It’s true: the newest addition to the Trump White House is Disney child-star Caroline Sunshine. Now 22, she played foreign exchange student Tinka Hessenheffer (twin to Gunther Hessenheffer) on “Shake It Up” alongside actresses Bella Thorne and Zendaya.
“It’s great, it’s like having an alter ego,” Sunshine, who will be a full-time White House press assistant, said during an interview with Fanlala back in 2010. “I get to wear my hair all huge kind of like ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s.’ And I get these amazing costumes and this accent, which I get to slip in and out of … It’s fantastic.”
Here’s everything else you need to know about her:
Caroline Sunshine is a Republican (if you didn’t guess already)
Besides her career in entertainment, the California-raised actress took an interest in politics.
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters told CNN, “In college, she was involved with the American Enterprise Institute and an active member of her school’s Model United Nations team.”
In February 2016, Sunshine took part in Fusion’s #DearNextPresident campaign and posted this video to Facebook:
“You have a lot of hats to wear as leader of our great nation, chief diplomat, commander-in-chief of our military and guardian of our interests,” Sunshine stated, ending with, “If you ever feel overwhelmed I hope you will take comfort in those who have come before you, the support of the American people and, in Lincoln’s words, ‘those who have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.'”
Caroline Sunshine was formerly a White House intern
CNN reports that Sunshine applied to the White House internship through their website when she was an international relations and economics student at Claremont McKenna College.
Walters also told CNN, “Prior to her internship at the White House, Sunshine interned for the Office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the College Republican National Committee and the California Republican Party.”
Caroline had other acting gigs besides “Shake It Up”
Sunshine also played Barbara Winslow in the 2010 film “Marmaduke” with Owen Wilson, George Lopez and Emma Stone. Her IMDb profile calls this her “breakout year.”
Sunshine starred in “The Outfield” (2015) and, most recently, in the 2017 Lifetime movie “Mommy, I Didn’t Do It.”
In an exclusive interview with New Theory back when Sunshine was 20 years old and still a college student, she said that handling her career and school was daunting but that “one often informs the other.”
“I feel like I’m getting two educations at once. I take a very active role in my career and I’m very proactive in my education,” she said. “… I feel like being in college provides me with a stimulating environment that is shaping me into a better performer. As an actress, I approach my education with an open mind and I bring a natural sense of empathy to problem solving situations.”
With a creative and political background (and hopefully some beaming rays), Sunshine heads into her role at the White House press office.
“At my core I’m a story-teller. I love telling stories,” she told New Theory when asked about her true passion. “I have a borderline obsessive fascination with people and the worlds they inhabit.”
