Devon Werkheiser: Ned/Shred

Nickelodeon recently ran the Ned's Declassified TV movie, as well as the Shredderman Rules TV movie, which BOTH star our friend Devon Werkheiser! We recently sat down with the busy guy to talk all things Ned/Shred and more.

Teenmag: What's the Ned's TV movie about?
Devon Werkheiser: It's a big one! We finally leave the school for the first time and we go on a field trip to some gardens and a museum. There's a whole bunch of new sets, which is really cool. It's when we find out whether Ned will be with Suzie or Moze.

Teenmag: Did you have any idea who he was going to pick before you read the script?
D.W.: I hadn't talked about it with anyone, but we all had our speculations.

Teenmag: What was different about filming a movie than a regular episode?
D.W.: Well, the movie took two weeks -- normally it's only a week -- and we were way busier just because we had so much more to shoot. Plus we left the set, so that was new. We had gone to different places before but it was to film the outside of our school, but for this we actually went to a place called Descanso Gardens (in La Canada, CA). So to actually leave the set and film on location was really new and was cool. I liked doing that -- to get out of the studio and get some fresh air.

Teenmag: Did it feel like you were really on a school field trip, since you were out of your "normal" space?
D.W.: Exactly, yeah! Going to set every day was like going to school, so getting to go to a new place was just like a field trip.

Teenmag: Do you have any pet peeves about Ned?
D.W.: It's not a pet peeve, but it's the thing that my friends joke about with me the most -- the nod and smile. That is Ned. If you could describe Ned in a gesture, it would be nodding and smiling. I don't really have a problem with it because it was never in the script not to smile. I did it. But looking back, I'm like, "Wow, I did that in every episode."

Teenmag: What's one thing you can tell me about one of your castmates?
D.W.: Daniel, who plays Cookie, is actually an unbelievable rapper. He's really talented musically. Cookie is a nerdy character, but that's not Daniel at all. He can rap, it's really cool.

Teenmag: And how about your character in Shredderman Rules, what's he like?
D.W.: The character's name is Nolan Byrd and he's a computer geek. He's a mild-mannered kid. He doesn't have a lot of friends and he's very introverted. He gets picked on by this bully and finally decides this can't happen anymore. It's not going to be like this for the rest of my life; I'm going to stand up to him. So he creates this alter ego and makes a Website called ShreddermanRules.com, and gets back at the bully through the site. He eventually saves the town and gets the girl. He becomes a hero and transforms.

Teenmag: Was it fun stepping out of Ned's shoes for a while?
D.W.: It was indeed. I had a blast doing it. The producers were very adamant on that, that this was a whole new character and not Ned. They said they had to get me away from Ned because they didn't want it to be seen as a spin-off of Ned's. It was very fun. I loved playing him. It was fun going in and playing a nerdy kid, as opposed to Ned.

Teenmag: Did you ever have to deal with a bully when you were in school?
D.W.: I've never dealt with bullies. I wouldn't say I'm a big kid because I've actually always been kind of short in my class. I've gotten taller now. But I was always short in elementary school and I'm kind of scrawny. But I never got bullied. I have a lot of friends and a lot of self-confidence, and I guess a bully isn't going to pick on a kid who is self-confident. I just tried not to have any problems with anyone. You already have so much else to worry about in school, then you have to worry about if someone is going to hurt you.

Teenmag: What have you been doing with your spare time?
D.W.: I play guitar and I've been meeting with record labels, actually. And I've been recording demo tracks, which is really fun. So that's been going really good. I play a lot of video games, which is fun. I have the Wii right now and "Wario Wear: Smooth Moves" is my favorite game right now.