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Mumba Chats About Her First ‘Time’ Acting

18-year-old rising pop-star/songwriter, Samantha Mumba recently expanded her repertoire, making her feature film debut opposite Guy Pearce in the upcoming film, “The Time Machine.” Samantha was kind enough to chat with The Muse about her crossover to film, dispel some rumors, and discuss her biggest addiction.

MUSE: This is your feature film debut. What made you choose this film as opposed to something else?

Samantha Mumba: It was never a deliberate decision to actually do a movie. I was approached to do a screen test, didn’t think I was actually going to get the part — didn’t really think that much about why I was actually screen testing. It wasn’t until I got the role that I thought, “Oh my God, what am I going to do now?” I read it; I loved the script once I read it anyway, but it wasn’t like a concrete decision like, “Hey, I’d like to do a movie.”

MUSE: Did you have to go through any training? [for stunts]

SM: Not really. Because I was running everyday I was definitely getting more fit and everything. It was good fun. I mean there was rock climbing, but that’s pretty much the only training that I did. It’s more you just go and try it and see how you get on, and if it works it works, and it did.

MUSE: How did it come about that you got to act opposite your little brother in the film?

SM: Because when I was cast in the role they still hadn’t cast someone to play my little brother, and then when they found out I had a brother who turned out to be the perfect age, they said they’d give him a go and see how he was, and he was really good. It was nice to have a familiar face on set.

MUSE: How did you enjoy working with Guy Pearce?

SM: He was very professional and very good at what he does.

MUSE: If I can sneak in a music question, do you have any upcoming projects?

SM: Yes, I’ve just finished my second album. I was in Sweden for about a month doing that, and that’s probably going to be out here this summer.

MUSE: Are you planning on going on tour for that at all?

SM: Yeah, well I’m touring the U.K. I’m not sure if I’ll be coming here. I do the Jingle Balls — do you know what that is? — when all the radio stations put on the big shows, like New York, L.A., all over. I did a couple of those last time, so I’ll probably do something like that again.

MUSE: You’re up for a Grammy tomorrow night. Will you be attending?

SM: No, I won’t be there. I’m going to Orlando tonight to promote the movie, but I’m excited. It’s for the remix of “Baby Come Over” because the version that’s on the radio here wasn’t actually the original. So yeah, it’s very flattering.

MUSE: A lot of pop singers gone actors have experienced a lukewarm reception. Does that worry you at all? Is it ever in the back of your head?

SM: No, no, not at all. I mean, like I said, I’m not just an actress, and for what I’ve done, it can’t hurt me. I had a great time doing it. I had a great experience, and I think it’s a fantastic movie. So if I never do another movie again I still have something to show my grandchildren. You know, “Hey, that’s me there.” (laughs) I’m not thinking about it that much to be honest. I mean people will think what they want. If they want to go see it, go see it. If not, don’t.

MUSE: Getting back to the movie, what was the most difficult thing about making it?

SM: It was all quite enjoyable, and it wasn’t particularly stressful at all. The only thing I was a little bit worried about was the language.

MUSE: Yeah, what was it you were speaking?

SM: (laughs) The Eloi language, and it’s called the Lex, and it’s not like it was just gobbledygook, so I could kind of say anything. It did actually have meaning, so I had to learn what it meant. I mean there weren’t even subtitles, so when you’re saying it you’re trying to make the audience understand by, I don’t know, by like your voice going up at the end, your facial expressions and stuff. So that I had a little bit of a problem with, and there was a lady on the side watching the whole time to make sure we didn’t slip any fake words in there. (laughs) So that was the only thing.

MUSE: Was that language created just for the film?

SM: Yeah, yeah it was amazing. I mean we could have been saying anything really. The film was plotting every single last detail.

MUSE: What about some of the sets? Were they difficult to work around?

SM: Yeah, I mean they built a 70 foot cliff face, so that was- 70 feet high, so that took a little bit to get used to, and we couldn’t have harnesses because they couldn’t be disguised in what we were wearing. So once you got used to that it was fine.

MUSE: I hear that you’re recording career was launched after you bluffed your way into a Dublin club pretending to be a New York recording artist.

SM: No, actually my press office had to make that up because I was only fifteen at the time. It was giving the club really bad press because they were letting an underage in. So they had to make that up so they wouldn’t hate me.

MUSE: I’m going to go with totally superficial question and ask you about clothes because I know you have a lot of great clothes in your videos. Do you have any favorite designers?

SM: I love Roberta Ferilli. I’m not really into big designers. I’m a total shop-aholic, but I don’t like going home with like two bags that cost thousands of dollars when I could have loads of bags with loads of clothes. I love shopping on Melrose. One of the things that attracted me to L.A. was the shopping actually. Beverly Center, Melrose Avenue, fantastic for shopping. I love Sarah Fontaine jeans. I love Abercrombie ‘ Fitch. Just the normal shops here because they’re so different from the ones we have at home.

MUSE: If you could time travel backwards to any date in time, when would it be?

SM: That’s the most popular question. I really wouldn’t want to. I’m a complete chicken like that. I don’t think I would.

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