Ella Grace Helton plays Lilly in the comedy drama feature film Chosen Family alongside Heather Graham, who wrote, directed and starred in the film as Ann, and Lilly marks Ella’s first lead role in a feature film, and Chosen Family had its premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Last year, Ella took over the role of Katie Townsend in Series 3 of Sweet Magnolias on Netflix, and Series 4 will be releasing in 2025, with Carson Rowland and Logan Allen as Ella’s on-screen brothers. Further screen roles for Ella include playing Maisy in the 2022 short film Hummingbird, Jessa Phillips in Adam Sandler’s film Hubie Halloween, Emily in the ABC comedy series United We Fall, and she has worked on commercials including for Disney and Hasbro. When Ella was five years old, she was cast in the Broadway National Tour of Waitress the Musical as Lulu, and alongside her acting, Ella is a filmmaker, having released The Towel, The Muralist and Wild Thing, and she’s also a keen artist. We found out from Ella about playing Lilly in comedy drama feature film Chosen Family, taking over the role of Katie Townsend in Sweet Magnolias and working with Adam Sandler on Hubie Halloween.

You play the role of Lilly in the new comedy drama feature film Chosen Family, can you tell us about the film and your character?

Chosen Family is a comedy, which is my favourite genre. It was so much fun getting to work with a cast of comedic geniuses and improv a bit with each other.

Lilly is mischievous and very protective of her dad and really wants nothing to do with Ann, and gets jealous when her dad and Ann get close. Lilly is very different from me because I would always want to make my parents happy, and there’s no one in real life that I can really dislike. So it was fun to be a different person for this film.

How was it working with Heather Graham, who wrote, directed and starred in the film as Ann, and with the rest of the cast?

Heather Graham is really awesome, she is very fun and loving. She’s the kind of director where you can talk things out with her. At lunch, we changed a line because I thought the kid wouldn’t say it and she agreed. I love how collaborative and open she was. Everyone else was funny and so nice to hang out with. We laughed a lot off set too. And I can’t believe John Brotherton was my dad. I loved him as Matt on Fuller House, one of my favourite shows. He acted like a real dad, which he is, he has two girls, so he knows how to have fun with me. And I loved having another girl on set my age. My friend Iris plays the daughter of Frances and Max. We’re still friends and we still have video calls and play Barbies.

Lilly marks your first lead character in a feature film, how did you feel finding out you’d booked the role and what was Lilly like to play?

I thought it was super awesome that I got my first lead in a feature film and I was happy that Heather Graham picked me out of all the kids who auditioned. I’m a big comedian at my house and there are not many comedic auditions for kid actors, so when my mom told me this was a comedy, I started getting all my joke books out. Just kidding, it’s all me!

What was it like on set of Chosen Family and what did you enjoy most about being part of the film?

Being on set was great because I had never been to Rhode Island and it was so beautiful, as was the weather. There are too many favourite parts to just pick one, but I’d have to say it’s when we’re off set, watching the monitors and talking.

How was it watching the film for the first time and how has it been seeing the fan response to the release so far?

The first time I saw the film was at its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I was in awe of the whole thing, even the scenes I was not in. Walking that red carpet (for the world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival) for the first time made me feel like the queen of the world.

It’s wonderful to have all my followers and friends tell me what a good job I did and how much they love the film. I have a lot of people voting for a sequel.

Last year, you took over the role of Katie Townsend for Series 3 of Sweet Magnolias on Netflix, how was it joining the cast?

I didn’t know when I started how the experience would be and if other people would welcome me. But I ended up gaining a forever family. I love being on set with all the cast and crew. I love having brothers on the show, especially when they (Carson Rowland and Logan Allen) act like they are my big bros in real life.

The entire cast, crew and production make me feel loved. We were filming Season 4 during my birthday this year and when I got to basecamp, my trailer was all decorated, they left me gifts and when I wrapped that night, they brought out a huge birthday cake and sang happy birthday. I’ll always remember turning 11!

Was there anything that drew you to Sweet Magnolias and what is it like getting into character?

There is an amazing cast that is very welcoming and talented. Being Katie wasn’t too difficult because we have a lot of similarities. And I wish I could have Katie’s closet! The wardrobe team for our show is the best. Katie by far has the most fashionable and cutest clothes.

I also love that Sweet Magnolias is a family show that everyone can watch. Once I started watching, I was hooked. If anyone out there hasn’t seen the first three seasons yet, now is a great time to catch up before Season 4 is released in 2025!

Do you have any favourite highlights from filming Sweet Magnolias so far that you can share?

Shooting Season 3, my first with the show, was fun in general and I loved being in each of my scenes. I loved being a flower girl, which I had done once in real life for my cousin. It had been a few years since I was on a show, United We Fall I did when I was six years old, so I felt right at home back on set of this show.

Can’t say anything specific about Season 4 but it has an episode centred around my storyline and it was my favourite episode to shoot. I enjoy being on set for each of my scenes and have even asked my mom if I could stay and watch other scenes after I wrap, but the rules say I have to go home. And I really hope we get a Season 5 because there’s too much fun to not have any more.

How was it being involved with the 2022 short film Hummingbird as Maisie?

I had an amazing director in Lindsey Gary and an amazing studio teacher, who was Lindsey’s mother, Laura Gary. Miss Laura was my studio teacher when I was Emily on my first show, United We Fall, on ABC.

I got to hold a mouse for a scene in the film and I will never forget Frankie. His wife and babies were also on set, in a cage that Frankie’s handler brought. I loved Frankie so much that I convinced my parents to get me my own two mice as pets – Schmincke and Midnight. I will never forget that experience of having a little cutie co-star.

What was it like filming the Adam Sandler film Hubie Halloween as Jessa Phillips?

Adam Sandler is the funniest person in the history of funny. There’s too much to say about him. His wife, Jackie, played my mom and was very loving and kind. She played Barbies with me between scenes.

Adam was great at directing me and throwing alt lines at me in our scene. As a six year old, I’m glad he trusted me enough to throw lines at me, not having worked with me before. I’m so glad I got to be in a Halloween movie that has become part of a lot of people’s Halloween tradition that they can watch year after year. I met a fellow filmmaker at a film festival and he told me that he and his wife carve pumpkins each year while watching Hubie Halloween. How cool is that!

What are some of your stand-out memories from your time playing Emily in the ABC comedy series United We Fall?

I loved being a big sister, it was the first time I wasn’t the youngest on set. It was fun having the twins Ireland and Sedona (Carvajal, two years old at the time) hang out and have dance parties with me.

Production got me my own mini director’s chair and they moved it next to the chairs for all the important executives. The director let me say “Action!” and “Cut” for some scenes that I was not in.

I used to dance in front of the live audience to entertain them between scene changes. I did that every episode except one where I had too many scenes and didn’t have a break. The energy of the live audience was the best, they would clap and cheer me on.

We understand you have worked on numerous commercials including Disney, Hasbro and Comcast XFINITY with Amy Poehler, can you say about some of them?

I had fun doing the Orowheat commercial with John Stamos. I had a wiggly front tooth the whole day, while I had to bite into a lot of sandwiches. John offered to tie a string to it and pull it out as he was gliding away on a pulley. But I kindly declined. It actually came out the next day, my first bite into my lunch! 

For the commercial with Amy Poehler, they had the most humongous teddy bear that I wanted to take home, but it wouldn’t fit in the rental car.

My commercial with Derek Jeter I didn’t realise until a few years later how big of a deal that was. I didn’t even know who he was. It was a surprise when he walked onto set and my mom, who grew up in New Jersey as a Yankees fan, did a little silent surprise dance. We just talked about what I do, no script for me in that one. We made bead bracelets together and it was about how I make jewellery and give money from each sale to The Children’s Hunger Project to feed hungry kids in my community. My mom and I were not ready for all the people around the country who wanted to order bracelets. Looking back, we should have hired help!

My Disney commercial took seven days to film across a 10-day period at all four theme parks. And we filmed early morning with call times in the middle of the night. It was quite the experience for four-year-old me. And seven years later, Disney still uses a clip of me in newer commercials, like the recent 100 Years of Disney campaign. I’ve been spotted in just about every primetime program: the Super Bowl, Emmy Awards, Oscars, and all major holiday programs. It’s fun to see little me pop up at the Main Street sweets shop.

At the age of five, you played Lulu in the Broadway National Tour of Waitress the Musical, what do you remember from this experience?

I remember practicing in rehearsals and hiding behind the pie boxes on a cart and they pushed me on stage and would pop out and giggle. I remember when I would leave the theatre, there were tons of people waiting for me to sign their Playbill. That made me feel like I needed to practice writing my name!

It felt great to be on the stage with such talented performers in front of thousands of people.

How did you get into acting and was it something you always wanted to do?

I always loved to sing and dance in front my parents, especially the song Let it Go from Frozen. When I started musical theatre class at two-and-a-half years old, I just loved it and my first show at three, I belted out Let it Go, even though it was just supposed to be a dance routine, and I would not leave the stage because I would keep bowing and waving and loving the audience. Then my parents said this kid is in the right place.

Then after a while, people recommended agents for me to start getting auditions. And then it took off! I started with commercials at age three, booked the Broadway show at age five and then booked both a show and feature film when I was six – I was a series regular as Emily on United We Fall on ABC and had scenes with Adam Sandler in Hubie Halloween.

I’ve always wanted to be a performer and acting is still my number one favourite thing out of all the things I do. And I do a lot!

Note from Mom: Ella is a competitive ballroom dancer, singer/songwriter and musician, fine artist with pastels and her own online art store at EllasArtShop.com, and a runner.

Can you tell us about the films you’ve released as a filmmaker – The Towel, The Muralist and Wild Thing?

All three of my films have a sci-fi fantasy theme, starting with Wild Thing, which I made when I was nine. All three also were each made within just one week. I do a youth filmmaker workshop each summer.

With The Muralist, I came up with the idea by looking out the window at the workshop classroom. I saw a mural of an astronaut and I wanted to make an art-themed film.

For The Towel, I got the idea to sew something, since I got my sewing machine the previous Christmas. I was thankful that my lead actress, Delanie Nicole Gill, who is also my friend, also loves to sew and helped make the dress the film is based on come to life. The fun thing is that I made a mini version of the dress and wore it to the first two film festivals that screened my film. Everyone loved it and I’ve even had a few requests from people who said they would love to wear one of my towel dresses too. But I don’t have time right now to make them.

How is it writing and directing your own films and seeing their success at film festivals?

The hard part is coming up with an idea, but once I do, I can bang out the script really fast. The next stop is finding actors and it’s hard to direct actors who are new. It’s hard for me to balance being nice but also firm about what I need from them. Seeing my films at the festivals makes me feel like I accomplished something special.

Note from Mom: Ella’s film The Towel has won so far in 2024: Treasure Coast International Film Festival – Best Elementary School Film; Brooklyn Sci-Fi Film Festival – Silver Medal, Best Young Filmmaker (international filmmakers age 18 & under); 4th top upvoted film People’s Choice (out of 200 films from filmmakers of all ages). With more festival screenings scheduled and more acceptances pending.

The Muralist won in 2023: Independent Spirit Award – Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival; 2nd place Florida Secondary Student Film – Treasure Coast International Film Festival (against all high school entrants); Silver Medal, Best Young Filmmakers – Brooklyn Sci-Fi Film Festival (18 and younger); People’s Choice top most up-voted film – Brooklyn Sci-Fi Film Festival (Special breakout category of films upvoted by festival attendees); Official Selection -Central Florida Cinefest; Honorable Mention Miami Short Film Festival.

What are some of your favourite films and TV shows to watch, and how do you like to spend your free time?

I like to spend free time watching movies and TV shows, which I tell my parents is homework since I’m an actor and filmmaker. Some I can’t stop watching, like Fuller House, Sweet Magnolias, of course, since I’m on it and it’s such a great show. I love Ninjago, my favourite animated show of all time.

My favourite movies are technically all the Disney movies. But I’m a big fan of the Descendants series and The Princess Diaries with my hopeful acting mom one day, Anne Hathaway. I lost track of how many times I’ve watched The Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan.

I’m also a huge fan of baking shows and have watched every episode of Is It Cake? on Netflix. I asked if I could be a judge, but you have to be an adult.

In my free time, I like to crochet, make art projects, bike and hike, make LEGOs and game with friends.

Do you have any projects coming up that you can tell us about, and what are you hoping 2025 brings for you?

I’m planning out my first music video for the first song that I wrote and recorded. And I’ve already written my next song.

2025 is going to be great because Season 4 of Sweet Magnolias will be coming out and there’s a lot more of me as Katie on screen. It’s the best season yet and I can’t wait for everyone to see it. And, of course, we are hoping we get to make a Season 5.

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