Candace Cameron Bure's Daughter Natasha Says She Never Thought She'd Go to College: 'For Me, School Was the Enemy'

Growing up in Hollywood, Natasha Bure was exposed to acting at a very young age by dint of the fact that her mother is Candace Cameron Bure. As a result, she began doing commercials as a child and always had the idea in mind of pursuing a career in entertainment, so college was never really in her plans.

"I just never thought that that’d be something that I would do," she admits to Parade.com in this exclusive interview. "Mostly, because neither of my parents [Dad is retired ice hockey player Valeri Bure] went to college, so I never really had that influence. When you’re in the entertainment industry, it’s very, very time-consuming. I felt like, for me, school was always the enemy. You have to have super, super good grades to be able to get a worker’s permit to act, and so I just always felt like school wasn't on my side. Ultimately, I’m happy with my decision to just do my own thing."

And so she should be because it is starting to pay off. Bure is making her feature film debut in Faith, Hope & Love, a romantic comedy about two vulnerable, lost souls -- Peta Murgatroyd as Faith and Robert Krantz as Jimmy -- who have each suffered deep losses and have their guards up, as a result. When they enter a dance contest, their lives connect, and they begin to discover new perspectives on life, love, and faith.

Bure plays Jimmy's teenage daughter Gia and she is proud of the fact that she got the job on her own. The fact that her mother had once competed on Dancing with the Stars and knew Murgatroyd had nothing to do with it.

"I actually got cast before Peta did," Bure says. "I got an audition through my agent. I was filming another project and I sent a tape in, and then I got booked. I’ve known Peta, not super well in the past, but since my mom did Dancing with the Stars, obviously, I had met her before, and I’d been around all those people, and loved them all. They’re super, super nice."

During our conversation, Bure also talked about her time on The Voice as part of team Adam Levine, how she became a YouTube personality with more than 70,000 subscribers, and more. Check it out.

The credits said "Introducing Natasha Bure," which means this is your first feature film. What has your experience been as an actress up to now?

When I was little, I would do commercials here and there. I’ve done a few things with Hallmark that were really fun, and I just filmed a movie with my mom. I’ve been on tons of sets before, and done little things here and there, but this was my first more independent role as an actress.

Did your mom give you any advice when you decided that you wanted to follow acting as a career?

She was always really supportive. My whole family has always been really supportive. The only thing that my mom always told me was, "Whatever you want to do, I will support you, but you have to work your hardest, and you have to put all your effort into it, because truly that’s the only way that you can really succeed is if you’re passionate about something, and you love it, and it’s what you want to do."

So, my mom was like, "If you want to do it, you’ve got to really do it. You’ve got to take classes. You’ve got to go on to auditions. You have to be working on all of these scripts at home." That was the one thing that my mom gave me as advice, but I feel like my parents would give me that same advice if I wanted to be a chef, or if I wanted to be an athlete. It all correlates in any profession that you do.

There is that scene where it's just you and your dad, and you’re going over the personal statement that Gia wrote. It was a really emotional scene. What was it like filming that?

That was actually the part of the script that I auditioned with, that monologue. I think that that scene really connected me to the film, because in the monologue, she’s talking about how she works hard at a lot of things, but she can’t get this one grade up. It’s just something that she couldn’t really get, and that doesn’t mean that she’s not trying. I think a huge part of it is understanding that we’re not all perfect, that we’re perfectly imperfect. We all have flaws and little parts of ourselves that are unique and different, and that’s what makes us who we are. That’s really something that has been a really big part of my life.

Especially in the past, I would say, three years, because I’m kind of on my own. I graduated from high school. I’m trying to figure out life and what I want to do. There’s so much doubt that comes with actually growing up and trying to find your career and your whole life in such a short amount of time.

I really struggled with feeling like I had to be perfect, and I had to have it all together if I saw friends or other role models who might have it all together. I just had to learn and tell myself every day, "Just wake up and be you. Be the best version of yourself."

I think that was really the exact same message that Gia, my character, was really trying to convey in her personal statement, so it was something that I really, really connected with as soon as I read that. So, it was really awesome to play a character like that, when it’s something that you’ve fought through yourself, you know?

So, is being perfectly imperfect what you hope people take away from the movie?

I definitely think it’s something that I hope people take away from the movie because it’s such a key statement in life. I think it works for  relationships, careers, and anything that we do in life. We’re always striving to be the best, which is great, but it doesn’t always mean that we’re going to be flawless.

Everyone has a little different version, because we’re not all the same, and even though we’re going through similar situations, all of our lives are tweaked in some area that’s different. So, you just have to embrace that. I think this movie has so many great themes. Obviously, Faith, Hope & Love's in the title. I think all of those themes are great, but I love the whole perfectly imperfect vision.

I also watched one of your YouTube videos. What was it that made you want to go on social media and share?

When I was really little, I was always very fascinated by YouTube. For as long as I can remember, I was sitting in front of the photo booth on a Mac computer, talking to myself, and doing random things, and sharing my life. It was just always something I did, so when I discovered YouTube, it was a platform for me to express myself.

Also, YouTube was a really big way for me to grow as a person, because even though I did grow up with a mom, who taught me a lot of things, I didn’t have an older sister or a super close girl in my life that was only a few years older than me, that was teaching me absolutely everything, whether it be about makeup or clothing.

I wanted someone a little bit closer to my age to relate to, so I turned to YouTube, and found some really cool girls that were sharing their lives online, and I honestly fell in love with it. Then I started sharing because I thought, "Well, if I like it, then I’m sure other girls are looking for this, and I’d love to share my tips and tricks, and I’d love to just share my life in general."

What was your experience like on The Voice, being part of Team Adam Levine? Do you want to be a singer more than you want to be an actress, or are you trying to find a career that you can combine both of those things?

For me, The Voice was an amazing experience. It was actually something that really terrified me. Just watching those audition videos on YouTube used to make my heart beat so fast, and it wasn’t even me doing it. I got the opportunity to audition, and, honestly, I would never have done the show because it scared me so much, but I was in a phase of trying to say yes to opportunities and things that really terrified me. So, I said yes, and I did it, and it was really awesome.

I definitely would love to do music. It’s a huge passion of mine, as well as acting. Every single day, I have a different desire, and so I try to not put myself in a box too much of just doing music, or just doing acting. Whatever I wake up and I feel like I’m the most passionate about, that’s what I want to attack, because I want to do it with my whole heart. I feel like if the passion and the fire isn’t there, then it’s not going to be authentic, so, I ultimately would love to do both.

So what’s next for you? You have another project coming up?

I’m working on a couple of new projects that I’m really excited about. I can’t really talk about them, but I’m definitely going to be filming a lot over the summer, hopefully, and then working on a ton of music. I have a ton of new YouTube content coming out, and then being on social media, which is a job in itself.

Faith, Hope & Love is currently in theaters.