Raven-Symoné says it is time for more female-led projects: Disney Channel is known for 'girl power'
The Disney Channel made a strong statement by releasing a new music video featuring the network’s brightest young female stars, and Raven-Symoné thinks the timing is right.
The network dropped the music video for a new song called “Legendary” earlier this week, and it’s got female empowerment written all over it, the actress said.
“Disney Channel is known for their girl power,” Raven-Symoné said in an AOL Build Series interview Wednesday when promoting the second season of her show, Raven’s Home.
“When they said the breakout song for what could represent this generation’s confidence in their female viewership, and they brought up ‘Legendary,’ I was like, ‘That is going to be amazing,’” Raven-Symoné recalled. The video features an all-female cast, including Sky Katz and Navia Robinson of Raven’s Home, as well as Meg Donnelly (ZOMBIES, American Housewife), Madison Hu (Bizaardvark), Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Andi Mack), Kayla Maisonet (Stuck in the Middle), Jenna Ortega (Stuck in the Middle), Kylee Russell (ZOMBIES), Ruby Rose Turner (Coop & Cami Ask the World), and Sofia Wylie (Andi Mack), among nine other Disney stars.
But those young ladies weren’t the only women involved in “Legendary,” which will be incorporated into the musical episode of Raven’s Home airing Oct. 12. Raven-Symoné explained that the video was directed and produced by women. “All the people involved — it was an all-female crew. Disney made sure it was super-important to do that, just to show that — this is 2018, it’s time…” she explained.
This was important to the outspoken actress, who is also an executive producer on the series, which is inspired by her early 2000s Disney series That’s So Raven. “What I love about the video and the song itself is that it is an anthem for today’s crowd,” she said. “We are always looking up to someone, you’re always looking up to that legend, and you are always double-clicking on, ‘Oh, my goodness I want to be like that person’ or ‘I like that outfit,’ but you need to embrace your legendary-ness-ness-ness-ness in yourself right now.”
The video follows a bunch of schoolgirls crushing it in various fields. “So in that video, you see her running for president, you see another person killing it in science, you see these females coming together, no animosity toward each other. They’re all friends. … It’s a positive representation of what girls and friendships and family can be right now,” Raven-Symoné said. She is especially proud of the diversity of the cast. “You have every representation of a girl in that video.”
The former co-host of The View was visiting Build Studio with Robinson and Issac Ryan Brown, who play her children on Raven’s Home. And while the Cosby Show alum has a trove of wisdom to share with the young actors, she’s trying to instill the importance of saying “no,” which can often be hard to do.
“I tell them to say ‘no.’ It is going to be hard,” she said. “You’re new to the Disney Channel side of the industry, and they’re going to be asking you to do this, this, and this left and right,” she shared. This is something she was taught when she was younger. “I did not realize how important it was to say, ‘no, I need a break.’”
She also emphasizes the importance of therapy. “I tell them … go to therapy, and say ‘no’ … ‘no’ is powerful; it’s much more powerful than ‘yes.’”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
‘Raven’s Home’ Sneak Peek: Raven-Symone’s ‘moms’ night out’ outfit is as fabulous as you’d expect
How Reese Witherspoon Turned Female Empowerment into a Media Empire
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