rocky donatelli A

livelove
laguna
rocky donatelli
By Karen Lawrence
A
ON ROCKY:
Tiffany dress
tiffanydesigns.com
s she heads into her second season of filming, Raquel “Rocky” Donatelli
of MTV’s Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County takes time out of her busy
schedule to gab with PromStyle about her senior year at Laguna Beach HS,
her plans for the future (LB: Season 4 may not be the last we see of Rocky!),
her hot BF Alex, and of course, PROM!
Cristal D’Or ring
cristaldor.com
Hair: Beth Pollard
Makeup: Chantelle Martineau
Flowers: Oneka Floral
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Photographs by Ben Stannard Art by Julie Chatfield
jump online for more fun! • promstylemag.com
PromStyle: How has Laguna Beach changed your life?
Rocky Donatelli: My life has definitely gotten busier. A lot
busier. Just a bunch of show stuff and interviews and stuff like
this which I love to do. So, it’s a lot of fun.
PS: Your MTV show is called Laguna Beach: The Real
Orange County. How would you say your life compares to
those on the FOX TV series The O.C.?
RD: Not as dramatic. I mean, people on The O.C. are, you
know, drugs and partying and someone dies, I think! It’s not
that dramatic. [Laughs.] It’s a lot smaller. But it’s dramatic...
Laguna Beach is like a little bubble, a little enclave of a town
compared to the O.C., the big O.C., so everything is blown up
more because it’s a smaller town.
PS: Is it easy to be yourself in front of the cameras?
RD: Ah, yeah. They’re around so often that you just can’t help
yourself but to just go and say whatever you want...
PS: Do you think any of the girls on the show are “acting”
for the cameras?
RD: Some I think definitely tried to play it up in the
beginning, but that’s a lot of work for the amount of filming
that we do. You almost have to become another person and
that’s not fun...way too much work.
PS: It seems like some of the girls talk behind each other’s
backs a lot, but you don’t really get into that. How do you
avoid falling into that trap?
RD: Well, I mean, I think I got that from my dad. To tell you
the truth, I just see no point in it. I’d rather, you know, go
hang out with friends than sit at home and talk about them. I
just, I don’t understand the point of it.
“
I’d rather,
you know, go
hang out
with friends
than sit at home
and
talk
about
them.
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”
PS: So, you’re a senior this year. How’s that going?
RD: It is amazing. I am so excited. It’s senior year, and it’s just
a lot of fun.
PS: What are your plans for after graduation?
RD: I’m not sure yet. I’m thinking about taking a year off,
taking as many acting classes as I can and just, kinda feeling
it out because that is my dream right now and I kinda wanna
scope everything out for a year, see what my options are.
PS: Would you like to continue with TV or would you like
to get into movie acting?
RD: I would love to do movies. There’s a lot of really great
actors and actresses that I’ve really been inspired by lately. I
know this is really sad, but I would die if I could be Jack
Sparrow. Really, he is, like, my all-time favorite character.
“
I would love to do
movies.”
PS: What actors and actresses inspire you?
RD: I really love Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock and
Cameron Diaz.
PS: Let’s talk about Alex. How’s that going?
RD: It’s really good. I’m having a lot of fun with him right now.
He’s officially my high school sweetheart.
“
He’s officially my
high school
sweetheart.
”
PS: And he’s in college now?
RD: M-hm. And taking acting classes, as well, and working for a
record producer. So, he’s also keeping his options open in front
of the camera or behind the camera. You know, an actor or
producer of some sort, so he’s kinda, he’s juggling too.
PS: Wow. So how often do you guys get to see each other?
RD: Every day!
PS: What do you guys do when you’re together?
RD: We watch movies. We walk around a lot, just like, I dunno,
scope out everything. It’s like really relaxing, you know, ‘cause
we’re usually, our lives have become a lot more busy when we’re
doing stuff, so when we do have free time we just lounge, walk
around, make cookies, watch movies.
PS: Earlier in your relationship with Alex, he pointed out a
bracelet that you wore. Live Love?
RD: Yes!
PS: What does that mean to you?
RD: I would just wear it all the time. I just liked it. He never
read it until that day and he’s like, “You always wear this
thing.” I think he noticed it ‘cause it did not match my outfit
at all...but, I just like live and love. That should be everybody’s
lifestyle.
I just like
“
live and love.
That should be
everybody’s
lifestyle.”
PS: Words to live by?
RD: Exactly! Live and love! Just relax!
PS: When did you realize Alex was going to ask you to
Prom?
RD: I didn’t...Not until I saw the sign that said Prom, and
then I was like, “Is that for me? Are you sure that’s for me?
Is there anybody behind me?” because he was very secretive
about it. He actually didn’t talk about it at all.
PS: So it was a true surprise?
RD: Yeah. I couldn’t get anything out of him. I tried.
PS: What was the highlight of Prom?
RD: I like the limo ride. Every year that’s my favorite part.
Everybody’s crammed in the limo together, we’re all screaming
and yelling and loud music and dancing. Everybody’s so
excited to dance! By the time the after-parties come, everybody’s
kinda worn out, a little more quiet, but the limo’s exciting.
We’re, like, on our way!
PS: Any embarrassing moments?
RD: I lost my shoes last year. Then, while looking for my
shoes, I was eating a chocolate covered strawberry. (I obviously
wasn’t too worried about my shoes because I found time to go
get a strawberry and start eating it...) Of course, I spilled
strawberry/chocolate juice all over my dress! But it was...after
the dancing, we were leaving. I was looking for my shoes to
leave. And then the after-party—nobody cares anyway.
PS: What advice do you have for girls going to Prom for
the first time?
RD: The biggest thing I would say for girls is to just relax
because something always happens! A dress malfunction,
makeup—blurred, hair—flat, everything. But you just gotta have
fun, you know? You wanna look nice, but the main priority
should be to have fun more than anything. The boys usually
don’t even notice. You know, they think it is supposed to be
that way.
PS: What does Prom mean to you?
RD: Prom to me, just means a night where teenagers just don’t
think about school, they don’t think about life, they just live
this life for a day of, you know, princess for a day or prince for
a day. We dress up in pretty ball gowns and we go out and we
dance and we just celebrate being young.
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