Playing queen of the camp
By Chris Simon

Photo by Chris Simon Stroud resident Tonya Harper is currently starring in King of the Camp, a YTV original movie. The movie premiered Sunday.

Tonya Harper's first movie role took her out of a comfort zone.

The Stroud resident is currently starring as the mean girl Samantha in the YTV original movie King of the Camp. Harper's character does a lot of bad things, accompanied by her posse of 'ducklings'. Together, the group picks on one of the lead characters, a kitchen staffer played by Justin Stadnyk, she said.

"He ends up falling for a girl, one of the councillors. She's very sweet and humble," said Harper, a poster of the movie sitting beside her on a coffee table. "There's a divide, because he's kitchen staff and she's a councillor. They're not allowed to be together. The story's about how their relationship works with that line between them."

The Canadian musical premiered on Sunday. It takes place at a snobby summer camp near Orillia, and has something for all age groups to enjoy, said Harper.

"It takes place at a camp, a rich kids' camp," she said. "A lot of the councillors and kids that go there are stuck up. My character, Samantha, is a rich girl from the city. She's a very powerful character who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. She's not very nice."

Harper says the movie has a positive message, by discouraging bullying. In one instance, Stadnyk has an opportunity to respond to the mean spirited tactics of Harper, but refuses. By doing so, Stadnyk shows he is mature and strong, said Harper.

"Whoever has gone to a summer camp can relate to it, (but) it also has a big issue around bullying," she said. "When (Stadnyk) has the chance to bully back, he doesn't, he ends up being the stronger person."

The role was completely different than anything Harper had performed previously.

Although she has appeared in theatre and television productions, King of the Camp was her film debut.

"Her whole thing is to become the queen (of camp) by the end of the summer," she said. "I've never played a character like this. I started out doing musicals; I've played Cinderella. I usually play really nice girls. It was kind of a challenge. I watched a lot of movies that have mean girls in them, to get the feeling of how to portray a mean girl and get in the zone.

"To act, you have to sometimes be able to portray somebody that you're not."

Harper understands why the movie's message is so powerful, despite never being bullied as a child.

"When we were doing the school tours, a lot of the teachers really appreciated (the message)," she said. "It's not just summer camp, we have a message; it's just an all around good family movie."

During an elementary school promotional tour, Harper was thanked by a student who had been bullied, and asked for advice about dealing with the abuse.

"It's kind of nice that I could help her out like that," she said. "It feels amazing."

For more information, visit http://kingofthecamp.ytv.co m.