You might remember Blake Michael as the shy drummer skipping soccer practice in 'Lemonade Mouth,' but now he's the suave Tyler James on Disney Channel's 'Dog with a Blog.' On the show, Tyler's family is dealing with more than the typical issues that arise when you have stepsiblings. They have a talking dog -- who has his own blog! We caught up with Blake on the perks of being part of the Disney Channel family, hilarious backstage pranks, and what you can look forward to on the show.
J-14: How did you get involved with 'Dog with a Blog?'
Blake Michael: I've done a movie called 'Lemonade Mouth' for Disney Channel, which was fun to do. I actually got discovered through an open casting call where anyone could audition. From there, I kind of entered the whole Disney Channel family and they gave me some great opportunities. I auditioned for a ton of stuff and 'Dog with a Blog' was just the right fit for me.
J-14: What's it like on set? Are there any funny stories from behind the scenes?
Blake: Well, me and the girls, G. Hannelius and Francesca Capaldi, we have so much fun on and off set. We have such crazy stuff that goes on. We prank people on set. We'll wear stick-on mustaches sometimes just randomly. Or I'll talk in an accent the entire day, even when we rehearse. Everyone's family here and we play a lot of pranks on each other and joke around all the time.
J-14: Who is the easiest to prank and who is the one who comes up with the best ones?
Blake: Well, I can tell you that the easiest person to prank on set is our schoolteacher. Her name is Fayna. Actually, me and G. did this ongoing prank -- I never told anyone about this yet. I dipped my hand in a cup of water and then I used my fingers to make it seem like I was sneezing on someone, so I splattered the water on the back of their neck. G. discreetly filmed and I did that to a ton of people. We did it to our set teacher and we did it over and over and over and [at first] she didn't realize that it was a prank. She thought that I was actually sick. We have this all on video and she got really mad when she realized it was a joke.
J-14: Is there something coming up on the show that you're really excited for everyone to see?
Blake: Well, there's actually an episode coming up that you'll see somewhere in the beginning of the new year and you find out a very interesting and surprising secret about my character, Tyler. I'm sure it'll shock everybody and it changes everything, so the viewers definitely won't see it coming.
J-14: If you could give our readers, who maybe aren't watching yet, three reasons to watch the show, what would they be?
Blake: Watch 'Dog with a Blog' to get a good laugh, to see me, of course, and to see an awesome, awesome talking dog who is the cleverest, most awesome dude in the world. He's really, really adorable and cute and it's really cool seeing what kind of tricks he has up his sleeve.
Have you seen Blake Michael in 'Dog With a Blog?'