Exclusive Interview: Shelby Simmons and Fabi Aguirre Talk Snow Day

Shelby Simmons and Fabi Aguirre are two of the stars of Snow Day.

A musical reimagining of the beloved comedy classic film, Snow Day follows a group of kids who are determined to achieve their dreams when their school closes for a snow day. Siblings Hal (Ky Baldwin, Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door) and Natalie Brandston (Michaela Russell, WandaVision) discover that anything is possible on a snow day when a surprise winter whiteout offers them the chance to break routines and take giant risks. Inspired to pursue his crush, Claire (Shelby Simmons, Bunk’d), Hal enlists the help of his best friend, Lane (Fabi Aguirre, Les Misérables on Broadway), to help him express his feelings, and Natalie decides she must challenge the town’s cranky snowplow man if she wants to pull off the task of creating a second snow day. Jerry Trainor (iCarly) assumes the iconic role of the Snowplow Man.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Shelby and Fabi about Snow Day, their favorite number in the musical, and more

PC: The two of you have brought so many dynamic characters to life on the screen. What was it about Claire, Lane, and this script that attracted each of you to the project?
Shelby: I’d never done a musical before. That was a big draw for me. On top of that, it’s been one of my goals and dreams as an actress to work out of the country. That’s always been what I’ve wanted to do. This was my first time being able to do that. I was like, “Absolutely, I’m in.”

Claire is so different from other popular girls that I’ve seen before, especially growing up. I’m used to the pretty, prissy, sort of obnoxious popular girl that’s only really popular because she’s pretty. I like that Claire is popular because she’s a nice person. She’s friends with everyone and has so many connections. She’s fun and bold, and you want to follow her because she has so much charisma and she has so much bravado that she draws people to her. I thought that was really cool to be able to play that version of a popular girl.

Fabi: I fell in love with Lane as soon as I read her breakdown. She’s got this wit, sarcasm, and pop to her that really stood out to me. I loved bringing her to life through musical numbers, and I had one of the best experiences ever. I feel like I learned so much from her because she’s so fearless. She doesn’t care what other people think, and she’s willing to risk everything to speak out. She won’t hold anything back. She helped me grow as a person.

PC: Shelby, you’re no stranger to comedy. What is it about this genre that excites you as a storyteller?
Shelby: That’s so funny that you bring that up. Comedy was never an intentional pursuit of mine. When I started off acting, I wasn’t very good at it. [laughs] I think I ended up with such a long career in comedy because I put so much effort into it. It wasn’t something that came naturally to me. It wasn’t something that I was confident in at all. Because of that, I focused a lot on it. I’m big on manifestation, so whatever you set your mind on is what’s going to appear before you. It has been such a blessing to be given so many opportunities to grow in that area, and I’m always looking to grow even more. You level up every time you do it.

PC: Fabi, you have tons of experience in theater. How have those productions prepared you to step into Lane’s shoes and perform those incredible numbers?
Fabi: Musical theater has helped prepare me a lot because for many years I learned how to portray a character through music, lyrics, singing, and dancing. This is my first movie. I feel like it did help me prepare to tell this story. I feel like I really got the chance to explore Lane and portray her and the points that she wants to get across through this music.

PC: You’re both triple threats. In this film, we’re going to see you sing, dance, and act. For each of you, is one more challenging than the other? Does one come more naturally?
Both: Yes! [laughs]

Shelby: When you said I was a triple threat, I was like, “Really?” [laughs] I couldn’t believe that I got this part because I don’t have any experience dancing and singing. When I got this, I did a lot of preparation. It was only a month, so it was as much preparation as I could put into a month, which can be a lot if you do it every day. But I put as much preparation as I could into it to be able to show up for myself and the other actors. It’s very important to me that I hold my own weight. It was a responsibility that I had not been given before, and I took it really seriously. It was really awesome to develop those skills, especially because my character is a ballerina. Originally, she was a swimmer, but in this one, she’s a ballerina. It was so daunting. But honestly, I got to learn the basics because you can’t teach somebody to be a full-fledged ballerina in two months. I learned as much as I could, which is the best place to start.

Fabi: The most challenging part was dancing in the snow. It was tough to get used to at the beginning, but it was so much fun. I have a whole different outlook now on dancing. I want to dance on sand next. [laughs] There’s also a scene where I have to ice skate. Prior to our screen test, I got an email asking if I could ice skate. I said, “Yes,” because I can. I’m not graceful, but I won’t fall. [laughs] I spent the month before we moved to Montreal ice skating every day, trying to get more comfortable on skates so we would avoid any accidents.

PC: There’s such fantastic chemistry that comes off the screen between the entire cast. How were you all able to build that bond and friendship?
Shelby: It was Ky.

Fabi: Yes!

Shelby: Ky is the heart and soul of this entire operation. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have gone on half the adventures that we went on off screen. It was the off-screen time that brought us together. That’s all thanks to Ky and his energy, love, enthusiasm, and kindness. Nobody was left out. He really brought us all together.

Fabi: Ky was the glue. He brought us all together.

PC: When the film drops on December 16th, is there a particular scene or number that you’re most excited for audiences to see?
Fabi: I’m most excited for Shelby’s number. It’s one of my favorites.

Shelby: We put so much work into it all. The set was made for this movie, so it was really cool. It was really cool to have our own space. I hope it’s loved as much as we loved making it and that all the heart that we put into it is well received. I hope it reads well on screen.

Make sure to follow Shelby (Instagram) and Fabi (Instagram). Watch Snow Day on Nickelodeon on December 16th at 8/7c and the next day on Paramount+.