DisneyFanatic.com The Latest News, Advice, and Perspective from Disney Fans for Disney Fans!
Anneliese van der Pol might not be a household name these days, but plenty of Disney Channel fans will instantly recognize her when they see her portraying Chelsea in the image shown above alongside Raven-SymonĂ© and Orlando Brown on the set of That’s So Raven, an enormously successful Disney Channel show.
Broadway fans and Beauty and the Beast fans will also recognize Anneliese van der Pol due to her Disney princess role and her recent performances in a Disney princess concert alongside Disney icons like Susan Egan.
Now, the Disney princess and Disney Channel star is making headlines again due to her Disney connections — but this time in a negative way, as she reveals how the star of That’s So Raven was almost kept from getting the role due to her skin color!
That’s So Raven/Courtesy of Disney
‘Absolutely Pyschic’ or ‘That’s So Raven’?
During an interview on the Vulnerable Podcast with Disney celebrity Christy Carlson Romano, Anneliese revealed several shockers — including the show’s original name!
âWhen I went in to audition, the show was called Absolutely Psychic,â Anneliese remembered. âIt wasnât called Thatâs So Raven at all. At the time, Raven wasnât the lead. She was the sidekick.”
“They were looking for a lead, and I came in to audition for the lead,” the actress and singer explained. “I think that was kind of, like, racism at a low level â I guess if thatâs even a possibility. They couldnât really see a Black girl leading a show. They only saw her as a sidekick.â
The lead character was supposed to be a white female named Molly.
She kept it a buck with this…She said it plainly. On the other hand, Disney played in our faces acting like she was the golden girl and they wanted ANOTHER white lead. TSR was Disney's #3 best show in the network's history! pic.twitter.com/KtdCQujJhu
— @KekaAraĂșjo (@KekaAraujo313) April 26, 2023
Disney Changes Their Tune
According to the star who once played Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Raven-Symoné completely threw things off when she performed so well in her audition that the show needed to be rewritten to suit her talent.
That’s So Raven fans were unsurprised by the idea of the singer and Cheetah Girls star’s talent, and praised the lead actress’s co-star for being so candid on the podcast episode.
“Iâm pretty sure I wouldnât have watched it if Raven wasnât the lead,” one fan Tweeted. “Thatâs one of my most favorite childhood shows and it just wouldnât be the same if it wasnât her.”
According to the website that shared this “bombshell,” the star of That’s So Raven “paved the way for a barrage of other Black Disney talent like Zendaya, Keke Palmer, Coco Jones, Raven Goodwin and Sidney Parks.”
“Considering the network hit cable in 1983 and would not have a Black leading cast member until 2001, racism appears to be the driving force in the companyâs previous branding,” the website Madame Noire added.
Raven-SymonĂ© herself recently opened up a bit about Disney’s “standards” for its actors as well.
Did you know that Raven-SymonĂ© and her stellar audition were allegedly the reason for the shift in the show’s entire focus, and do you agree with Anneliese van der Pol about the alleged reason for the show’s original premise?
