“Call me, beep me if you want to reach me.”
Millennials who grew up watching the Disney Channel know that line well, thanks to the animated series Kim Possible, which ran from 2002 to 2007. Now, a new generation is being introduced to the character with the live-action Kim Possible film, premiering Feb. 15 on the Disney Channel.
Christy Carlson Romano, who voiced the star of the cartoon during its run and now stars as Poppy Blu in the film, joined Sadie Stanley, the face of the live-action character, for a sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter In Studio to discuss bringing back the iconic character for a new audience.
“I knew exactly what it was when I heard about the project, and I thought it was a really awesome idea,” Stanley said of the character. “Even though I didn’t grow up watching it when it first came out, because I was a little young for it, Kim Possible is such an iconic character. Everybody knows who she is, even if they didn’t watch it, and everybody knows the theme song.”
The character of Kim Possible is your average high school teenager who spends her spare time fighting crime and defeating villains with her best friend, and sidekick, Ron Stoppable. Stanley told THR that she was excited to bring a more “vulnerable side” to the character that audiences didn’t see in the original series.
“We got to see her struggle a little bit more. We saw her perfect facade and this perfect girl you see in the cartoon — she’s got everything together, [but] we see her stumble a little bit and I think that’s even more relatable because high school is so daunting and scary for a lot of kids,” she said. “I think that’s something that kids are going to relate to, and she gets out of this slump she’s in because she has her best friends by her side. I think that’s a great message to the value of friendship and what that can do.”
Romano, who is also well known for her role as Ren Stevens on Disney Channel’s Even Stevens, also spoke about working with her former co-star, Shia LaBeouf, whose new semi-autobiographical film, Honey Boy, chronicles his life as a child actor.
“We definitely had that chemistry even from when we went to the chemistry reads,” she said.
“My chemistry with Shia was so singular. He had dyed hair, he had brown and there were some weird blonde spots, and then I came in and had a Ralph Lauren suit on — my character is very put together — and we couldn’t have been more different. So, that energy we had in the chemistry read was something that Disney has been doing, and I think that it’s very, very valuable for their content that they’re making.”
The live-action Kim Possible premieres Friday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW.
Watch the video above to hear the stars discuss Patton Oswalt’s role in the film, what advice Romano gave Stanley and more.
