At the Special Spirits fundraiser last Saturday June 27. She is wearing a satin blouse from Bebe, a Celebrity Pink denim skirt from Tilly’s, CITY ULTD purse and Hype ribbon boots

I recently chatted with the snotty nasally challenged Traci Van Horn from the hit show Hannah Montana, a character made and played by Romi Dames. She plays her character so well that when she used her Traci voice on me during the interview, it cracked me up. Romi dished on her closet, the show and Miley Cyrus.

Gia: I am so happy that Disney has ordered a 4th season of Hannah Montana. I love the show. I think it’s hilarious and I don’t even belong to its targeted age group. Can you tell us how you got the role of Traci Van Horn?

Romi: My agent pitched me to the casting directors for the role and got me an audition. The breakdown for the character was a snobby teenage socialite-I decided this called for a super snotty voice, and lucky for me, they loved it! On Monday at the table read I had two small scenes. By the time we were shooting on Friday, my part had doubled. I was so excited! After that, they just kept calling me back and writing me into more episodes-it was a total dream come true.

At the 2009 Ivy Bethune Tri-Union Diversity Award

G: I love your character to death. I know Traci speaks with a nasal tone because of the deviated septum! A lot of celebrities claim they suffer from that condition but they don’t sound anything remotely close to your character in the show.

R: This would be because I came in with the Traci voice, and then the deviated septum got written into the storyline. Truth be told, I have no idea what someone with a deviated septum sounds like!

G: Where did you get inspiration for this character?

R: My inspiration for this character came from a lot of places, but part of what I was thinking was Joan Collins (ala Dynasty) in the way that Traci moves and poses.

G: And how come Traci hasn’t had surgery to fix it?

R: That is so funny! That never occurred to me. I guess it’s because Traci believes she is fabulous in every way and wouldn’t change a thing. It’s like I said in the Halloween episode, Torn Between Two Hannahs: “I have a deviated septum…and I own it!”

G: One of my favorite episodes from the 3rd season is when Jake Ryan wanted to marry you but only to prank Hannah. What is your fave and why?

R: That’s one of my favorites, too! Another one of my favorites is “My Boyfriend’s Jackson and There’s Gonna Be Trouble’. Traci throws a birthday party for Madonna, her white fluffy Persian. We (me and the cat) wore matching sparkly tiaras. That cat was so darn cute! I loved it. It obviously didn’t feel the same way about me because halfway through a take, it bit my hand.

G: How is it working with Miley Cyrus? How fun is your set?

R: I love working with Miley! She cracks me up. She has so much energy. Hannah Montana is such a great set to work on because everyone is so fun to be around.

G: Any prankster on the show?

R: There is a prankster… Larry the props guy. He has this flatulence machine and he sure loves it. It’s basically an electronic whoopee cushion with a remote control. He likes to set it up somewhere on the set and wait for opportune moments.

Romi is with Nicole’s (Romi’s publicist) horse named Romeo.

G: Who does your wardrobe?

R: Dahlia Foroutan heads the wardrobe department. I LOVE the outfits I get to wear. My absolute favorites were the wedding dress that they completely revamped to add in the bustle with the train that never ended, and there is a seriously impressive corset that I wear in an episode coming up soon called ‘No Sugar Sugar’. It’s worth watching just for the outfit-it’s completely covered in candy!

G: Do you have a say on what to wear on the show?

R: Yes, the wardrobe department is really great about making sure I feel very Traci in what I’m wearing. Sometimes I bring in some of my own wardrobe and jewelry, and we’ll put those together with the things that they have.

G: Describe your closet. Do you have Lily’s or Hannah Montana’s closet?

R: I have the Miley/Hannah bipolar closet. On one side I have a whole bunch of really casual everyday wear-jeans, denim skirts, t-shirts. On the other side, I have all the fancy things that I wear to red carpet events. My stylist, Mike Sam, usually stocks up that side of the closet with amazing dresses by English Clientele and Single. I love him…we say that he’s my fairy god-stylist who always gets me ready for the ball.

G: In some websites, it says you are 30 years old. I thought you were just as young as Miley and Emily. What’s your beauty secret?

R: Being Asian. Haha, no, I’m not actually thirty. There’s a fifteen year discrepancy if you compare all the ages I’m listed as on those sites. I think it’s interesting to see how people see me, so I don’t bother to change it. (She won’t say how old she really is. Romi likes to keep us guessing but she looks really young in person)

G: You were born in Japan, right? I’ve met a make up artist once who told me having Asian heritage is great because they tend to look young and have really nice skin. What can you say about that?

R: I totally agree. I’m only half Japanese, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will age gracefully, like my mother. She looks about twenty years younger than she actually is.

G: Girls have some kind of addiction when it comes to fashion. It could be shoes, dresses, jeans, sunglasses or bags. What is yours and how crazy is the collection?

R: I’m addicted to dresses. The thing I love about dresses is that to me, they seem timeless. I feel like a really nice dress can be worn for years and will never go out of style. Also, I’m really girly, and it’s hard to get more feminine than a dress.

G: Style Icon:
R: It’s not a person, it’s a show, Pushing Daisies and Mad Men. Vintagey. I also love Dita Von Teese.

G: Can you name your faves:

A photo of Romi’s fave Lulu Guiness clutch taken by Romi herself using her phone.

R:
Bag: Hot pink Lulu Guinness that’s shaped like a bow
Shoes: Charles David
Watch: I don’t really wear watches. I use my cell phone (Verizon Nv2) to check the time.
Jewelry: Avon-My agent keeps buying me the cutest pieces and she gets them from the Avon catalog!
Store: Betsey Johnson
Designer: English Clientele
Color: Pink
Outfit: denim mini-skirt and my pink American Eagle polo

It’s sad to think that the 4th season will be the last of Hannah Montana. I hope that Disney gets to keep Romi Dames like they did Brenda Song and her character London Tipton. They should make a show out of two spoiled heiresses! Now, that would be great!