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Disney Channel’s “That’s So Raven” was an undeniable comedy in the early 2000’s that has left an imprint on millennials across the country. One of the show’s stars, Anneliese van der Pol, shared a little-known secret on a recent podcast. Check it out inside.
The popular series followed your not-so-average teenager, Raven Baxter (Raven-Symoné), who had the ability to see a glimpse of the future. The show chronicles her many schemes and mis adventures as she enlists the help of friends, including best friends Eddie (Orlando Brown) and Chelsea (van der Pol), to change life’s little outcomes. Raven’s younger brother, Cory (Kyle Massey), is obsessed with money and creates get-rich-quick schemes to try to earn cash.
More recently, Anneliese sat down on the “Vulnerable with Christy Carlson Romano PodCo” podcas thosted by actress and entertainer Christy Carlson Romano. The “That’s So Raven” co-star revealed the show’s initial title and how that changed when Raven-Symoné auditioned for the role.
“When I went in to audition the show,” van der Pol shared on the podcast. “It was called Absolutely Psychic. It wasn’t called ‘That’s So Raven’ at all.”
She goes on to detail that the show creators and Disney executives didn’t view Raven as a lead but more of a sidekick.
“And at the time, raven wasn’t the lead,” she adds. “She was the sidekick.”
It was Raven’s undeniable talent that lead them to changing the show’s direction all together.
“But when they went to film,” Anneliese continued. “They realized Raven was the funniest one.”
Anneliese also admitted, “They couldn’t really see a Black girl leading the show. Not initially.”
Romano surprised by that fact belting out a confused “What?” to which van der Pol responded, “Yeah, they saw her as a sidekick.”
We can’t imagine the show without Raven. So much so, they had to make it a self-titled masterpiece, which has turned into a cult classic.
