Christy Carlson Romano Wants to Work for Disney Again, but ‘It Has to be on My Terms’
If you’re a ’90s kid, you know Christy Carlson Romano from some of the hottest Disney Channel shows and movies. Today, kids jump on the Disney+ app to watch all their favorites anytime they want — but the first decade of the 2000s was different (for us and them, it seems!). We were glued to the TV at a specific time on Saturday or at night on weekdays to catch Romano and other Disney stars.
Now Romano is considering returning to where it all started in her career, and we can’t be more pleased. It seems conversations have already been set in motion to find a role that fits Romano, but she’s finding out quickly just how different the environment is since the rise in social media.
Christy Carlson Romano was the first to have a role in three Disney projects at once
With nearly two decades of experience in many of our favorite Disney Channel shows, Romano made quite the impression on viewers early in her career. Most fans know her for her prominent roles as the voice of Kim Possible in the show of the same name, Ren Stevens in Even Stevens, Jennifer in Cadet Kelly, and several Disney Channel promotional commercials.
What’s more, Disney Musical Fandom reports that “In 2002, [she] became the first person to act in three Disney Channel projects simultaneously, supplementing her work on Even Stevens with a starring role in Cadet Kelly, alongside Hilary Duff, and voice acting as the title character in Kim Possible.”
Talk about a hard worker!
Since those days, the Disney star has become a YouTuber — and a pretty successful one at that. From ‘spilling the tea’ on her early days with Disney with other Disney stars to opening up about Even Stevens co-star Shia LaBeouf (and why they don’t keep in touch!).
The child-star-turned-YouTuber has acquired hundreds of thousands of subscribers over the years, in the form of old fans and new fans on her Christy Carlson Romano YouTube Channel. And just recently, she admitted she’s open to coming back to Disney while sipping on Starbucks and driving around town.
She’s ready to come back to the ‘big green building’
As she has been doing for more than two years, Christy Carlson Romano premiered another great video that gives fans more insight into Disney and her experience with them — now and as a child. In an August 2021 video titled The Truth About Disney, the child star brought up her recent discussion with Disney and voiced her interest in the network.
“It’s a little nerve-racking,” she admitted about coming back to the “‘Big Green Building,’ [as] we all call it.” However, she does go on to say that despite the time past, the evolution of Disney and its studios, and her ‘in-between’ age — she’s ready to come back to Disney.
“I’m ready to work for them again, but it has to be sort of on my terms,” Romano told viewers. “And because they want me to kind of like audition for stuff, and I’m not necessarily old enough to be a mom of a 12-year-old, I totally get that. I’ve talked to casting about it, and I’ve been like, ‘okay, guys, where can you fit me in? Where can I become part of the family again?'”
She also says she has this ‘sick fantasy’ that they’ll be quick to bring her on since they could easily do the same for similar stars like Raven Symone and Hilary Duff. There’s no say on whether that will pan out for her, but Romano made it clear she ‘wouldn’t have any ill-will towards Disney’ if it doesn’t.
Social media has made it different for Disney stars today
The long-time Disney star also addresses the difference social media has presented the new generation of stars compared to her own. It seems today’s stars are much more equipped for success.
“I mean, the other thing is that when me and some other people were working for the channel — as we call it, ‘The Channel’ — there wasn’t social media,” Romano continues in her video. “So, these kids have millions of followers as soon as their TV shows are airing. And they have this massive influence that’s independent of their contracts and what they’re being paid for with Disney.”
She adds, “That means that they’re independently wealthy at this point. They’re getting consumer-sponsored deals, and they’re immediately being able to profit, and they have massive amounts of influence. Now, that’s leverage over the people that they work for.”
This means more power in the hands of the child-stars today with the Disney Channel network compared to the creative strategies agents like Romano’s had to take to negotiate contracts more than a decade ago. All thanks to social media!
