Anneliese van der Pol, Chelsea from ‘That’s So Raven’, revealed how the classic Disney Channel series should be different from what we know today
She can predict the future and, therefore, ends up getting into countless troubles trying to change the outcome of her visions — this is the premise of “That’s So Raven”, a Disney Channel series launched in 2003 that, throughout its 4 seasons, featured 101 fun-filled episodes.
The plot stars Raven-Symoné who gives life to the production’s title character: Raven Baxter. In addition to her, the cast also includes Anneliese van der Pol It is Orlando Brownwho play the protagonist’s best friends, Chelsea and Eddie, as well as Kyle Massey, Rondell Sheridan It is T’Keyah Crystal Keymáhwho are the family of Raven, Corry, Victor, and Tanya Baxter, respectively.
Still, the production, which ran until 2007 and became the channel’s highest-rated series, could have been very different both in its title and in the casting arrangement, according to van der Pol. This is because, the actress said in an episode of the Vulnerable podcast (via Screentant) presented by the ‘Mano a Mana’ actress, Christy Carlson Romanothat she auditioned for the main role in the series when it was still called “Absolutely Psychic”.
She further states that the role of Raven-Symoné serious supporting role. “When I went to audition, the show was called Absolutely Psychic – it wasn’t called That’s So Raven [ ‘As Visões da Raven’, em português]. At the time, Raven wasn’t the protagonist, she was the sidekick,” explains the actress.
However, the story ended up being discarded when those involved behind the production, that is, the program’s creators, Michael Poryes It is Susan Shermanrealized greater potential for Raven’s character after observing the actress on stage, thus deciding to reformulate the title and cast.
They were looking for a protagonist”, he began explaining. “I didn’t get the part – someone else got the part – but when they filmed it, they realized that Raven was the funniest and had a following, so they put her in first place and started auditioning again.”
With a new plot in mind, new tests were carried out, culminating in van der Pol being cast this time to play the protagonist’s best friend, who had her name changed a few times until she was defined as Chelsea.
I went to a big audition and finally got the role. I think the character’s name was like, Molly, then Emma, and then it became Chelsea.”
As the Disney portal explains, before Absolutely Psychic, which plays with the word “psych” (psychic, in English) and “chic”, the plot still had another title possibility: The Future Is On Me (The Futuro Está Comigo, in the free translation into Portuguese), but both were discarded after Raven-Symoné became the protagonist.
It is also worth mentioning that, in the same chat, van der Pol also tried to find a reason why the series did not include Raven as the protagonist from the beginning. “I think it was like racism on a low level, if that’s even a possibility. They really couldn’t see a black girl leading a show. They saw her as a companion,” he detailed.
The statement from Chelsea’s interpreter can be seen in full from minute 5:45 onwards. Check out!
Source: Recreio
