Life is pretty sweet

Those who know Debby Ryan are familiar with her role as Bailey Pickett on Disney Channel’s original series “The Suite Life on Deck,” a spin-off of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”

But what most of her fans don’t know is she’s a photographer, collage artist, equestrian and has started a blog that features her interviews with bands, she said.

“I’m super close to the equestrian center and go riding with my friends,” she said. “Riding is peaceful, passive and gentle.”

The 16-year-old also enjoys choreography and once toured with a hip-hop dance group.

“I took classes in ballet, jazz and drill team at high school,” she said. “I incorporate everything with hip-hop. With everything I do, I’m always mixing elements of things.”

The Glendale resident began acting in professional theaters at 7. Her younger years were spent in Germany before the family moved to Texas.

She appeared in the Barney & Friends straight-to-DVD film, “Barney: Let’s Go to the Firehouse” in 2007. She was in the 2008 feature film “The Longshots” and will star in the independent film “What If,” set for a 2010 release.

“Suite Life on Deck” has just been picked up for its third season, and the cast will resume production in January, Ryan said.

A new episode from the second season to be aired in early December features actor Ed Begley Jr. as a guest star.

“He was such a genuine guy,” Ryan said. “He’s a vegan. We talked about that. And he’s very funny. He can personalize a line in a way we would have never thought of. He breathes the line and it’s really funny.”

A fan of the original series, Ryan said she was excited to learn they were changing the format to a cruise ship and casting for a new role for a girl the same age as Zack and Cody.

She really wanted the part, which she auditioned for via video, but she tried to stay calm and focused, she said.

“I thought to myself, ‘Give it your all and forget about it,’” she said.

But she immediately caught the attention of those running the audition, said Judy Taylor, vice president of casting and talent relations for the Disney Channel.

“The second we saw her face pop up on the screen, we were intrigued, and we decided to fly her in to test for the role,” Taylor said.

Those casting the part evaluated her personality and how the audience would identify with her, Taylor added. Ryan also read with the lead actors.

“We did test other girls, but for comparison sake, Debby won the role,” Taylor said. “She had this wide-eyed innocence and naivete. She brought that all to the character of Bailey. It was a good match.”

Getting the part was phenomenal, Ryan said.

“It was the right opportunity at the right time,” she said.

After Ryan got the part, she and her family moved from Texas to California.

On the show, she plays a country girl from Kettlecorn, Kan., who is on a cruise ship going to school at sea, Taylor said.

“It parallels Debby’s life, as this was going to be her first real experience in acting and moving to California,” Taylor said.

There are similarities and differences between her and Bailey, Ryan said.

“We are both strong and independent and not afraid to roll our sleeves up,” Ryan said. “I love school, and we both like learning and bettering ourselves. And she’s a little nicer than I am. I’m nice to people, but I don’t let people walk over me, and she does.”

Ryan also has a great sense of humor and is good at cheering people up, said her friend Jason Dolley, formerly of Disney Channel’s “Cory in the House” and now the star of “Good Luck Charlie” premiering early next year.

Their stages were next to each other, Dolley said, and one day they met through a mutual friend. When they found out they were working so close together, they started hanging out, he said.

“Debby is just one of those people,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how your day’s been, when you hang out with Debby, you’ve had a good day. Just something about her — her personality — she’s very charismatic. She always cracks jokes here and there. The aura she brings with her is so much fun.”

Ryan said she receives interesting gifts from her fans. One of her favorites is a gold bracelet that says Love of Hearts on one side and her name scratched with a pin on the other.

“People send me their seventh-grade pictures,” she said. “They draw pictures of me. I frame them and hang them in my dressing room. It’s so cute.”

To read her music blog, visit debbyryan.com.