Interview with Tyne Stecklein

Tyne Stecklein, who made her memorable debut starring alongside one of her greatest mentors in Michael Jackson’s documentary film “This Is It”, has spent her life dedicating her mind, body, and soul to the art of dance. November 24th all of her hard work will pay off when she co-stars in the star-studded film “Burlesque” along with such greats as Cher, Kristen Bell, and Christina Aguilera. Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Tyne about her love for dancing and her upcoming roles.

Click here to purchase “This Is It” on DVD/Blu-Ray

Mike Gencarelli: Have you always wanted to be a dancer?
Tyne Stecklein: Yeah, I started dancing when I was three. My mom was a dance teacher. I have done it my whole life. I think by the time I was twelve that I knew it was what I wanted to do professionally.

MG: How did you end up mentoring with Michael Jackson?
TS: Well that was a dance audition I got through my dance agent. The audition was by request only. There was dancers from all over the world there. I think there was like 400 girls auditioning for it.

MG: How was it working on the film “This is It”?
TS: It was really amazing working with Michael (Jackson). While we were working with him, we knew that he was filming but it was originally just suppose to be for his own personal collection. We never thought it will be made into this giant feature film. He was great to everyone. He was really just such a nice guy, very professional and knew exactly what he wanted. He was very hands on with all of us working on the show. Just getting to work around him was just amazing.

MG: Tell us about your role of Jesse in this fall’s “Burlesque”?

TS: I play Jesse, she is one of the lead dancers at the “Burlesque” club. My character is pretty sweet and innocent but me and the other girls that work there are not a big fan of Christina Aguilera’s character when she arrives. We do not like her being a new person there. But the club is going downhill at this point so she ends up having this hidden talent that could help the save the club. One of my funny traits is my character wears big frame glasses throughout the movie, even when I am dancing so that was fun.

MG: What was it like working with Cher and Christina Aguilera?
TS: Yeah, it was amazing. I actually had worked with Cher before for a year in Vegas. I danced at her show in Caesar’s Palace. It was really cool for me to work with her again but in a different setting. That was her as an artist and this is her as an actress. She is incredible at both. It is really inspiring because I would also like to be an actress. It was really cool to be around such amazing talent like that. I had a little scene with her and Stanley Tucci, which was awesome to be apart of. Christina is talent is so many different areas as well and this is her first acting role. She is such a great job with it. That was really inspiring to be around as well.

MG: Tell us about your upcoming film “Friends with Benefits”?
TS: In that film, I play the role of Victoria. Aston Kutcher is one of the leads, he works on the production set of television show. The TV show is has a high school setting and my character is the head cheerleader. She is the brat of the group. I actually auditioned for that as a dancer and then the director Ivan Reitman asked me if I would read for a role as role. I got to do both things, which was really cool.

Click here to purchase “This Is It” on DVD/Blu-Ray