''True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet'' is a 2008 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated ''Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 197 ...

, based on the

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

of the same name by author Lola Douglas. The film stars Joanna "JoJo" Levesque and

Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress. She first achieved recognition as a child actress, portraying Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom ''One Day at a Time (1975 TV series), One Day at a Time'' (1975–1984) for w ...

. It premiered on August 9, 2008, on

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

Plot

Teenage actress Morgan Carter is a Hollywood princess, until the day that her hard-partying ways get the best of her. After she collapses outside of a Hollywood nightclub, Morgan's mother sends her to live in the wilds of

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, with her Aunt Trudy. Morgan is camouflaged into Claudia Miller and given a new hairstyle, and suddenly, Morgan, albeit unwillingly, blends in with her peers who do not own televisions or read magazines. With a new appearance and no money, Morgan enters a suburban high school with a bad attitude. She initially does not fit in with anyone, until she meets Eli and they became friends. Eli introduces Claudia to his sister and her friends. Morgan takes a liking to Emily, Eli's sister, and they become good friends. Emily invites Morgan to a sleepover where Debbie, who likes Eli, tells her to stay away from him. Morgan is upset so she leaves early, without telling Emily. When she gets home, she calls her mother for help. Instead of her mother, she gets her new stepfather on the phone. He just happens to be her manager, Sam. After this discovery she comes to the misguided theory that Sam wanted her to leave Hollywood so he could marry her mom. Soon she drinks a bottle of vodka that she found in the cupboard. The next day when Eli comes over to tutor Morgan and she, wanting desperately to capture Eli's attention, makes up a story about her father, borrowing a plot from one of her movies. Eli is worried, as Morgan drastically exaggerated and added several negative details about her supposed "father", telling Morgan to alert him if he shows up. Eli asks Morgan on a date (partly out of pity) to the fair and she happily accepts. Morgan's best friend from when she was in Hollywood, Marissa, comes to visit her in Indiana, where they go to a club. Morgan goes to the fair with Eli and Morgan begins liking him more. Everything was going great until Debbie tries to blackmail Morgan. The paparazzi finds out where she is and leak the story so she sneaks to Eli's house to apologize for lying, both about her father and about not being Claudia. Eli is upset at the deception, but in the end he forgives her and they drive away on his motorcycle.

Pop culture references

The film makes references to several teen films, television dramas, and reality shows such as ''

Mean Girls ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Fe ...

'', ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Ale ...

'', ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his List of directorial debuts, feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (writer), Kirsten Smith from ...

'', ''

Bring it On Bring It On may refer to: Books * ''Bring It On'' (book), by Pat Robertson * ''Bring It On!'' (manhwa), a romance manhwa by Baek Hye-Kyung Film and stage * ''Bring It On'' (film series), an American series of teen comedy cheerleading films capit ...

'', ''

Monster Garage ''Monster Garage'' is an American television series aired on the Discovery Channel and hosted by Jesse James (television personality), Jesse James. Each episode was an hour in length and was conceived and produced (along with James) by Thom Beers ...

'', ''

The Surreal Life ''The Surreal Life'' is an American reality television series that records a group of celebrities as they live together in Glen Campbell's former mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks. The format of the show resembles that of ''The Real W ...

'', and ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

''. Also referenced in the film are

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

Perez Hilton Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid p ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...

and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-winning directors

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

and

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh (; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor. A pioneer of modern independent cinema, Soderbergh is an acclaimed and prolific filmmaker. Soderbergh's direc ...

. The soundtrack featured songs like "

Bubbly "Bubbly" is the debut single of American singer Colbie Caillat from her first album, '' Coco'' (2007). Written by Caillat and Jason Reeves and produced by Mikal Blue, the song was released as the album's lead single on May 15, 2007. "Bubbly" i ...

" by

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre. After signing with Universal Republic R ...

, "

SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...

" by

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

, "

Funplex ''Funplex'' is the seventh studio album (eighth overall) by The B-52s, recorded during 2006 and 2007. The album was released on March 25, 2008, by Astralwerks Records. It was the first album of new material the group had released since '' Good ...

" by

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...

and " My World" by

Emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Cast

* Joanna "JoJo" Levesque as Morgan Carter/Claudia Miller * Ian Nelson as Eli Walsh *

Justin Louis Louis Ferreira (born Luís Ferreira; born 20 February 1966) is a Canadian actor. Ferreira is known for his roles in ''Stargate Universe'' as Colonel Everett Young, serial killer Ray Prager in the first season of '' Durham County'', FBI Assistant ...

as Sam *

Lynda Boyd Lynda Boyd (born January 28, 1965) is a Canadian actress, singer, dancer, musician, and writer. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films ''Final Destination 2'' (2003), ''An Unfinished Life'' (2005), ''She's the Man'' (2006), and ''O ...

as Bianca *

Shenae Grimes Shenae Grimes-Beech (; born October 24, 1989), previously credited as Shenae Grimes, is a Canadian actress. She portrayed Annie Wilson on The CW series '' 90210'', a spin-off of Fox's ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Prior to that, she had a recurring ...

as Marissa Dahl *

Jennifer Miller Jennifer Miller (born 1961) is an American circus entertainer, writer, and professor at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. She has lived with a beard for most of her life. She is a juggler and fire eater. Miller lives in New York City. Biog ...

as Bully *

Melanie Leishman Melanie Leishman (born February 20, 1989) is a Canadians, Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying bespectacled Hannah B. Williams, one of the main characters on the cult Comedy horror, horror/comedy television series ''Todd and the Book ...

as Emily *

Leah Cudmore Leah Renee Cudmore (born 1 October 1985), often credited as Leah Cudmore or Leah Renee, is a Canadian actress and singer. Career Cudmore has had recurring roles in television series including ''MVP'', '' Runaway'' and '' Blue Mountain State''. A ...

as Debbie *

as Aunt Trudy *

Dayna Devon Dayna Devon (born March 20, 1965) is an American journalist. Biography Devon is a native of San Antonio, Texas, and a graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio. She began her broadcast journalism career as the weekend anchor at KTSA-AM ...

as Herself *

Jonathan Higgins Jonathan Quayle Higgins III, VC is a fictional character in the 1980–1988 comedy and crime television series, ''Magnum, P.I.'' portrayed by actor John Hillerman. Hillerman won an Emmy for the role in 1987. The character of Higgins appeared i ...

as Mr. Sappey * Jonathan Potts as Principal Bowman * Zain Meghji as Lux Movie Host *

Victoria Snow Victoria Snow (born 1954/55)"Cinderella story at Stratford". ''The Globe and Mail'', April 28, 1979. is a Canadian actress."Driven Snow: Proving she can act as well as sing Victoria Snow copped a Gemini for her portrayal of a Metis woman in Daughte ...

as Gaby * Mary Kitchen as Local Reporter * Billy Turnbull as Dan * Rebecca Amare as Bethany *

Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang The Minnesota Wrecking Crew is a Canadian sketch comedy troupe, featuring members John Catucci, Josh Glover, Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang and Ron Sparks. They all met as members of The Vanier Improv Company. The group won two consecutive Canadian Comed ...

as Stan * Araxi Arslanian as Cashier * Dan Duran as Dave * Kathryn Haggis as Lisa

Release dates

References

External links

* *
TV Guide Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:True Confessions Of A Hollywood Starlet 2000s teen comedy-drama films 2008 television films 2008 films American teen comedy-drama films American comedy-drama television films Films about actors Films based on young adult literature Films set in Indiana Films shot in Ontario Lifetime (TV network) films 2008 drama films Films directed by Tim Matheson 2000s American films 2000s English-language films