Danielle Solzman
Kim Possible stars Christy Carlson Romano and Will Friedle were on hand for a panel during the final day of Wizard World Chicago. The duo, who voiced both Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, took questions from both a moderator and fan questions from the audience.
One of the questions dealt with growing up in the Disney limelight as a child and coming back to it as an adult.
Christy Carlson Romano: Oh G-d. Interesting—I feel like I’ve recently had an experience, too, with coming back to them especially with working with them these past couple of months. It was interesting. There was no social media so we didn’t have paparazzi following us. We got to live our lives as normally as possible considering we were still somewhat of a public person. I think there was more of a focus on the production aspect of it so like when we were actually working, it felt like more of a 9-5 job at a young age than it did like, I am a celebrity and these people need me. There wasn’t that weird like—
Will Friedle: It was about the show. It wasn’t about you.
Christy Carlson Romano: It was about going to work and having work and being happy that you got cast in something, and having fun with your co-stars if you liked your co-stars. I’m not—
Will Friedle: (inaudible due to crowd reaction)
Christy Carlson Romano: I didn’t say that! But it was about doing that and enjoying that. The press came later so that was how it was with you guys with TGIF. How did that ramp up for you guys? Was it overnight?
Will Friedle: We were never famous. Boy Meets World—that’s the thing when people think nowadays is that “Oh my G-d, I grew up with you guys and you guys were super popular.” We weren’t. Our show was the show that just wouldn’t die. We tried to kill it to the point where we do an episode where we joke about it. Where Ben is babysitting a little kid, the little kid says, “I want to watch my favorite show. It’s on at 9:30.” Ben goes, “You’re not up past nine” and he goes “They moved it from 8:30.” The little kid goes, “Because they’re trying to kill it! They’re trying to kill it! They’re trying to kill it! That’s what it was. You guys remember the show Wings?
Christy Carlson Romano: Yes.
Will Friedle: We were the Wings of TGIF. People literally would go, I like Wings—that show is still on? It just kept going. We had no press for Boy Meets World. Sabrina the Teenage Witch came out and that became hugely popular and there was a ton of press. Christy’s right. Social media changed the whole ballgame. It was never about us. The closest we got to it was when Rider hit about 15 and was on the cover of all the teen magazines and the girls went and bought it. But even that never got crazy. Nowadays with Instagram and Twitter, it’s not about the show you’re on anymore. It’s about, “I’m on this show but I’m the star of my life.” It’s all Instagram. We weren’t like that. It was different. As to your question, being a Disney kid was never—I started as a Nickelodeon kid in the 80s and then I went to a Disney kid. We were never pigeonholed like that, I guess. It was never that kind of thing where this is what you’re going to be or you’re only going to be this—
Christy Carlson Romano: Oh my G-d. I was.
Will Friedle: You were at the Disney Channel. It was a much different thing.
Christy Carlson Romano: I was definitely pigeonholed.
Will Friedle: Disney Channel and ABC were two completely different—
Christy Carlson Romano: Yeah. You guys were—
Will Friedle: Then coming back as an adult was just—it had nothing whatsoever to do with Disney for me. It was just being with Ben, Rider, and Danielle—the cast again. If they didn’t even air it—if it was just us doing it as a play, I still would have done it because I would have just gone…It would have been cool for now but it’s interesting.
