Madison Pettis and Miranda Cosgrove‘s characters in The Wrong Paris couldn’t be more different—but in real life, these two actresses have a lot more in common. Pettis, who was a young kid when she had her breakout roles in The Game Plan (2007) and Disney Channel’s Cory in the House (2007-2008), told Decider that she and Cosgrove, who rose to fame on Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh (2004-2007) and iCarly (2007-2012), were able to bond over being child stars on the set of their new Netflix rom-com.

While The Wrong Paris was their first time meeting, Pettis said she’s “always loved watching” Cosgrove on TV. In fact, she drew inspiration from Cosgrove’s menacing role as Megan Parker in Drake & Josh when it came time to play the mischievous Sophie Martinez in Cory in the House.

“I basically was just fangirling with her on set,” Pettis recalled. “I didn’t realize how many references from her shows are in my everyday vocabulary.”

The two women might have had “similar upbringings” in Hollywood, but their characters in The Wrong Paris were certainly raised under different circumstances. Cosgrove plays Dawn, a small-town girl hoping a reality dating show will land her in Paris where she plans to attend art school, while Pettis plays Lexie, a social media influencer hell-bent on winning over the show’s handsome cowboy bachelor, Trey (Pierson Fode).

“Even though she is sort of the mean girl, villain role, I tried to make her a little bit likable because I think to be a contestant on this dating show and be someone that Trey would actually consider picking, she couldn’t just be a full bitch,” Pettis said. “So, I’d like to think that I still humanized her a little bit and didn’t just make her 100% a stereotypical mean girl.”

When Pettis stopped by our studio last month, she dished on that muddy fight scene with Cosgrove, how she used Bravo’s Southern Charm to prepare for her role, and who she’d want on her Disney Channel Games team if there were ever to be a revival. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: I’m so excited to have you here, and I absolutely love this new movie. It’s so much fun. What was it like for you to play this mean-girl/antagonist type of character?

MADISON PETTIS: It’s always fun to play something that’s not like you. I’ve played a mean girl a couple times now. I don’t know why they keep picking me to play these mean-girl roles. I’m such a nice person! But yeah, it was really fun. Even though she is sort of the mean girl, villain role, I tried to make her still a little bit likable because I think to be a contestant on this dating show and be someone that Trey would actually consider picking, she couldn’t just be a full bitch. When the casting director saw my tape, they were like, “You actually struck a nice balance of being mean to Dawn, but still somehow likable.” So, I’d like to think that I still humanized her a little bit and didn’t just make her 100% a stereotypical mean girl. 

The Wrong Paris is a rom-com about a reality dating show. Are you a fan of any real-life reality dating shows? If so, which ones?

I’ve seen bits and pieces. I watch more scripted stuff than reality. But I watched The Bachelor growing up. My friends did The Bachelor watch nights and I keep up with the Love Island stuff. I know [about] “mamacita” and all of those things. I watched some to get ready for this movie. And I watched a little bit of Southern Charm—since this character is Southern and it takes place in Texas—to get a little bit of that influence as well. 

Were there any specific reality dating show stars that you drew inspiration from when you were figuring out how you wanted to play Lexie?

I didn’t base her off of anybody. I feel like I was basing her off of more like mean-girl roles in films that I love. Judy Greer in 13 Going on 30, I feel like is such a good mean girl that’s nice to your face, but behind your back she’s evil. I feel like that’s what Lexie really is. She knows the cameras are watching her, but when she gets down to business, she’s really mean. And so I was basing it off of characters like that. 

I thought you nailed your Southern accent. I know you mentioned watching Southern Charm. What was the prep for that like?

I’m from Texas originally, so I feel like that accent is just somewhere deep in my soul. My grandma would be so proud. When I auditioned for it, I did one take with a normal accent, and then I did a Southern accent as well, just to give them options. When we did callbacks, they were like, “OK, just do a slight, 20% twang.” I was like, “OK, cool.” Then at the table read, they said, “Do 100%, crank it up, do the whole accent.” I was like, “Awesome, we can go there, we can have fun with it.” So I played around with different levels of how much I wanted it to be super Southern.

Since you’re from Texas, what was it like to go back to your roots for this movie?

This one wasn’t filmed in Texas specifically, but it’s fun to play a Southern character. All the people in the movie also were doing a Southern accent. Pierson [Fode] does a great Southern accent in the film as well. So it was fun to be on a ranch and live my Texas dreams out.

It’s funny because watching it, I was like, “Wait. I don’t remember her having a Southern accent. But does she have one?”

That’s so funny. We have some of the same producers from a movie that I worked on before, and at the table read, [I was doing] my accent and he came up to me and he was like, “Oh, I’m so and so, nice to meet you.” And I was like, “Oh no, it’s me. We’ve worked together.” He was like, “You’re the same person?! I thought you were from Tennessee! I was like, ‘Where did we find this great girl from Tennessee?’” He was cracking up, so I got the seal of approval. 

You star in this movie alongside Miranda Cosgrove, who was also a part of many of our childhoods. In fact, you both were probably about the same age when you started on Disney Channel and she started on Nickelodeon. Did you guys ever bond over growing up as child stars while you were on set for this movie? If so, what did those conversations look like?

I was surprised we had never even met before this, because it’s just such a small world with the Disney and Nick kids. But I’ve always loved watching her. Her part on Drake and Josh was very influential for my Cory in the House role, playing that sort of evil little sister role, even though I wasn’t an actual little sister on Cory in the House. She was definitely that same [type of character]. Loves to prank the older boys and traumatize them a little bit. She just does that so well. I basically was just fangirling with her on set. I didn’t realize how many references from her shows are in my everyday vocabulary, like how many Drake & Josh references I say on a nearly daily basis. I say, “Emphasis!” when he repeats it like that all the time. We were doing an interview the other day and it was something about lying, and I was like, “Well, I’m not calling you a truther!” I literally didn’t mean to say it to her. I forgot who I was talking to, and I was like, “Oh, my God. I’m a fan. Sorry, I’m throwing out your dialog back at you. That’s crazy.” She was so fun to work with and so talented. We definitely had similar upbringings, so it’s really nice to have that bond.

Is it true? Is there a difference between the Nick kids and the Disney kids? 

I don’t know what the difference would really be. It was separate a bit, so I know the Disney kids better than I know some of the Nick kids. But they were super similar sets and all of that. So I think we still have a lot in common. 

I thought the scene when you and Miranda were fighting in the muddy water was so funny. Can you walk me through what it was like filming that?

Yeah, that was a messy one. We were looking forward to doing it because just doing that sort of physical comedy is such a fun time. It was raining that day. They put the mud in this pit, and it was supposed to be chunky or clumpy mud you can throw, but it got rained on so much that we were drowning in this big mud pit. But it was really fun to choreograph with her and have our stunt doubles help us. She was braver than I was. We did a bunch of clean takes, doing the dialog up on the plank before the fall. They were like, “OK, this is the take where we’re going to do the fall.” And she ran on that plank. It was kind of wet because it had rained. I’m supposed to catch her and I was like, “Oh, cut, cut, cut. I can’t [get her] because she went too fast. I can’t. You have to slow down.” I was like, “I’m not running this fast. I’m scared to fall off of here.” But yeah, we had a blast. 

I also have to know: how much practicing did it take before you mastered the art of twerking on a mechanical bull? 

Years and years of practice. No, I had never been on a mechanical bull before this movie. We had one rehearsal day before we started shooting, and I practiced on it for like 20 minutes. Our director, Janeen, was like, “You’re a dancer. You’re dancing.” And I was like, “Yeah, but I dance on the ground. Nothing’s trying to make me fall while I’m dancing.” So, it was a new skill. Some of us went to a saloon in Vancouver on a weekend when we weren’t filming, and we did a little mechanical bull practice there. I just rode it like a normal person and not how Lexie rides it. I fell off and I had ginormous bruises all over my inner thighs from riding the bull. That was a couple days before we filmed the scene. So I have makeup all over my legs because I was really bruised from riding it the normal way. But it was just me and Janeen, the director, deciding what moves to do. We did, I think, just two takes. It was the last scene of the movie that we filmed in Vancouver before we went to Paris. It was hectic, but it turned out great. I blacked out when I was doing it. I was a little stressed. It came out good in the end. 

I can’t let you go without bringing up the fact that you were part of one of my favorite Disney Channel crossover episodes with Cory In The House and Hannah Montana. Miley Cyrus recently teased that she would be doing something special for the 20th anniversary of Hannah Montana next year. What are your thoughts? 

Please! If she goes on tour or does even one show, I’m there. I am going to that show. I would love to hear her do those songs in her tone now. That would be literally my dream. I will be there.

At the time, you were definitely the target age demographic for Hannah Montana. What was it like to find out that you’d be on an episode?

I was so excited. I mean, that was kind of my entire Disney Channel experience. I think I was one of the only people on the channel that was going home and watching it after working on it all day. Everyone else was a teenager and might have been watching older, cooler teenage programming. But I was living the dream. Every time I was around people, I was bringing things for them to sign. Miley was so sweet to me when we did Hannah. She let me have lunch in her dressing room every day with her and Emily [Osment] and I got to play with her dog. I literally brought DVDs and CDs, and I was like, “I’m gonna need you to sign this one, this one.” She was so sweet and did all of that. Yeah, she treated me like I was a cool eight year old. It was very big sisterly. She let me hang out and was always really nice to me. She was not like, “Oh, little girl.” She treated me like I was one of her friends. I always think back on that. 

I also can’t believe how young you were when you commentated on the Disney Channel Games – and how great of a job you did! Since you’re now old enough to compete, if you could build a team from any of your fellow peers from the Golden Age of Disney Channel, who would be on your team? 

What a great question. I hope they do it because I was so jealous. I couldn’t compete in it when I was on the channel, because I was just too young. It was like, “Everyone else is 16 years old. You’re eight. You can’t compete on these teams.” So, they let me be the correspondent, which was also so fun. Oh, I would definitely pick Raven [Symoné]. Have to. I’d probably pick Brenda Song. She’s super athletic. I work out at the same gym as her and she’s super in shape, so we would kill it. Probably a Jonas Brother. I’d probably take Joe [Jonas]. How many people are on these teams? I can’t even remember. They were big teams. They also have the international Disney Channel kids as well. There were kids from Germany, and all different countries that were there. Who else would I take? I would take Miley, for sure. I would take Selena [Gomez], my Texas girl. That’s probably a really good roster. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Wrong Paris is currently streaming on Netflix.