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" Debby Ryan is no stranger to the camera. She&amp;#039;s been a performer for years, and as the star of her own Disney Channel show, Jessie, knows how to hold her own. She may kill it in the acting department, but when she wanted to take a stab at directing, she knew it wouldn&amp;#039;t be easy. But that didn&amp;#039;t stop her from going after her dream, and now, she&amp;#039;s not only making her directorial debut with this Friday&amp;#039;s episode of Jessie, but she&amp;#039;s also making history as the youngest female to direct a Disney Channel project. Here are Debby&amp;#039;s tips for getting the part: Learn Everything You Can And Ask Questions! Before Jessie, Debby scored a role on The Suite Life of Zack &amp;amp;amp; Cody. It was during serious time hanging in the editing bay and shadowing directors that she realized this other passion of hers. &amp;quot;I discovered how beautiful directing is and got more and more interested in it,&amp;quot; she told us. &amp;quot;I was very quiet on set and when you&amp;#039;re very quiet, you get to observe a lot.&amp;quot; She also asked questions\u2014lots of them! The answers she got convinced her to try directing for real. Take Initiative Debby kept shadowing the crew when she moved onto Jessie, but knew she had to gain their respect first. &amp;quot;I wanted to earn it,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t want them to just give it to me because the show is named after my character.&amp;quot; She was such a part of every scene, both on camera and with the direction, that guest stars and directors took note and told her how impressed they were! This gave Debby the guts to go for it and ask for her chance to shine behind the camera, too. &amp;quot;I went up to Disney and said, &amp;#039;I think I can do this. Let&amp;#039;s make it happen,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;They told me that in any other situation they wouldn&amp;#039;t allow it, but that I earned it. They told me I&amp;#039;d be great at it!&amp;quot;  Show What You Know &amp;quot;Being a girl in the industry, being an actor in the industry, and being young in the industry were three marks that were against me,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;People didn&amp;#039;t expect me to have a voice.&amp;quot; Debby changed all of their minds by speaking up, but also by being prepared and working her butt off! &amp;quot;I learned all of the terms and when to use them. I learned what to do,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;I think that going onto that set and being powerful showed them that I was capable of being a leader.&amp;quot; Find a Support System Debby&amp;#039;s BFF, Emma, may live a very different teen life, but this OTP has stuck together like no other! While Debby learned the ropes on TV, Emma graduated high school and applyied to college. But they&amp;#039;ve always supported each other 100%. &amp;quot;She knows me better than anyone in the world and she trusts me,&amp;quot; Debby said. &amp;quot;She always tells me exactly what I need to hear. She&amp;#039;s not fazed by anything.&amp;quot; Never EVER Give Up Debby&amp;#039;s true secret to success? Never taking no for an answer. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t have a backup plan and I don&amp;#039;t have a plan B,&amp;quot; she told us. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s just been a series of refusing to fail. I&amp;#039;ve had doors slammed in my face non-stop. All you have to do is keep knocking and build your own door. You have to build your own house.&amp;quot; See Debby direct her very first episode of Jessie this Friday night at 8 PM ET/PT on Disney! MORE: Debby Ryan&amp;#039;s Band The Never Ending Release Awesome New Track &amp;quot;Mulholland Drive&amp;quot; \u2014 Listen! Real Girls Doing Amazing Things! The Next Generation Of Power Girls Photo Credit: DISNEY CHANNEL/Gilles Mingasson "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/movies-tv/reviews/a24513/debby-ryan-youngest-disney-director/>