Meet Ella Grace Helton from ABC'S "United We Fall"
Ella is the 7-year-old Florida native actress with a huge personality playing the lovable and quirky Emily Ryan on ABC'S "United We Fall" alongside comedic greats JaneCurtin, Will Sasso, Christina Vidal and Guillermo Diaz. She has been in 14 commercials, including for Disney, Marriott and Habro and runs her own business, Ella Bella Beads, a bead bracelet endeavor where proceeds help raise money to combat child hunger. Enrolled at youth performing arts studio at age 2, Ella started in musical theatre classes and performed in summer youth stage productions. It eventually led her to being cast as Lulu in the Broadway tour of Waitress by the age of 5 and now she's represented by Paradigm Talent Agency and Schuller Talent LA/NY Kids. We had the pleasure of chatting with Ella about the upcoming series premier, future projects and more. Take a look.
When did you first showed interest in acting and performing? And why?
”When I did my show at The Viera Studio, I just felt so happy. That’s why my teacher had to literally pull me off the stage. For Broadway, I like seeing all the people in the audience. For movies and shows, I just like knowing I can entertain people and make them laugh or feel good.” Her Mom explains that at the local performing arts studio, The Viera Studio for the Performing Arts, her first time on stage, she had just turned 3 and while it was supposed to be a dance routine to “Let It Go”, she not only danced but belted out the song, eliciting quite the audience response. There’s a video of her on YouTube titled “34 seconds of Ella stage awesomeness” where you can see her teacher escorting her off stage because she wouldn’t stop bowing and waving.
Can you tell us a little bit on the audition process that led up to getting the role in ABC’s “United We Fall”?
Ella’s mom explains “Were in LA for our first pilot season so Ella got to audition and go to callback then producers’ session in person. We heard everyone cheering for Ella when she came out of the producers’ session, it was wild. We were just so happy she made such a good impression. We had no idea what it would lead to.”
What’s your favorite thing about playing Emily? How would you describe it?
”She always causes mischief, and it’s hilarious. In the show, there’s one little sister Lulu, but in real life, there’s really three (the identical twin girls who play Lulu actually have a brother and are part of triplets) and when I’m alone with them, I feel like a true big sis. Being Emily is too much fun to even put into words.”
Any special moments on set that you can share with us?
”I like magic tricks with the director Mark and Big Bill Till with Big Will. I made up a character called Big Bill Till, and Will does it in a funny voice and makes everyone crack up.”
Did you have any special moments on the set of “United We Fall” that you can share with all of us?
”I like magic tricks with the director Mark and Big Bill Till with Big Will. I made up a character called Big Bill Till, and Will does it in a funny voice and makes everyone crack up.”
We understand you also have a movie coming out, where you worked alongside Adam Sandler. That’s very exciting! Can you tell us a little bit about that?
“I had a great time on set, Adam is really funny and I can’t want to see us in the movie.” Hubie Halloween is a halloween comedy coming to Netflix, no release date yet, but we expect some time before Halloween.
How was spending a lot of time in Los Angeles? Did you like it better than your hometown in Florida? "It was so fun, I loved hiking and seeing the beautiful ocean. Once I even saw a dolphin. And I love the beautiful animals there, and the Santa Monica Pier is my favorite place in the Milky Way Galaxy. The dragon ride that goes woosh is my most favorite."
Are you excited to see yourself on tv?
"I'm excited to see myself on TV because I'm going to be on TV! It's going to go around the country and I just think it's amazing to see a 6-year-old on this big TV show. I had to learn a lot of lines and I was pretty young to do all those lines in those few days."
What was your first ever professional job?
First paying job was a direct booking for a pool safety vest, photo is on the product packaging. First commercial was a direct book for Brusters Ice Cream. “I liked that job because I got to eat ice cream.”
When you’re not working, what do you like to do for fun?
"I love playing and doing tricks on my aerial hammock. Also mountain biking with my family, growing food in our new tower garden, singing and dancing. I like that we're here at home together as a family (thanks to the coronavirus)."
What do you want to be when you grow up?
“I want to be an animal saver. An animal saver is a person who saves animals from the wild or stray pets and they take them to the vet, take pictures, post them so people can look at them and if they want, come over and get their pet,For the wild animals, they release them back into the wild when they are ok to leave. Also a baker so I can make delicious cookies for my kids when I grow up.”
Is there any specific role you’d like to play one day?
"Cinderella because she's my favorite Disney princess. Cinder- ELLA!"
You can follow Ella and her promising journey on the following platforms:
instagram: @adventuresofellagrace
Twitter: @EllaGraceHelton
Youtube: bit.ly/2nxpO9m
Facebook: /adventuresofellagrace
IMDB: Ella Grace Helton