Madisyn Shipman was born to be a star, and if you’ve tuned into the Disney Channel in the last decade, you’re more than familiar with her face and her talents. Madisyn sat down with Playboy to talk about everything from show business to pets, and even the importance of practicing gratitude.
Playboy: Where were you born and what was your upbringing like?
Madisyn Shipman: I’m from a really small town in North Carolina called Kings Mountain. It’s a teeny tiny town, like, two stoplights in the whole town. I mean, we grew up in the middle of nowhere. Everyone who lived there was going to stay there their whole life. That’s pretty much what it always was.
But my mom was working in the hospital, so I would go and spend my days with my grandmother while she was working. And I genuinely attribute a lot of what I’m doing with my life to my grandmother, because she was so expressive with me, and we were playing with my imagination and doing scarf dances and putting on shows on their fireplace.
And she was so active in my childhood and making sure that I had an active imagination and telling me that I could do anything I put my mind to. I think that’s really where I developed my love for TV and putting on a show and just being full of energy and expression.
Playboy: How did you first get started in show business?
Madisyn: One day, I heard a radio ad for a Disney commercial, and I was like, that’s what I’m going to do. I want to be on TV. And I told my parents, and my mom’s like, “No, we live in North Carolina. We live in this teeny tiny town. No, that’s never gonna happen.” And not in a mean way.
So I begged, and begged, and begged, and this went on for years, I kid you not. Years! Finally, she’s like, “Okay, fine. Let’s just get her to shut up. We’ll try it.” So I tried it. I booked the first two things that I went on. It was a Blue Cross and Blue Shield commercial, and then an episode of One Tree Hill. So then my mom’s like, “Oh, maybe she actually can do this.”
We signed with an agency in Charlotte, and they started sending me out for things, and then they sent me to an acting convention in Florida. I went there. I signed with a manager and an agent in New York. We went out to New York for the summer. I booked a Broadway show, so we had to move out there. And the rest is history.
Playboy: I love that. I love that you didn’t let you don’t let conventions stop you.
Madisyn: No, not at all. I mean, so many people are put into a certain category—in a box. And they might not realize that they’re being put in a box. But we do it to ourselves, our family. The way that we’re brought up, our upbringing, our surroundings, the people that we hang out with. Everything has a factor of how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive the life that we’re able to live.
I think that it’s so important to listen to the younger people in our lives, because they don’t have these boxes put on them at such a young age. They think that they’re able to take on the world. I mean, that’s really what determines where you see your life going. And I think that those fundamental years are such a big important factor in who you’re going to be, the person you’re going to be, what you’re going to do with your career, the way you interact with people.
I mean, you can tell a lot from a person at a young age, whether they’re expressive or wanting to have conversations. And I’ve always been a talker, and I still am, that’s never going to change. I think it really does go to show that you’ve got to listen to the younger people in your life, and if they think they want to do something, let them try it. If it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out, But let them at least experience it and get a taste of it to see okay, “Maybe this could be the right fit for me,” right? And just because circumstances don’t look perfect doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Playboy: Did you enjoy school?
Madisyn: my whole school experience was a wild one. We we’re living in New York. I had finished kindergarten in North Carolina, so that was the only time that I did schooling in North Carolina. I enrolled in first grade at a school by our house in Brooklyn. It was not a good school at all. A very scary situation to be in because of the way that New York has their boundaries to go to a certain school. It was just an odd situation.
My mom was like, “Yeah, this is not the right place for her, it’s not a safe environment for her to be growing up in and have this as her schooling.” I ended up going to a school called PS 10. This was the best school experience I had ever had. Like, truly. They were so welcoming with me and my energy. And it was a— I forget what they called the schooling that it was under, but it was specializing in math, science and technology. It was a very well known school, like they were super expressive with making sure the kids were in computer classes and just making sure that we were doing everything that we could to make our lives as we mature. easier.
Playboy: Sounds to me like you really enjoyed it!
Madisyn: It was a wonderful experience. My teachers were great. I would leave school for auditions, and they were always super easy with me. I mean, I was in the office at least three times a week, leaving school early or coming in late because I had an audition, or I was filming, or something had come up where I had to leave school or I had to come in early, or had to come in late. They were super accommodating with my schedule, which was super nice.
My fifth grade year ends, I graduate, I enroll in middle school, and I literally got a week or two into middle school, and I had booked Game Shakers, so we had to move to California, and we only had three days to move out. Mind you, oh my, I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my friends or anything. It was a little hard to get through that, especially at such a young age.
Playboy: How did you balance your education and show business?
I go to California, and while you’re on a show, you’re homeschooled because you’ve got onset teachers, and then a teacher comes in once a week to check the progress of your work and everything. I didn’t really have a middle school experience. Then, ninth grade comes along. I was still doing Game Shakers, so I was homeschooled for ninth grade as well. And then the show ends, and I’m like, “Okay, well, what am I going to do with my life?” Like, I want to be a cheerleader. I want to do this. I want to be in a football game. I’m going to go to regular high school, thinking it’s going to be an amazing experience, because all I had known from high school is High School Musical and Glee.
Playboy: Did you enjoy high school?
Madisyn: Here I am thinking everyone dances down the halls and everyone’s best friends and everyone’s singing and dancing and happy. Yeah, no. Newsflash Maddie: that’s not how high school works at all. Um, high school was an experience. That’s probably the best way to put it. It taught me a lot of valuable life lessons, but I would not wish that experience on my worst enemy. Just because I was severely bullied by a lot of the kids at that school, and it just wasn’t the right fit.
But my mom always told me, “If you want to do something, you see it through to the end.” My mom didn’t raise a quitter. I stayed through that year, and then as soon as that year was up, I was like, “Okay, I’m going back to homeschooling.”
I graduated two years early, started taking college classes, and then realized real quickly, yeah, I don’t think college is for me. It’s not making me happy. So I stopped, and now I’m certified as a sports nutrition coach, a wellness coach, and I’m working on some other certifications.
Playboy: That’s awesome. Yeah, college is not for everybody, to be honest.
Madisyn: No, it’s really not. And I think especially in this day and age, a lot of people are coming into their senses that college is not a requirement. Yes, it does help with certain things, and yes, you do need college if you’re planning to be a doctor, an accountant or something like that. But for what I value in my life, which is the creative side, content creation, acting, music, that kind of thing, I don’t need college to benefit me in that aspect.
I do think it’s very important to continue learning. So that’s why I’m doing my certifications, because I enjoy it. But I don’t think it’s important that every kid has to go to college to be successful, and I’m living proof that that’s not the case.
You don’t have to go to college to be successful. There’s so many different fields, especially in this day and age, that you can go into, whether it’s marketing for social media, whether it’s Playboy…whether it’s whatever it may be, you have so many options that you can go into that you don’t need college to rely on.
I mean, so many kids are going to college and getting into so much debt, and then they’re doing internships where they’re not even getting paid out of college. So that debt’s still hanging over their head, plus other debt that they’re accumulating, trying to live.
And then they finally get a job, but their job’s not being paid to pay off these student loans. So these debts follow them until they’re older. I mean, my mom’s still dealing with college debt, which is crazy to me. Crazy.
Playboy: What was the first thing you dreamed of achieving?
Madisyn: It was being an actress. I mean, from day one, as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an actress. I’ve always wanted to be on TV. And knowing that I’ve accomplished my childhood dream at such a young age. I mean, I booked a Broadway show when I was seven. So being thrown into that where you’re working with adults and you have a job to perform at such a young age, it definitely does change your mindset and how you interact with people.
The way that you conduct business and in your personal life, it completely changes the way that you process your emotions and you handle situations. I’m extremely grateful for it, but I think it’s wild to think back on the fact that so many kids have these childhood dreams that never go anywhere because they don’t have supporting teammates on their side, whether it’s their family, whether it’s their friends, or other factors that they have on their life.
They’re not able to experience these things. I’m very, very grateful that I was able to experience these things and have success in acting. And now I’m doing music, which I’m also extremely grateful for.
Playboy: Sounds like we’ve got to talk about music, then!
Madisyn: has always been a part of my life. So I’ve been doing music since I was nine. I never released anything. I wrote a whole six song EP at nine, but never released it because I was terrified of judgment. And I mean, I still am, that’s one of my biggest fears. And I’m trying to work past it, and I have gotten past it in certain aspects, but it’s definitely still there in certain aspects.
Playboy: When you’re in the public eye so much, you’re scrutinized.
Madisyn: It’s hard to really process the gravity of that situation at a young age. So I didn’t do anything with it. I kind of just let it sit there. I still have these songs on my phone, and every once in a blue moon, I’ll turn them on because they’re just fun.
Talking about my life and being in school and not liking my teacher, or my girlfriend’s being mean or wanting a hot pink pickup truck. I mean, that’s still a childhood dream that will come true. It will be an adult dream too. Oh, my goodness, but yeah, music’s always been a fundamental part of my life. And it was always acting comes with music and music comes with acting. It was never one or the other, which I’m very grateful that my mom and my family never made me choose one or the other.
They were kind of like, well, if it makes you happy, then do it. And that’s why I think it’s so important to write from personal experience. That’s what I do. If I’m having sticky guy situations in my life, then I’m going to write about sticky guy situations. If I have turmoil in my friendships, I’m going to write about the turmoil in my friendships.
I think it’s so important to have an outlet, whether it’s your career, whether it’s writing, whether it’s music, whether it’s acting, whatever it may be, have an outlet to where you can get through those tough emotions to really get to the root of the problem and work.
Playboy: Because you’ve already done stage, and you do music now, have you ever considered doing musical theater?
Madisyn: Yes, and no. I think certain aspects are great. I applaud the people that do it. I just, don’t think it would be the best fit for me, because it’s a lot of work, and a lot of people don’t really understand the gravity of all of the prep that goes into being on stage. It’s a different experience. It’s a different beast.
I mean, with TV and film, which I love doing, you can have different takes, and you can kind of play around with the inflection of your different lines and everything, whereas on stage, it’s one way, and that’s how it has to be. You’re not really able to play around with the way that you do certain things, and with acting, that’s what makes it fun.
You want to be able to play with it and really dive into who this character is and put yourself in their shoes to make it more real and more really experience what they’re going through, to make it more conveyed to the audience. You’re not really able to do that with theater. I don’t think it would be the right fit for me. Now, I would love to do one show, like one night, sure, but like a long term thing? I don’t think it’d be the right fit.
Playboy: It sounds like the creative process is really important to you.
Madisyn: It really is. That’s what brings me so much joy, and that’s what I try to tell people. Find what brings you joy, because then your job won’t feel like work. That’s what my mom’s always told me growing up. She’s like, “If you’re not happy, then don’t do it.” And I’ve applied that to so many aspects of my life, whether it’s in my career, or in friendships, relationships and my personal life—everything. If I’m not happy, then I’m not going to do it.
But a lot of people in this day and age lose that concept of, “Oh, I’m stuck in this field, or I’m stuck with this relationship, or I’m stuck with these friends.” No, you’re not. If you’re not happy, leave. It’s gonna be hard. It is not easy. Trust me, it is not easy, it’s not fun. But once you do it, you are so much happier and so much more fulfilled in your life.
I think that’s the most important thing, so I try to do anything in my power to make sure that I’m being the best version of myself and making sure that I’m happy every day, even if it’s a little thing, there’s going to be bad things that happen in life, but you get to control how you react to situations, and you get to choose gratitude. And I choose to choose gratitude.
Playboy: It really is. I make a gratitude list every morning.
Madisyn: I do too! It changes your whole mindset. It really does. I mean, even if it’s something as simple as I’m grateful that I woke up today. I’m grateful that I get to go into this meeting and have a conversation with this person. It changes the whole way that you look at life. I mean, you’re stuck in traffic. Okay, let me look at it as, “Oh, well there may be a crash up ahead.” Maybe it was me, like a subconscious thing, to where I was delayed so I wouldn’t be in that crash. Yeah, there’s so many different ways that you can look at things, and maybe it’s delusional, but I choose to choose delusion. So am I okay with it?
Playboy: That needs to be a t-shirt. “I Choose to Choose Delusion.” Gratitude lists has completely shifted the way that I see my reality.
Madisyn: At first you’re like, “This is stupid. It sounds dumb,” right? In the beginning, it’s very uncomfortable, you’re like, “What do I even have to be grateful for? Like what, the sun’s shining, okay.” But then you start really diving deep into it, and you come up with all of these different things to be grateful for, whether it’s your family, whether it’s your living situation, I get to have a roof over my head. I get to do the things that I love.
I get to have three amazing dogs and my little siblings. I got to take him to the alterations place this morning to get an outfit tailored like there’s so many things that I’m really grateful for, and they might seem superficial to the outside world, but to me, it fills my heart with so much joy and love, and I think that’s the true meaning of life.
Playboy: I love that. I’m a huge animal person. Can you tell me about your dogs?
Madisyn: It’s a little crazy. My mom has a sheepadoodle. Technically, my sheepadoodle is my parents dog, but she’s taken to me. I mean, if you cannot tell people, This is my dog now. When we first had her, she wanted nothing to do with me, so I felt left out. So I got a Labradoodle puppy. Her name is Ruby. She is the cutest thing ever. I’ll send you pictures. So stinking cute. She’s so well behaved, like we did not even have to train her. She will just follow you like a shadow. She’s such a good listener, like I did not even have to potty train her. She just automatically knew these things. It was amazing.
Whereas Lulu, we sent her off to training. And this dog does not like to listen at all, so it’s still a learning situation. And she’s four, and then, literally, last week, I had the hair brained idea that I wanted to get a Great Dane. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but just haven’t committed to it. Let me just put the feelers out. Let me call this breeder that’s in our area and see if she’s got any available puppies.
So I called, and [the breeder] is like, “Oh, well, funny you ask. I’ve got a five month old puppy right now, who’s like, looking for a home right now. She was taken to another family, and they returned her. I’m like, “Well, can I stop by? Like, I would love to meet her.” I ended up taking the dog home with me. So now I’ve got a Great Dane puppy too. And, oh, my God, she’s so sweet, So sweet. She’s a big horse. She’s going to be like 140 pounds, so way bigger than me, which I think is going to be hilarious. And her name is Jeannie.
I love dogs. I always have. And I think dogs bring so much joy into your life, and they really are man’s best friend and amazing. If I’m stressed out or if I’m upset, they feel whatever emotions are running low, and they’ll come and love you up and give you as much love and attention as you need.
Playboy: So what’s your What are your favorite places that you’ve traveled to?
Madisyn: I would say Venice, Italy is definitely one of my favorite places. I’ve gone twice now. I went literally last month, right before I went to the Biohacking Conference for a shoot with Honey Birdette and Playboy. It was an amazing experience. So much fun. I went with 14 other girls, and it was a big group of us, and we just had the time of our lives.
Truly, I think Venice is so nice because you’re surrounded by water, and I feel like water is just so peaceful. And the people there are so nice, whereas places like Paris, the people are not very nice.
I’d always had a dream to go to Paris, and then I did it, I crossed it off my bucket list, and it was not what I was expecting. I’m very grateful that I got to go, but I wouldn’t go again. Maybe that’s why you shouldn’t go into situations with expectations. I would say Venice, Italy, Rome, Amsterdam. I freaking love Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is definitely one of my favorite places, and I think everyone should go there. Belize is wonderful. I went there on a family vacation two summers ago, and it’s fantastic. And then inside the US, I would say, the Outer Banks. I mean, I grew up going there every summer, and we out there growing up, and we’re actually going back there next week with my grandparents. And I’m very excited.
Madisyn is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her now.
