Selena Gomez (left) and Joey King in RAMONA AND BEEZUS (Alan Markfield/20th Century Fox)

Ramona Quimby’s at it again! Her big imagination and nonstop energy hit the big screen July 23 in Ramona and Beezus. In the new movie, based on the best-selling books by Beverly Cleary, Ramona attempts to save her family’s home after her dad loses his job. Joey King, 10, stars as Ramona and Selena Gomez, 17, stars as big sister Beezus. Weekly Reader student reporter Peter B. recently sat down with Selena and Joey to get the scoop on water fights, schoolwork, and their new movie.
 
Peter B.: How are you similar to your character?
Selena Gomez: I would like to say that I’m responsible like Beezus. But I would like to think that I’m a little bit more like Ramona. She has that innocence of being able to not care about what other people think. I really admire that.
Joey King: I have a huge imagination like Ramona and I have a big personality like her. But there are some differences too. I don’t get into the crazy antics like she does … so it’s kind of fun to let loose and be crazy [while playing her].
 
PB: Which scene was the most fun to film?
SG: There’s a water fight scene that was so much fun. I was freezing, but it was fun.

Ramona Quimby (Joey King, front) and family enjoy backyard waterworks. (Alan Markfield/20th Century Fox)
 
PB: Which scene was the hardest to film?
JK: I had to have peas spit all over my face. I was very nervous about that scene so I had the director do it first [without the cameras rolling]. The machine that spit peas out at me … kind of hurt my chest a little bit. It was a pretty disgusting scene.
 
PB: Can you describe what it’s like to work on a movie set?
SG: You have all these really hot lights on you and you have all these crew members … watching your every move.
JK: The cameras are cool. They look kind of funny. The hot lights kind of bug you, but I really like working on a movie set. It’s great!
 
PB: How do you get your schoolwork done?
SG: Sometimes we would have to do it on the weekends. [Joey and I] would get to do it together, but they actually separated us at one point because we were always talking to each other.
JK: It was pretty hard to get three hours of school in every day because we were filming all the time.
 
PB: How did you get to know each other when you first started filming?
JK: [Selena and I] hung out a lot off set. We would go bowling. We would go to the movies. … That’s really how we connected. We would always talk.
 
PB: What do you like to do in your free time?
SG: I like to do absolutely nothing. I like to have sleepovers and watch movies.
JK: I like to roller skate.

Ramona and Beezus opens on Friday, July 23.