face there, Quinn notes, and there are no easy solutions because we have neither a system nor facilities to help everyone.

“A lot of girls have left home many times,” she says. “They’re usually escaping abusive situations. It’s their Catch-22.”

“Finding Hope” can’t magically erase the problem, says Quinn, but it can raise awareness. “The first step,” she says, “is for people to realize what’s going on. If enough people open their hearts, we can start to help these girls.”

“Finding Hope” is a sequel to “The Sacrifice,” a short in which Quinn introduced the runaway Esmee several years ago.

While Esmee is far different from Alexis, Quinn says her approach as an actress is the same.

“When you get a role, you completely lose yourself in it,” she says. “That’s one of the great things about acting – letting yourself go.”

That’s fun when she’s playing Alexis, she says. In fact, she says, she and Nathan Fillion, who plays her father, “sometimes get yelled at on the set for making it more fun than work.”

Alexis, who could have been the incidental child character in an adult drama, has carved herself a central role in “Castle,” and Quinn praises the writers and producers for that.

“They took a chance on making a ‘good girl’ interesting,” she says. “That’s unusual.”

She also says Alexis could get even more interesting this year, because an edge could develop in her relationship with Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), the detective with whom her father is in love.

“She realizes that Beckett is obsessed and that this causes her father to follow Beckett into increasingly dangerous situations,” says Quinn.

“Her father is her only parent, so she sees this as jeopardizing her life, too.”

“Castle” fans will enjoy this season, she predicts.

“The writers have amped up all the characters,” she says, “exploring their relationships with each other.”

Wetpaint Entertainment: What can you tell us about Finding Hope?

Molly Quinn: Finding Hope is the story of a girl in a very bad situation. Her only hope us that she is generally representing all of the one to three million teen runaways and homeless that are on the streets every day. It shows what they go through and what they have to deal with, and how you can’t trust people because they can seem like they want to help you but it turns out they were just trying to manipulate you.

It’s about survival and how these kids really aren’t equipped to survive. And people really aren’t aware enough to get them to the right places that can help them.

Is this a sequel to The Sacrifice?

This is the progression of The Sacrifice because The Sacrifice ends where she’s been taken away into the polygamist cult and in Finding Hope we know that she’s inside that lifestyle now and she’s been plotting for over a year to run away and get out. And not just for herself, but to be able to come back and get the other kids out as well.

But then she finds herself on the street and everyone’s a predator, essentially. It’s hard to find a safe haven. I mean, she can’t go back and she’s not safe where she is. So what she’s in is the plight, like I said, of these real-life runaways.

Where can we see it?

You can see it at Tribeca Cinema on September 21 at 9:15 or September 23rd at 7:30 at the New York Television Festival. And the tickets are free, so I think people should definitely get down there. It was one of only three dramas chosen to be in the New York TV Festival Pilot Competition [Ed. note: Winners can score guaranteed development deals with IFC, FX, and MTV].

We’re all really excited about that, not because it gives me any exposure or anything like that, but because Finding Hope is Diane and I and everyone that was involved from as far away as Germany, it’s our way of bringing awareness to this very real problem.

[Reserve your FREE tickets here!]

You’ve been involved with these projects for four years now. What have you learned about the struggles these kids face?

Well, I’m working with Covenant House and when I went down there to show them the film, I was very nervous because I wanted to make sure that I was really portraying what these girls and boys had gone through and to make sure it was OK with them and to know if I was giving an honest portrayal of them.

And they responded very well, which was an extreme relief. And they were really thankful that their story was getting out because they know it’s not only dealing with them but all over the U.S.

I mean, a lot of people think that it’s just  something that happens in third world countries but in all 50 states in America, it’s happening. And people have to be aware of it and not turn such a blind eye toward it.

As far as Castle goes, Tamala Jones (Lanie Parish) was telling us that Alexis is going through “growing pains” this season. Can you relate?

Well, yeah, I can relate to that. I guess “growing pains” is a way you could put it, but she’s been forced into a situation and it’s something she never thought she would have to deal with in her entire life.

It’s like with any terrifying situation, you see people’s true colors. And what we see for Alexis, you know she’s at her wit’s end. So we’ll she if she’s back or if she holds it together. I mean, and then she has other teen issues, like what does she want to do with her life? You know, sometimes the more potential you have the more pressure there is to make the right choice.

And then we have the whole Ashley [Ken Baumann] issue and everything else, and on top of all that, she’s having to protect her dad [Nathan Fillion] when her dad is not helping her protect him.

Has Nathan started up with the pranks yet?

Oh, Nathan never stops goofing around but he’s always extremely professional. It’s always fun working with him, it’s a breath of fresh air.

And we’re all super excited about the next season. We’re going to really get everyone out of their comfort zones and the writers have really been amping up each character in exploring the relationships between each other.

So it’s very exciting and I hope you like it. I’m really excited that we’re going this way.

 

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Home > Events/Appearances > 2011 > 2011 Disney ABC Television Summer Press Tour

I’ve added episode stills of Molly from the season premiere of Castle, called “Rise.” You can find them in the gallery at the link below. Thanks to Jessica for these!

Home > Castle > Season Four > Episode Stills