13 Going on 30 gifted us many wonderful things, among great comedic performances by Mark Ruffalo,
Jennifer Garner, and Christa B. Allen, the latter of whom played a young Jenna Rink.
But what has actually happened to Allen since the iconic romcom hit theaters?
Obviously, 13 Going on 30 was Christa B. Allen's big break, but it was also her very first
role in Hollywood.
As noted in a 2011 interview with College Magazine, the actress grew up as the youngest
in her family with a whopping eight older brothers.
Allen admitted she's closer to some than others, but confirmed that her family is "very close"
regardless.
Although she's worked her whole life, the starlet is open to going back to college at
some point.
She said:
"I don't know what I want to study, because I love everything.
Eventually, yes I want a degree.”
Although she shows no signs of stopping yet, Allen is clearly open to creative endeavors
other than acting as she told Wonderwall in 2012, one particular summer she quite literally
ran off to join the circus.
She explained:
"I'm a lover of life.
[…] So that opportunity presented itself and I found myself on some trapeze and trying
to juggle."
In keeping with her gratitude for the role of a lifetime, Allen would later return to
the character of Jenna Rink five years after 13 Going On 30 premiered in a manner of speaking.
In 2009, she starred as a young Jennifer Garner once more in the kooky comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends
Past.
On the red carpet for the movie, Allen gushed to Showbiz Junkies that it was "amazing" to
get the chance to play a young Garner again.
The actress said she was thrilled people still associated the two of them with each other,
and even admitted that strangers would often come up to tell her just how much she looks
like Garner.
“And if people say that I look like her I mean… she’s an amazing person and I
just love her to death.”
In the behind-the-scenes documentary feature 13 Going on 30: Making of a Teen Dream, director
Gary Winick explains that Allen was originally cast because of her awkwardness, as well as
her startling resemblance to Garner.
Garner noted that Allen looked "exactly" like her when she was a teenager.
“Exactly, to a tee like there was more of me than I knew what to do with but I was this
big.”
Allen herself humbly notes that she "kind of" looks like Garner, but the black-and-white
nature of the photos of Garner as a kid made it hard for her to judge.
Allen's first big role following 13 Going on 30 was in the sweet kids' show Cake.
Appearing as the titular Martha Stewart-style teenager who hosts a cable access show with
her two best friends, the young actress' natural charisma once again became center-stage.
In the series, three young ladies work to show viewers at home how to D.I.Y. like a
pro.
Looking back, the series could arguably be seen as a precursor to Nickelodeon juggernaut
iCarly, which features two female best friends doing wacky comedy bits on their own web show.
Cake ran for just one season, locking in at a total of 13 episodes.
Speaking to Refinery29 in December 2013, Allen admitted that she does in fact share similarities
with legendary businesswoman Martha Stewart.
In her interview, she said:
"I love to D.I.Y.
I'm a little like Martha Stewart.
I like finding old furniture that has good bones, you know?
Then, you go to Mood Fabrics and pick out something, and if you have a staple gun you
can pretty much reupholster anything."
Although her breakout role was in a Hollywood movie, Allen found her place after that on
television.
Aside from leading the charge in Cake, the actress also appeared in shows such as Medium,
ER and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation among many, many others.
Speaking to Refinery29, Allen admitted that she loved working so consistently on TV.
She explained:
"Oh, Lord.
Being an employed actor in Hollywood is nice.”
In her interview with College Magazine, she credited her 13 Going on 30 role with teaching
her a lot of what she knows about the acting business.
She said:
“I didn't know what was going on around me, I was just there to have fun.
At 12 years old, you just want to have fun, and so I did.
It taught me a lot and gave me a good setup for the rest of my career.”
The year 2011 signaled another big moment for Christa B. Allen, when she joined the
cast of the soapy program Revenge.
On the series, she played the misunderstood Charlotte Grayson, who would go on to become
a favorite for fans of the show.
“I’m sure this is already for you since my father’s case has been reopened.
Undoing hard work you did years ago.”
It was also a particularly meaty role for the actress, who took to her new position
on the ABC hit with aplomb.
Speaking to College Magazine about the show's overarching appeal, she noted:
"We're all people on this earth going through similar experiences.
It's worth opening up to and realizing we're all in the same boat together.
We're not alone.
I think that's why people are drawn to Revenge.
There's a character and an experience that everyone can relate to."
In her interview with Refinery29, Allen gushed about the cast, crew, and positive atmosphere
on set.
She said:
"It's nice to be part of a show where I feel like we have a really collaborative environment.
I can always have input on the show and the character.
So, you always feel like you're working it's not like something is just thrown in front
of you and you have to act this, you know?
You can have input."
In November 2014, Deadline announced that Allen would be taking a role in another hot
television show: the hit sitcom Baby Daddy.
The publication confirmed Allen would join the fourth season of the ABC Family series
as Robyn, a colleague of Chelsea Kane's character Riley in the law firm.
Allen's Robyn hits it off with the dreamy Danny after getting set up on a date, much
to her work buddy's chagrin.
“I like you, Danny but nobody tells me who to be friends with.”
“So we’re still friends?”
“Yeah, no.”
In March 2015, after playing the supporting character on the show, Allen gushed to TVLine
about how "nice" it was to "go to work and just laugh" after the darkness inherent in
Revenge.
In particular, she noted the big food fight between her and Kane's characters, which took
place during the cliffhanger spring finale, as a highlight of her time on the show.
Christa B. Allen met boyfriend Johnny What a producer, director, songwriter, and musician
while working on a music video for his band, BRÅVES.
The song was 2016's "Me the Thief," and Allen was the star of the video.
As noted in a Billboard interview with the happy couple, it took them another year after
their meeting to start dating.
And once they did, they birthed a new creative project.
What told Billboard that he got the idea to collaborate after hearing Allen singing in
the shower, deciding then and there that they needed to work together.
He recalled:
"I was like, 'Oh man, she has a really powerful voice.
I saw immediately an opportunity to create a really cool project."
Allen herself noted:
"We were both waiting for the right moment to pop the question.
We both wanted to do it, and then one of us finally one night [asked], 'Should we do it?
Should we write a song together?'"
When she wasn't making music, Allen went even darker than Revenge with TV movie The Queen
of Sin.
Speaking to AXS in April 2018, Allen opened up about what the project meant to her.
She said:
"It's another controversial piece and an incredible film experience I had in Montreal toward the
end of last year.
I've never shot a movie that was this edgy.
The young woman I play in the film is very timid and insecure, but she develops a very
strong and sexy alter ego identity with an interest in BDSM.”
On the changing tide about sexual expression in the entertainment industry, and in particular
regards to a controversial music video by her band Pour Vous in which she had performed
naked, Allen noted:
"It's cool to see people are embracing these things more and it’s becoming less taboo.
You see people clutching their pearls when they watch our music video, but how many millions
of those same people are devoted fans to Fifty Shades of Grey?
It's not all that different, and I'm excited that people are starting to embrace it more."
Another one of Allen's projects, the Lifetime TV movie When Vows Break, is also a big departure
from Allen's past role in 13 Going on 30.
The movie features Allen as Ella, a woman in an abusive relationship who plots to marry
her longtime partner and then ditch him for good while they're away on a honeymoon.
Naturally, the plan doesn't go off without a hitch, and she soon finds herself fighting
for her life.
As she once explained in an interview with Galore, acting for Allen is all about having
faith in the strength of the project.
She explained:
"You are chosen to play a character, you hope that character is consistently written well,
you show up, do your best, and then hope your performance is edited favorably.”
Allen's active and honestly quite gorgeous Instagram account showcases her infectious
zest for life.
Whether she's doing hardcore aerial workouts or the #10YearChallenge or promising her younger
self things would get better, Allen's brand is pretty much always on point.
And one of her biggest passions in life aside from performing, of course is travel.
Some of the stunning shots on her Instagram showcase the actress chilling on a cliff in
Arizona, on a beautiful beach in Mexico, and amid the stunning scenery in Hawaii.
When Wonderwall asked her in 2012 where she'd still like to visit, the actress revealed
that India sits at the top of her list of her must-visit places.
13 Going on 30 may have premiered years ago but, for Christa B. Allen, nothing will ever
compare to her first acting job.
In a January 2019 interview with Today, the actress noted that the film is still popular
because it has incredible mass appeal.
Allen revealed that people even often reference the movie's phrase "thirty, flirty, and thriving"
with her.
She also shared her enthusiasm for pop star Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next" music video,
which references 13 Going on 30 alongside several other romcom classics.
Apparently, the most difficult part of filming the movie for Allen was learning the "Thriller"
dance because of her lack of coordination.
But acting opposite Garner was a dream.
Allen recalled:
"She was the same then as she is now.
I think she has this persona of being very sweet and kind and welcoming, and she was
that then, and she is that now."
Back then, Garner advised her to always have a life outside of her career lest she find
it hard to play other characters.
Given how full Allen's life appears to be with acting gigs, music and everything else,
the older Jenna Rink would surely be proud of how her younger counterpart has turned
out.
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