She has proudly won three Daytime Emmy Awards. Two Kids’ Choice Awards, and five NAACP Image Awards, and her body of work includes The Cheetah Girls, Kim Possible, and the films Dr. Doolittle and Tinker Bell. From 2015 to 2016, she was also a co-host on the ABC talk show The View. The 36-year-old award-winning actor, R&B singer, and songwriter is now gearing up for Season 5 of Raven’sHome, her family-friendly show on the Disney Channel, which premieres on Friday, March 11. As Season 5 begins, Raven and her son Booker (Issac Ryan Brown), move back to San Francisco to help take care of her father, Victor (Rondell Sheridan), who is reprising his role from That’s So Raven. After several decades in the entertainment business,Raven-Symoné still loves the creative aspects of performing and the privilege of working with her cast and crew. “I love being able to work, but it is more than that. I just want to make sure that when I am long gone my children are proud of what I’ve done,” Raven-Symoné exclusively tells Parade. “I’m proud of what I’ve done and that my community can say, ‘You know what? She has always been there to entertain us.’” Read on to hear about Raven’s love for physical comedy, who and what inspires her work, and fond memories of singing with Julie Andrews.
Tell us what you love about the show with Season 5 of Raven’s Home starting?
It’s about family. When we first started Raven’s Home it was about my best friend and who are I raising our kids together. This season we are creating a new family, but also going back to our roots. Alex is my cousin and we have some new friends. It is about building relationships, and showing how important it is to be there. What I love is that we get to do it.
Rondell Sheridan, the actor who plays your father, is back this season.
Yes, I am very happy about that. It’s great being able to reconnect with Rondell. He was definitely one of the actors that I stayed in contact with since the original That’s So Raven [which ran from 2003-2007 on the Disney Channel.] When we both walked on the set recently it was like “Wow, can you believe it was 20 years ago?” Being able to reconnect with someone on such a nostalgic level is great. We never really talked about doing anything together just because we were friends and we kind of let the industry do what it does. When I got the news that Disney was going to bring back his character, I was thrilled that I get to work with him again as my dad. I love being able to learn from him as a director and as a cinematographer. It’s been a pleasure.
What is the overall storyline?
I go back to help my father after he has a mild heart attack. I drop everything and go. I like that storyline because my [actual] mom is the same way. When there’s an illness in the family my mom drops everything and takes care of that person. It’s about making sure the family is taking care of family members in that way. When I get there, I learn that the next-door neighbor, Ivy, played by Emily Liu, has been taking good care of him, as well. It’s about the community coming together to take care of one another.
Do you enjoy the physical comedy in the show?Which is more difficult for you, the physical comedy or the more emotional moments?
The emotional moments on the show are a lot harder for me. I’m the type of human, who if somebody’s sick I want to make a joke and lighten the situation. I don’t like to cry. I’m not very good at it and dealing with my emotions, I go to therapy for that. I love physical comedy because I get to pull on the performers from the past that I have researched my entire life, such as Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Flip Wilson, and John Ritter. And even in today’s world, there is Melissa McCarthy. Being able to do that for this new generation brings me joy. I love doing it, I love having pratfalls and spit takes and making the audience laugh with my body as well as my words, or I should say the writers’ words. I think that this season the antics between my son and I have grown, meaning he’s involved in a lot of the physical comedy blocks that we put together for the show, and he’s enjoying that, as well. It’s a fun medium and not a lot of people do it, and when they do it it’s like oh my goodness it’s a different kind of guttural laugh. I really appreciate it. It’s not a dying art, so being able to showcase it for the new generation so they can see how it’s done and they can enjoy comedy later in life, that’s another reason why I even love being on children’s television is that at such a young age we’re giving them quality content so that their taste for content later is a high bar. We enjoy entertaining the kids for that reason.
I have watched the show with my teenage son and we both enjoyed different aspects of it.
Thanks. Sometimes with children’s television, the parents are like, “All right, just put it on. I’ve got to leave. It’s too this or it’s too that.” With this new season, we have Issac Ryan Brown who plays my son Booker, is grown up so he’s more in high school now so there are some more storylines that we can tackle that I think that parents will enjoy watching with their kids, as well. It’s definitely a family show and we try to continue to make good family content because I believe it’s needed.
Why do you feel that your career has endured for such a long time and that you have been able to have such a rich movie and TV career?
Oh, my goodness, I’ve been very fortunate in this industry to have worked with amazing people, to be involved with a company that believes in growing with their talent. I have worked behind the scenes and alongside some amazing, talented people that have provided amazing advice for me that I have taken and respected. People like Debbie Allen, Debra Martin Chase, and Garry Marshall. Right now, I just want to make people laugh.
When I think of your body of work, I get the image of you, mattress surfing in Garry Marshall’s fairy tale movie, The Princess Diaries 2. If you are streaming and you come across it, would you watch it?
I think I would. However, of course, for me, I would watch for different reasons than just entertainment. I am going through the mental journey that I went through at that time and the fact that Julie Andrews and I sang a song together. I’m probably still just going to geek out for that moment because it was one of the VHS tapes that broke multiple times because I played it too much was. I knew every song and can still sing every song today. Being in the same room with Julie Andrews and Garry Marshall was monumental. One of the shows I loved was Penny Marshall’s Laverne and Shirley. I could watch thatsitcom all day long. They also were physical comedians in their own way. Just being surrounded by Hollywood royalty in that way was just amazing. I would watch it just to reminisce about that day. I have to say I’m more of an Ozark watcher when it comes to my entertainment.
Your Instagram show 8 p.m. has 2.4 million followers. What is it like to have all those people want to be part of this?
Our show started with my wife, Miranda Pearman-Maday. She is a fantastic conversationalist, she loves skincare and communicating about her interest in helping people. One way to do that in a controlled environment is to create the content ourselves. She has always wanted to be on YouTube but was a little hesitant to start by herself. Being newly married and saying, “Hey, I’ll help, I don’t mind being a part of it,” we decided to do it together in that sense. So that’s how it started. It’s called 8 p.m. because we both believe in numerology. We’re not experts, but we dabble. Eight is a very lucky number and PM stands for Pearman-Maday. As we continue to move forward and collect supporters it’s amazing to me, as well. And it’s humbling because I get to be a part of something from the ground up. With this channel, my wife and I have to set up the camera and buy the lights and create the content. So we are, one, strengthening our relationship as a married couple I truly believe. But, also, I get to implement and test the things that I’ve learned as I’ve been in this industry. I didn’t know we were at 2-point-something million followers. I’ve been so knee-deep in Raven’s Home she hasn’t told me, but it’s very exciting.
Do you feel that a big part of that is that your fans from all of your projects, starting from when you were a young kid, kind of keep coming with you for the ride?
I hope so. I really hope that they trust me to provide them with content that makes them feel entertained, safe and hopefully new people can see who Miranda is and who we are as a couple. Because that wasn’t necessarily something that I promoted in my past. Mostly I just promote my characters. But right now, we’re really diving into personal conversations. I wouldn’t want it any other way. They have supported me all these years, the least I can do is give back and give them some content on YouTube that they can enjoy, as well. As the channel continues to grow and we continue to find content that reaches all age brackets hopefully there will be more than two million followers.
You really attract several generations of family members.
I’ve been in the industry since I was 16 months old, and on television since I was 3 years old. I have been able to be a part of projects that have captured a lot of people from around the world. When I walk into a store and the great-grandmother is sitting next to the grandmother and the daughter, and the daughter’s sitting next to the son and each one has a different name for me it does warm my heart. It also kind of makes me feel like “dang this is my entire life.” It’s interesting because like we kind of talked about before being on a show where the grandparent can sit down with the elementary school and be like, “I remember when she was Olivia but she’s Raven Baxter now,” it’s kind of funny. I don’t know, I haven’t really processed the feeling yet other than cool, that’s pretty cool.
Why do you urge my readers to watch Season 5 of Raven’s Home?
I want them to watch because everyone needs a little bit of a laugh right now. Everyone needs to just take a break, sit down with their favorite little juice or water and get into television. I’m a true believer in television and I think that this show will bring nostalgia. But if you have never seen this show before you get to see topics that are brought up in today’s generation and tackled in a fun but still comprehensive perspective. Sometimes when you’re going through stuff and you don’t know how to remedy the situation it’s always good to get a different perspective. We’re dealing with teenage and middle school-aged situations that could shine a light on your life. And if not it’s just good to see somebody fall and have a good laugh every now and then. Season 5 of Raven’s Home premieres on The Disney Channel on Friday, March 11. It is also available on DisneyNOW and Disney+ Seasons 1-4 of That’s So Raven are available on Disney + For more about Disney comedy, check out Josh Peck on Bringing the Tom Hanks Family Film Turner & Hooch to Disney+ With a Twist
