Christy Carlson Romano Meets World

Summary

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Pod Meets World – "Christy Carlson Romano Meets World"

Podcast: Pod Meets World (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode Air Date: September 15, 2025
Guest: Christy Carlson Romano
Hosts: Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, Ryder Strong

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Overview

This special episode of Pod Meets World reunites the original cast of Boy Meets World—Danielle, Will, and Ryder—for an in-depth and nostalgic conversation with Christy Carlson Romano, best known for her roles in Disney’s Even Stevens and as the voice of Kim Possible. The heart of the episode is a celebration of Kim Possible, exploring its impact, industry context, and looking back at Disney Channel’s “golden era.” With humor and candor, the group unpacks career stories, the nuances of voiceover work, the evolving landscape for young women in TV, and unforgettable behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

“Bad Movie” Parenting & Pop Culture (04:16–13:06)

• Ryder shares the joy of watching cult classic so-bad-they’re-good movies with his son Indy, citing Troll 2 as the peak example.
  • "It's empowering for kids, you know, when they realize it's okay that this is bad or that's bad acting." – Ryder Strong (04:41)
• The group debates trolls vs. goblins, touches on the infamous “Nilbog = Goblin backwards” reveal, and discusses Troll 2’s anti-vegetarian message.
• Will Friedle suggests Birdemic and Rubber as other entries in the “bad movie” canon.
• Notable moment: Struggling to distinguish goblins from gargoyles, leading to laughs over pop culture confusion. (13:20–14:35)

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The Kim Possible Era (20:20–62:41)

The Iconic Kim Possible Reunion (20:20–25:01)

• Danielle intros Christy, reflecting on Kim Possible's pop-culture significance and appeals to girl-power.

• Christy and Ryder reminisce about their brief in-person meeting at Columbia University during cross-coastal recording sessions.

  “We met in New York at a recording session because we were both recording remotely... and I was like, ‘Oh, you're Kim. And I was like, I don't know what this show is. I just know Will's on it, but I guess Kim's a big part.’” — Ryder Strong (23:04)

Casting, Auditions & Disney Channel Work Ethic (25:01–32:08)

• Kim Possible was not Christy's first voice acting gig; she did jingles and bizarro Nickelodeon shows like Innie and Outie (about talking belly buttons).

  “I did some really wackadoo...a show on Nickelodeon called Innie and Outie. Google it if you want to get scarred.” — Christy (25:50)

• Christy shares how she managed “aggressive homeschooling” to balance acting with college prep (Columbia University).

  “I would still clock in 13 hour days every day. And then on the weekends, it would be my Kim Possible recording.” — Christy (28:08)

Animation Process: Designing Kim & Finding the Voice (32:09–40:16)

• Christy discusses seeing Kim's character design for the first time and how her own age and experiences influenced Kim’s characterization—including “Club Banana” being based on her favorite teen stores.

• Will explains animatics and the technical process of voiceover for animation.

• The group recalls hilarious and awkward network debates over Kim’s character design, from her wardrobe to even the shape of her animated chest.

  “Remember... Steve said that there was meeting after meeting after meeting about her breasts. Like, should they be pointy, should they be round?” — Will Friedle (40:16)

The “Disney Princess” Reimagined (39:08–42:08)

• Discussion on how Kim Possible subverted the princess trope as a competent, popular, yet relatable hero.

  “She’s got Ariel’s hair...But at the same time, she’s a regular high school girl.” — Will (39:25)

• Ryder points out how Brick (his character) is the one in need of rescue—a gender-flip on classic tropes.

Origins & Impact of Kim Possible (42:09–48:16)

• Christy recounts Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle’s elevator pitch: “Kim Possible, she can do anything... Ron Stoppable, he can’t do anything.”

• Kim Possible made Disney Channel history by breaking the “65-episode rule,” thanks to overwhelming fan letter campaigns.

  “…We were the first show...picked up for a fourth season... solely based on a letter campaign that people wrote in saying they wanted more episodes of Kim Possible.” — Will (44:03)

• Insights into Disney Channel’s strategy of brand synergy and building tentpole talent across projects (Even Stevens, Raven, etc.).

Voice Acting Stories & Funko Pop Fame (54:08–69:35)

• Christy shares the hilarious memory of being “Screaming Fan” in a Backstreet Boys Sears commercial alongside Jenna Ushkowitz.

• The hosts and Christy discuss fan requests to record voicemail greetings as Kim or Ron, and how their voices and characters evolved over the seasons.

• Both Christy and Will reflect on being “forever” tied to their characters and the surprising (and sustained) cultural cachet of Kim Possible—Justin and Hailey Bieber cosplayed as Team Possible just last Halloween.

  "Are you surprised how much Kim Possible is in the mainstream zeitgeist now?... No...I think Y2K is still trending, and it’s wild that it is." — Christy (65:23–65:44)

• Christy discusses the positive legacy of Kim as a role model for young girls during a time when pop culture wasn’t always kind to women.

  “There wasn't a lot of really great female role models outside of you, Danielle. But...what we did was a service to a whole generation of young girls.” — Christy (66:00–66:39)

• Will describes the international reach of the show, including performing at the Royal Albert Hall for thousands of fans.

  “We hosted a show at Royal Albert Hall in London and the entire show was Kim Possible themed...It was really, really cool because it’s, you know, it’s kind of timeless.” — Will (68:54)

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Personal Updates & Closing Reflections (70:26–77:20)

Christy’s Recent Ordeal & Perspective (70:26–74:46)

• Christy opens up about her accidental shooting injury:

  “I actually got shot...it landed behind the eyeball. One millimeter...from anything critical that would have blinded this eye.” — Christy (71:06)

• Shares how the experience shifted her spiritual outlook and connected her with a community.
• Humorous moment as hosts imagine what Ron Stoppable would’ve said to Kim after the accident.

What’s Next for Christy (75:21–77:06)

• Christy is now living in Austin, working on a memoir to be released the following fall.
• Anticipates returning to conventions with Will and expresses gratitude and excitement about meeting fans in person.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On cultural confusion:

  “I thought goblins were only things that were statues.” — Danielle (13:27) “They’re gargoyles. Gargoyles!” — Will (14:17)

• On the legacy of Kim Possible:

  “You know how rare it is, especially nowadays, to have something that, you know, you can sit and watch with your kids and not have to worry...That’s one of the things Disney Channel did better than everybody else.” — Will (67:11)

• On the Backstreet Boys commercial:

  “We had to run after them all day long and scream...Was it really them? Yeah, it was really them.” — Christy (55:11)

• On international fame:

  “There’s a Saudi Arabian Brick flag. Like, he’s somewhere out there.” — Christy (68:31)

• On surviving a near-blinding accident:

  “When I went to the trauma surgeons, they were like, there’s multiple miracles at play here, but we can’t say they’re miracles.” — Christy (71:10)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Bad Movie Parenting & Troll 2: 04:16–13:06
• Kim Possible Cast Stories & Reunion: 20:20–25:01
• Animation & Character Design Insights: 32:09–40:16
• Disney Princess Reimagined & Trope Flips: 39:08–42:08
• Origins of Kim Possible & Disney Channel Synergy: 42:09–48:16
• Voice Acting Anecdotes & Cultural Impact: 54:08–69:35
• Christy’s Personal Update & Memoir Plans: 70:26–77:06

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a heartfelt, deeply funny, and revealing look at Disney Channel history and the legacy of Kim Possible through the eyes of those who made it. Christy Carlson Romano’s stories, the hosts’ rapport, and their perspectives on pop culture, fandom, and the enduring importance of positive female role models make for an episode packed with nostalgia, wisdom, and laughs. Whether you grew up with Boy Meets World, Kim Possible, or are new to the era, this episode is a must-listen for childhood TV fans.

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Transcript

[Christy Carlson Romano]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Christy Carlson Romano]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

Indy has reached a glorious age that I don't think I quite got here until way later, like maybe in my teens. But, man, kids are sophisticated. Indy's very sophisticated media savvy. He is now enjoying bad movies. We like watching horrible movies together. He's discovered the like. I think it's really empowering for kids, you know, when they realize, like, oh, it's okay that this is bad or that that's bad acting. Um, and so I had never seen this film, but there is a legendary bad movie called Troll 2.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Have you seen it, Will?

[Will Friedle]

I have not, but it is a legend. It is a absolute legend. Yes.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

We've watched it twice.

[Danielle Fishel]

Jensen has seen it.

[Ryder Strong]

We have now watched the documentary that the kid who was in the movie made in 2008, which is spectacular. I am telling you. This is like. I mean, I had heard about this forever. It's one of those, like, film geek things, like, oh, there's tons of bad movies. And then there's one that's like, so bad, but also so entertaining. And it's troll too. And so I was like, oh, Indy, you know, because he was like, I want to watch a bad movie. We're in this on this kick. And I'm like, let's do it. And Alex had never seen it. We laughed start to finish. And like, literally the next night, he's like, let's watch it again. And. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Were you lost because you hadn't seen the first one? Were you like, wait, I don't know who any of these characters are.

[Ryder Strong]

The best part is that this was. This is a movie about goblins. They never mentioned trolls once. Has no relation to Troll 1, apparently.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I haven't seen Troll 1.

[Danielle Fishel]

Are trolls and goblins interchangeable?

[Ryder Strong]

Well, according to this movie, but no, according to me. According to Will.

[Will Friedle]

No, of course not.

[Ryder Strong]

They're completely different creatures. Different tribes, different languages.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

I mean, exactly.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

What.

[Ryder Strong]

What system? It's like mixing leprechauns and trolls. It doesn't make any sense.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yeah. Thank you. Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

That clears it up for me.

[Ryder Strong]

So this. This film, it's so bonkers, you guys. It's basically, they go, this family, this little boy, is being haunted by the ghost of his dead grandfather, who's telling them that his family cannot go to this town because they're going to be eaten by the goblins there.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, so you got me, right?

[Ryder Strong]

And the goblins are eating people. And the whole movie is anti vegetarianism.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my God.

[Ryder Strong]

Apparently, the woman who wrote it, she's this. So it's an Italian couple that wrote it and directed it. And that's kind of goes a long way to explain why the movie is so weird, is that there was a language barrier. They were trying to communicate with these actors, American actors who had no idea what was going on. And if you watch the documentary, you get to see them, like, recreating what it was like directly. And you're like, oh, well, this is why this movie's so bad. But what makes it so great and like, the problem with most bad movies is that they get boring after a while because you could just see the, like, poor filmmaking. You can see, like, oh, they just got lazy. They gave up. They didn't get that shot. They didn't have the effects. This movie is so committed. It actually believes it's got an important thing to say about how vegetarians are awful and that these goblins who are turning people into trees in order to eat them. So even though the goblins are eating people, they're. They're vegetarians. That's. That's, like the weird, right?

[Will Friedle]

None of it makes it.

[Ryder Strong]

And then, like, from actor to actor, like, Some people, like, are so committed and believing that they're in like just a full on horror film that's like straight. And then other people are playing it so campy and over the top. Like they're in like a, you know, a kids movie that's like, whoa, it's so creepy. It is the most ridiculous. You will have so much fun.

[Will Friedle]

Is it the worst movie you've ever seen?

[Ryder Strong]

You know? No, I mean, that's the thing. It's the most entertaining bad movie I've ever seen. Like I. We laughed start to finish. We learned a lot. We talked a lot, like. And you know, I think, like I was saying, for Indy, it's empowering to be like, that person's a bad actor and be like, yeah, yeah, they really are, dude. And he's like. Cause no one talks like that.

[Will Friedle]

You're like, exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

And we just. We just had so much fun. And so now last night we started Mac and Me, which is like an ET Ripoff.

[Will Friedle]

The ET Ripoff, which is. Which is staggeringly badly won.

[Ryder Strong]

Staggeringly bad.

[Will Friedle]

With a McDonald's commercial. In the middle of McDonald's. In the middle.

[Ryder Strong]

They had a dance number at McDonald's.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, my God, I forgot one other crazy trivia about troll. Yeah. Okay, so first you mentioned the documentary. Michael Stevenson made a great doc. I gotta watch it.

[Ryder Strong]

It's beautiful. It's actually profound. I thought it was such a good documentary.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, the first Troll is a decent bad horror movie. Not like Troll 2. I've heard the first one's bad. The main character's name in Troll 1, Harry Potter. Oh, no. Really? Yep.

[Ryder Strong]

Could she have been inspired without.

[Will Friedle]

No, I think it's just weirdly coincidental.

[Ryder Strong]

Coincidence.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, that's awesome. That's what happens to Harry. He goes over to the dark arts and he becomes a troll. I love it. That's amazing.

[Danielle Fishel]

You mean a goblin?

[Will Friedle]

Exactly. Well, no, the first one's a troll. First one's a troll.

[Ryder Strong]

They moved to the town of Nilbog.

[Will Friedle]

Nilbog? Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

And you're sitting there going. And then the kid and you're like, well, it's goblin backwards. And the kid finally says, nilbog. It's goblin backwards.

[Will Friedle]

And we're like, well, we all saw.

[Ryder Strong]

It and we're like, that's why they couldn't change it to Goblin. They had to keep it troll. But then they were like, but it's too important that the.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

The.

[Ryder Strong]

The town they couldn't move to.

[Will Friedle]

Lore.

[Ryder Strong]

No, exactly.

[Will Friedle]

Lords.

[Ryder Strong]

Effective.

[Will Friedle]

Can I suggest your next bad movie for I'VE got one, too. I've got one, too. You go first. Here we go. Bird Demic.

[Ryder Strong]

Bird Demic.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

I'm so in.

[Will Friedle]

And I'm gonna throw rubber onto the. Oh, my God. Rubber's good, Will. What are you talking about? Rubber's bad. Good, though, Jensen. Oh, I just suggested a bad movie. Will suggested a good movie. That's crazy. You know what rubber's about, Ryder. Yes. It's so good.

[Ryder Strong]

Wait, that's the tire that's going. I heard that was, like, a great movie.

[Will Friedle]

It is. It is great. It is like a director who's, like, went on to do incredible things. It's a great. No, it's great, but it's. It's not a good movie.

[Ryder Strong]

It's a B movie. You're fine. You're just making, like, a good B movie. Yeah, I want a movie that's like.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, it's like, thought it was going. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Making something great. Really reaching and just doesn't get there because that's where it's so fun. I mean, even Mac and Me wasn't nearly as entertaining.

[Will Friedle]

Will suggested a movie that's actually pretty great. I suggested a movie that shows a scene where someone walks out of their house, gets in a car, drives to another place, and gets out of their car. And that's the entire scene. They don't talk, anything. Brilliant. That's the point. Entrances and exits, they say, make those longer in every film. That's the best way to do it. Okay, so Troll two.

[Ryder Strong]

Troll two. But then also, Will, you have to watch the documentary. It's one of the best documentaries about fandom and how people relate to, like, something that they were in that I've seen since Trekkies. Remember Trekkies?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Great movie.

[Ryder Strong]

It feels like that. And. And in the same way that Trekkies has that documentary where you're like, you are judging these people, but then you kind of start to feel sorry for them and, like, you kind of. You get emotionally invested in them. The Troll 2 documentary does the same thing with the actors. You watch them realize they were in a bad movie, come to terms with it. Some of them. Others completely not understand it. Some, like, it's. It's. And it's all being directed by the kid. So he, like, grew up thinking, like, I was in this movie. What was that all about? And then it became this sort of cult phenomenon. And he's trying to make this documentary, collecting the rest of the cast. And you really. I mean, like, it's. It has a little bit of a Pod meets world vibe to it, where it's like, what was I in? How do other people feel about it? How does the culture feel? And you watch these actors kind of go through. They start going to conventions and they think it's really cool. And then they kind of get addicted to needing the feedback of everyone loving this bad movie. And they're not quite. It's so interesting. It's a really great documentary.

[Will Friedle]

The only thing I would take umbrage with is judging the people from Trekkies. Because I started at Star Trek conventions when I was a kid. Gary and I would go. My oldest brother would take me, and we loved it. So it was like I was one of those people, right?

[Ryder Strong]

No, but you know how Trekkies, like, just let it roll on, like, the people being awkward or, like, socially. And it was clear that the director was like, this person's behavior is a little, you know, abnormal or just different than, like, what? And this.

[Will Friedle]

The.

[Ryder Strong]

The documentary for Troll 2 does the same thing. Like, just lets it rest. At first, you're like, kind of like, oh, my God, I can't believe that person said that. That's. That's hysterical. Or that's weird. And then you start to feel for them and you're like, no, I totally like. You get invested. It's beautiful. And are these children?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Are these both available somewhere to stream?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. I think Troll 2 is on HBO right now. Or maybe we rented it. We might have had to rent Troll 2. But the doc is available. I think the doc was available.

[Danielle Fishel]

Let's try to get Michael. Let's try to get Michael Stevenson on. Let's interview him. That'd be cool.

[Ryder Strong]

I love that.

[Will Friedle]

Is there a troll? Best, best, worst movie, by the way. Yeah. Okay. Is there a Troll three?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, I think so. I think so, but I haven't seen it.

[Will Friedle]

Is this one about elves? It's just never. Just. The first troll is just about trolls. Now, Danielle, tell us what you know about goblin society.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think goblins are small.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

But I don't know, you know, that's. I think goblins have pointy ears.

[Ryder Strong]

No.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. I thought goblins were only things that were statues.

[Ryder Strong]

Those are golems or. You mean goblins.

[Will Friedle]

No, you're talking about. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

They did, like, you thinking is goblin.

[Will Friedle]

They did a whole cartoon about him. Gotham, they're called.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're outside of libraries. That's what I'm thinking of. That's not a goblin.

[Will Friedle]

No, that's a.

[Ryder Strong]

None of us can think of this.

[Will Friedle]

Why do we not think of this word. No, it's not a. There's no chance I'm helping you. This is way too funny. You guys know what I'm talking about. Of course. I have the same thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Goblins, they have little. They have sharp nails, pointy ears, hunched backs. And there's statues outside of, like, banks.

[Ryder Strong]

Those statues that come to life.

[Will Friedle]

They're not called goblins.

[Ryder Strong]

Those are called Easton.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

They're goblins.

[Ryder Strong]

No, they're not.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, they are. That's why you guys can't remember.

[Will Friedle]

I'll do it. They're gargoyles. Gargoyles. Thank you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, well, I think a goblin is a gargoyle.

[Will Friedle]

No, no, no.

[Ryder Strong]

Gargoyles fly. Gargoyles are statues. Gargoyles guard things. Yeah, no, goblins are. You know, they tend to live underground. They have round heads.

[Will Friedle]

They live underground. They're short. They're about, usually warriors. A lot to do with smelting metal, usually.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're like rider.

[Ryder Strong]

They're sort of like the evil dwarves. They're like the opposite of dwarves. They're always at war with dwarves and.

[Will Friedle]

Or elves.

[Ryder Strong]

Or elves.

[Will Friedle]

Right. Yeah. Goblins. Goblins are usually pretty. They're. They're kind of always. They're. They're the bad guy. If you're really a goblinist. That's the thing.

[Ryder Strong]

That's the problem.

[Will Friedle]

There's a lot of people out there that deal in goblinism that I'm not a big fan of. Just, like, don't judge a book by its cover, people. That's all I'm saying.

[Danielle Fishel]

This is fascinating.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Welcome to pod meets world. I'm Danielle Fishel.

[Ryder Strong]

I'm Ryder Strong.

[Will Friedle]

And I'm Brachta Martos. It's my goblin name. I'm Will.

[Danielle Fishel]

You mean your gargoyle name?

[Will Friedle]

I. Pretty language. Gargoyle name. Gargoyle name.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Learn [e-mail] world that's spelled try n o m.com world introducing new Caesar Warm Bowls an exciting feeding experience for dogs and pet parents. Warm Bowls are made with fresh vegetables and real chicken as the number one ingredient and can be served as a complete and balanced meal or used to enhance kibble. As a topper, just warm it up in the microwave for 10 seconds to enhance the flavor and unlock the aroma of the product. Warm Bowls transform mealtime into moments of shared joy by providing irresistible taste and exceptional variety that all dogs will love. Choose from two flavors roasted chicken with sweet potatoes and broccoli or slow cooked chicken and beef with vegetables and a hint of cranberry. Your dog is an important part of your life, so treating them with the love they deserve means serving them meals they will love. Designed to be mess free, Warm bowls are an exciting new way for pet parents to elevate everyday meal experiences. Shop New Caesar Warmbulls online and in stores today.

[Will Friedle]

Stop settling for weak sound. It's time to level up your game and bring the boom. Hit the town with The Ultra Durable LG XBoom Portable speaker and enjoy vibrant sound wherever you go. Elevate your listening experience to new heights because, let's be real, your music deserves it. The future of sound is now with LG XBoom and for a limited time, save [e-mail] with code Fall25.

[Danielle Fishel]

Bring the boom XBOOM Parents, let's talk snacks. If your mornings look anything like mine, you're reheating the same cup of coffee for the third time. One kid can't find his water cup and the other is crying because their socks feel too spicy. That's why Mott's no Sugar Added applesauce pouches are perfect to have nearby. These things are clutch made with real apples, no Sugar added and the pouch. Genius. It's mess free and perfect for the car, the lunchbox or after school activities. This is a snack you can feel good about and a good source of vitamin C too. Just tasty applesauce your kids will actually want to eat. The other day I handed one to my kid during rush hour traffic. Instant silence. He went from feral raccoon to calm librarian in two squeezes flat. Trust me, your future self will thank you Motts. Real apples make real good applesauce. Learn [e-mail] youm know, if you can find joy in the small moment, life will always be that much more fun.

[Ryder Strong]

That's what hello's oral and personal care products are all about. They take the mundane of every day and inject it with some everyday yay.

[Will Friedle]

Take hello's Anti Plaque and Whitening Fluoride Free Toothpaste for instance. It will brighten your routine and delight your senses with a formula that's equal parts fresh, friendly and has plaque fighting power.

[Danielle Fishel]

Or see the difference that a whitening toothpaste powered by vitamin C can do for your smile with hello's Vitamin C Whitening Fluoride Toothpaste with thoughtful and fun.

[Ryder Strong]

Products that can make brushing your teeth feel like a confetti filled bathroom dance party.

[Will Friedle]

So say hello to happy to making the most of every moment.

[Danielle Fishel]

Say hello to a vegan, cruelty free and never tested on animals toothpaste.

[Ryder Strong]

And say so long to dyes, parabens, artificial sweeteners and flavors and other things you can do without.

[Will Friedle]

Visit helloproducts.com and let hello add some everyday Yay into your life.

[Danielle Fishel]

Sometimes it's difficult for Ryder and me to accept the fact that our best friend here, Will, has any other friends or co workers. How can that be more than us? How does he have time in between thinking about us? Come on. But we have to admit it. He's been in other things and made other friends. He was Batman for goodness sake. He probably even knows the Joker. Well, earlier this week we dug into one of those projects. And now we dig into one of those friends. Will is beloved for his work on the animated show Kim Possible, for which we just recapped an episode. And yes, in addition to Eric Matthews, he will also always be known as Ron Stoppable. And a part of that lore will always include his co star, the icon. The uber cool high school student by day, globetrotting crime fighter by night, Kim Possible. She was an incredibly rare female heroine in the 2000s, giving hope to girls everywhere that they could be both the relatable main character, yet an extraordinary leader at the same time. And the show has withstood the test of time. Almost as popular today on Disney plus as it was during its Disney Channel run. Just ask the Biebers, a family who dressed up as Team Possible just last Halloween. And so to analyze Kim Possible even more this week, we're talking to the hero herself. Capable, confident, stress free, and ready to save the day. I'm talking about the guest now, not Kim Possible. This week on Pod Meets World, let's welcome Christy Carlson Romano.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Oh, my God, I won the Pod guys, welcome.

[Danielle Fishel]

Christy. Thank you so much for joining us. Our little Kim Possible reunion. We had realized that Ryder and I were criminally uneducated when it came to the show, so we're digging in. But once we realized Ryder was on, seemed like the. The perfect time to recap.

[Will Friedle]

It didn't matter that I was on it. Just that ride, they're like, oh, my God, Ryder's on the show. Let's recap it. I was like, yeah, both of us. I was on it once or twice.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thirds of us are in something. It feels like we absolutely have to cover it.

[Will Friedle]

I think that's fair. I think. Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And you know, Kim Possible was so good about casting, like, so many great people. Right. Like, we've talked about it at cons and just like, we got really lucky.

[Will Friedle]

We had insane guest stars like Ricardo, especially the villains. I mean, it was. Well, I mean, what. Elliot Gould played my dad, Jean Smart was your mom. Ricardo Montalban played one of the. I mean, it was like one after another of these incredible people that we never got to meet.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah. That was the only crappy part was.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Having the community of Kim Possible than not actually knowing. Yeah. Like, Ryder, you were a consistent character. Like Brick was in almost every episode. I feel like.

[Ryder Strong]

No, I think I only did. I don't know how many I did, but. But I actually met you. You were the only cast member I met because we met in New York at a recording session because we were both. Yeah, we were both recording in New York. Right. Because you were. Were you going to school there or you were just living there?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, I went to Columbia at the time.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. So that's the thing.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

What?

[Ryder Strong]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

You guys didn't know that you were at Columbia together?

[Ryder Strong]

I remember. I just couldn't remember if you were at NYU at Columbia, but I remember the idea that was like, oh, we're both recording remotely, but we didn't actually record together. We just passed each other in the hallway and I was like, oh, you're Kim. And I was like, I don't know what this show is. I just know Will's on it. But I guess Kim's a big part. Nice to meet you. And we. We met. So when did you guys meet? When did. Actually. In person.

[Will Friedle]

The. For the last. Did we audition together? Did we do an audition together at the end? Or did we just go straight in and record the pilot together? I can't remember.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I think that there was like, what they called, like, an animatic where they were testing out at least me in like, a scene, but then you were in the scene, so I just don't remember if your voice was already attached to that.

[Will Friedle]

I can't remember because I know they were looking for both. I mean, I. I know that for Ron there was a. The people that they brought in was. Were like John Cena apparently read to play. Ron, stop.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Really?

[Will Friedle]

A joke. Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

There's a lot of lore surrounding that.

[Will Friedle]

There is. Neil Patrick Harris was another one. Apparently. There was like, this long list of people.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I can see him being a good option.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, he probably would have been better. Let's.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, let's be honest. I think he would have. It would have been more musical, that's for sure.

[Ryder Strong]

He could have been singing.

[Will Friedle]

That's what I'm saying. It was certainly. I sang. I did a couple songs for Kim. Did you really?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I did, yeah. Naked Mole Rap, ladies and gentlemen.

[Will Friedle]

Naked Mole Rap was great. Yeah. But no, I did an actual song too, with John DiMaggio. We did a Christmas song together. Ron and Draken. Yeah, Ron and Drakken did a Christmas song together, which was. Which was really funny.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

But no, I don't remember. I don't remember when we actually met the first time, but. And then we recorded the pilot together, maybe one episode. And then I don't think I ever saw you again.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

No, come on. We saw each other more than that. I think we saw each other maybe a handful of times.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, but you were in New York recording, and I was always with Nicole Sullivan and Johnny DiMaggio who were shooting Drakken. Yeah, Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I saw you the most of everybody. And now. Now we can't get enough of each other.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, exactly.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

You know, we've had podcasts.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. You were my first. This is my. I feel like I'm cheating on you with my. It's like I'm with my new podcast family with my old. Like my first wife, and it's like, oh, hey.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Hi.

[Will Friedle]

We did I hear voices together, which was the first podcast I'd ever done.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And so I feel like I'm your side piece. So.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now, Christie, it was a little bit difficult to fully confirm online, but was Kim possible your first ever voiceover gig?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

It was not. I mean a lot of us who grew up in the biz in New York specifically too, like we were pushed into so many different little rooms, dark rooms and like I did jingles, I did books on tape when I was in New York. I did, I definitely did. I did some really wackadoo. A show on Nickelodeon called Innie and Outie. Google it if you want to get scarred. Oh, when Nickelodeon did a lot of like, you know, the big help in the 90s, they did a lot of like really wacky shows. They still do. But it was like two little girls stomachs and like it was. One was an innie and one was an outie and the actresses would move their bellies to make it talk so.

[Will Friedle]

That action bellies, like actual live action bellies with.

[Danielle Fishel]

Were you the voice of the innie or the Audi?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I don't remember. But just a Chico was the other.

[Ryder Strong]

Was, was the other belly button. But it wasn't your real belly button. You didn't have to.

[Danielle Fishel]

She was not the live action voice.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And hopefully they were not minor belly buttons. You know, I mean like, I think that it was like grown up stomachs.

[Will Friedle]

How would you audition for this, for the live action belly?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Like you would get called Nickelodeon Studios and it was in, it was in Times Square back then.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

You would just go up and they would have the wacky elevators with the.

[Ryder Strong]

I want to know how that pitch meeting went. Like what executive developed at Nickelodeon. You know, we need belly button.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

You know what's going on sober. No way.

[Will Friedle]

You know why? You know what a lot of that is from though? Do you remember one of the biggest commercials at the time was the whistling belly button with the song. Oh, I forget the song. But it became big and it was. What's her name from Sopranos was the one singing the song that was coming out of the belly button.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Jamie Lynn.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, it was Jamie Lynn, I think he was who was singing the belly, the belly button song. And it's like whistling and it became one of the biggest commercials of like the late 90s early aughts. So I bet you that had something to do with and, and everyone will know exactly when, when they see it they'll know exactly the commercial that I'm talking about. And I, I, oh, it's. I'm coming Out I want the world to know. And she's singing that. It's the belly button. Singing that as it's going.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my gosh.

[Will Friedle]

And that became a huge thing. I'm coming out. Yeah. And eventually they went cartoon.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I see Jamie often. She lives in Austin here where I live.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, really? Okay.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah. And she's a sweetheart. And actually we were both Belle on Broadway, so there's a lot of, as.

[Ryder Strong]

People know, bell and belly button.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, my God.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Belly and me. And there you go. So.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Man.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, you were already a Disney Channel mainstay with live action stuff. Even Stevens and Cadet Kelly. Were they trying to plug you into a lot of other Disney projects or how did Kim Possible come to you?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I feel like at that point, Kim was like the cherry on top. And I don't think I could have committed to doing anything else because I was still, you know, I was still trying to get into college. And so it was like my dance card was full. So, like, during the week it would be even Stevens. And then after hours, I chose not to do tutoring on set. So I would go home and do the education portion of my day. So it was like I would still clock in 13 hour days every day. And then on the weekends, it would be my Kim Possible recording prior to me leaving in New York. So there was about a good, I want to say, six months of me doing Kim in la, which is where probably I saw you a couple times.

[Will Friedle]

Wait a second, Wait a second. You can opt out of doing set school and do it at home. I didn't even know that was an option.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yes, it was. When we. When it came to us, being as convicted as my mom was is like, Christie's getting into, you know, a good school. Yeah. I don't know.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, interesting.

[Will Friedle]

So then you. You were essentially homeschooled while you were also doing. Also acting and everything.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Aggressively homeschooled, by the way. Like, there was still like, SAT prep and stuff. And I like TAs from UCLA or. Yeah, that would come for individual subjects. So they were like, you know, it was just kind of like as if you were in AP classes. But I think that they also logged my hours, which is probably was the workaround for that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, right.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah. So I would recommend it, to be honest. I would recommend it because I just think that when we're on set, especially as young people are like, it's hard to be present and then get pulled into, try and learning stuff. So I don't know. I think it's a good work.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Keeping Them separate. Sounds like a great idea.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. I didn't. Again, I didn't even know that was a thing. I didn't even know you could do that. It's a great option.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's not as time efficient because there's obviously lots of downtime on a set. And so it does make sense that you're like, well, I could be learning during this downtime. But you're right that, like, you go back and you've got 20 minutes, and you get really into something, and then all of a sudden, they're like, we need you on set.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And you're like, all right, I guess.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'll put this down for 45 minutes and I'll come back to it. And it's hard to kind of switch that on and off. But, you know, it does seem like it would be better for your schooling if you could just commit to the, you know, solid chunk of time.

[Will Friedle]

I don't know.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

The writer and I both ended up at the same school, so it worked out.

[Ryder Strong]

It worked out.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Exactly. Geez.

[Danielle Fishel]

So when was the first time you saw your character design for Kim Possible? She is such a cool Y2K, like, cool girl aesthetic.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

She does, doesn't she?

[Danielle Fishel]

She's so cool.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Let's see if you're looking at video. Yeah. Kim. I saw her once. I. I think I saw her in the animatic because they wanted me to see if I could do that adr. I think that was one of the bigger tests, was like, she's young. You know, I was actually the age of the character, so they were just like, can she actually navigate the tech of this? And they were really great at directing. You know, we had Chris as our first director. Will be.

[Will Friedle]

Chris Bailey was our first director. Yep.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And then Lisa Schaefer after him. But Chris was really patient, and so they really brought me into the fold and gave me a shot like a true shot, not like a. You know, we love Alyson Hannigan, and we kind of really want, you know, a veteran celebrity here. But it was more like this freshness. Right. Where Kim, I think, spoke like and defined a whole generation. And so, having been a part of that, I'm very protective of it, and I'm so honored to have played it because I was her age, and, like, I was going through a lot of that stuff, and they would ask me questions about, like, where she worked. Club Banana was based on where I shopped at, which was, like, Club Monaco. And I think they paired it with Banana Republic.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, exactly.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Club Banana. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's so true.

[Will Friedle]

And then for people out there listening who don't know, an animatic, by the way, is before they actually will fully animate a cartoon or animated series in any way, shape or form, they'll do something called an animatic, which is usually can be anywhere from 90 seconds to sometimes two or three minutes long. It's usually sometimes nothing more than really pencil sketch that they will animate and allow to do voiceover for as well. So you can kind of get the vibe of what the show's gonna be without putting in all of the pencil mileage, without painting, without doing everything. That takes forever. Cause, you know, we record an episode and then they'll send it to wherever it's being animated. A lot of times it's in Asia. Ireland has become big with it now. And that episode will disappear for eight, nine months a year, you know, sometimes more. And then it comes back, and then you clean it up again. You do an ADR process, You do more dialogue there. It's like, oh, when we recorded this a year ago, you and I were yelling at each other because we're supposed to be standing across this giant cavern. And now they animated it where we're standing in the same room. So obviously us screaming at each other doesn't make any sense. So you got to go in and kind of fix it up again. But the animatic, I think, was it. Was it Steve Loder who did all the animatics too? I mean, I think he probably very.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

In house at that point, I think, like, you know, and then I do remember seeing more artwork when I went over to the animation building in Burbank. And that was when I got to meet Eugene, who's one of our beautifully eccentric old school Disney 2D animators, I guess, imagineers, because they treat them differently at Disney, the animation gets to have sideburns and tattoos and earrings and stuff. Whereas when you're not an imagineer, you have to have a very. Or they used to. I think maybe they're. But it used to be very strict, like dress coding for work. And corporate culture was very different at that time. But when we went over there to see all this different artwork, it hit me that I was like part of something really major and I was just really excited.

[Danielle Fishel]

So when was the first time you also heard the theme song, which is done by Christina Milian? It is so much better than it needed to be, but the way it has stuck around it is so good.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Yeah, it is far better than it should have been for our. For our Little animated series. Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

When I was getting ready today, I was thinking about the fact that, like, there's no way to thank her for how important, like, what kind of contribution she made to the show. There's just no way to thank her. She. She owns it a little bit, but she's not like, super nostalgic because she has a full, you know, she's catalog for JLO and like everything else. So. But I know she knows that it's like one of the things that is dear to her heart. Right? And. But. But there's. She really is one of the. Because she was in every episode too, with that song. She's like a character in the show without even, like, it being.

[Will Friedle]

It was iconic that it was starting with. I mean, again, I was at a convention this weekend with Ryder, and across the room I heard the deep Dee Dee Dee, which is the start of the thing. And I looked up and you just get that visceral like, oh, God, Kim's calling, or Wade's calling, whatever. And I talked to the girl who had it. She's like, oh, God, this has been my ringtone since 2003. She's like, every new phone I get, every new. Everything she said, I can hear it over everything. You know, maybe half the time my phone goes off somewhere. Somebody comes up to me and goes, oh, my God, the Kim Possible ringtone. It's just very.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, we were actually all in Columbus together, Will, Ryder and myself, and we were with our dear friend Joey, and we were sitting there having breakfast or lunch, I don't remember. And all of a sudden, from across the room, we're like, is that a Kim Possible theme song? And then we, like, started looking around thinking, did. Are they doing it because they know Will is here? Nope. No glances toward us, Nothing. We were like, how do we. How do we do this? So Ryder and I got up and maybe Joey was the one who said it. I think Joey went over and he.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Was like, is that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Is that the Kim Possible theme song from your phone? She's like, oh, yeah, I absolutely love it. And Will came over and did the voice of Ron for them, and they lost their minds.

[Ryder Strong]

So fun.

[Will Friedle]

It was fun. Middle of a restaurant. Just like some restaurant.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Not like at the con. No. Oh, wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

Not even. Nope. Not even at the con. Just in life, it happened randomly and it was cool.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

So cool.

[Danielle Fishel]

Was the voice that you did for Kim, Was it always the voice or had you tried other things?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, I would say that it was very nuanced. And of course my voice did End up changing, which I'm sure we'll talk about. But when I started it, I probably approached it very bubbly. But then what ended up happening with our first director was they were like, we need Kim to be like, action ready and sarcastic and sort of witty and dry. I've always been a really great. Oh, gosh, Will, help me out. What do they call it? Not the dry man. The straight man.

[Will Friedle]

Straight man.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Straight man. Straight man. Yes. So that's, like, my thing, and I can come off a little bit. I'm really good at being cast as, like, a B. Or, like, in general. I've been cast as that sometimes. Or like.

[Will Friedle]

Well, even Stevens. I mean, even Stevens. They put you next to Shia. Yeah. Or Cadet Kelly.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I was a straight man to Shia, and I think they wanted a little bit more of that to Will's Ron. And I think that's why we paired so well vocally, because my. And so, yeah, I think over the years, I became more sarcastic, more dry. But they were always very quick to be like, hey, don't come off. You don't come off like, you're. You can't stand Ron. Yeah. And so they. They wanted her to be a hero, you know, but also be a really smart person. Smart girl.

[Will Friedle]

Well, they went out of their way to that where the. The father is a rocket scientist and the mother's a brain surgeon.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, that was so.

[Will Friedle]

It was like. That's what they're supposed to do is you're supposed. She's supposed to be like the. The. The daughter of these two incredibly bright people who. Your dad is Gary Cole and your mom is Jean Smart.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And you know what I loved about them in watching our episode that we watched for this is just like, how real they played it. Like, Gary Cole was still cracking dad jokes, but then he would, like, talk about a satellite.

[Will Friedle]

He always. He's Gary Cole, too. He always. He's just got that kind of. Well, I don't know, Ronald. He's just Gary, you know, it's so funny.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And he was actually in Cadet Kelly, too, guys. So I had actually been with him that whole summer, I think, before we really got into filming him. And I knew his voice. Oh, yeah, it's so great.

[Will Friedle]

Very iconic voice.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

But, you know, Jean Smart, I think I met once while we were digi lucky.

[Will Friedle]

I never got a chance to meet her.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I know. In passing. And she was just such a class act. And she was in Designing Women, right?

[Will Friedle]

Yes.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Okay. So I grew up watching Designing Women, and that's how I Knew her.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Yeah. She with Delta Burke and everybody else. Dixie Carter, Jean smart, Delta Bird. Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I mean, I didn't realize just how iconic she was.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, she's really glad. Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yes. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

When you think of Kim, how do you like, how would you describe who Kim Possible is?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Oh, wow. Fierce, loyal, fair inclusive. Really warm and loving. Yeah. Self sacrificing. Yeah, those things.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Will Friedle]

I love. Well, she's the Disney. I mean, she's the thing they did so well. But it's so weird is in any other circumstance, she's the Disney princess. I mean, she's got Ariel's hair. I mean, it's like. But at the same time, she's a regular high school girl. It's like take one of those Disney princesses and just put them in high school for every day. And that's Kim Possible.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Well, and our animators actually drew Belle and Drew different.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

So I think they were modeling her.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, that's interesting. I didn't really. So they. You think they consciously did that? They were like, we're gonna take the look of a Disney princess but completely change the character because she.

[Will Friedle]

I think so. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Certainly not like the typical Disney princess. She's a complete action star.

[Will Friedle]

And midriff, like showing the midriff and all their hips.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah. Like they modernized a Disney princess silhouette. Right. Like they definitely. They were trying to do something unique and they achieved it and. Right.

[Will Friedle]

Remember we were just at the convention with Steve and we. When we did that panel, Steve said that there was meeting after meeting after meeting about her breasts. Like the shape of her. Should they be pointy, should they be round? Should they be. I mean, this is, you know, a bunch of people sitting in a room talking about. And a 16 year old animated character's silhouette.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Creepy at all. But.

[Will Friedle]

Right. I mean, just that's. But it shows you the amount of meetings that they have in these. We remember, you know, one of the things being like talking to the Mark McCorkle and, and Bob Schooley about who are the creators of the show about, you know, her outfit. And they're like, yeah, we, we have to have like hundreds of meetings if we want to change her shirt where. So they'll, you know, that's why she's. She wears that. What she's wearing in the picture behind Christie right now. She wears that. She wears her cheerleading outfit. That's it for like the entire series right until the end where they're like, look, we want to switch it up. We want to put her in different things. But then everything has to be reanimated, they have to do different kind of. It's weird. They're doing clothing wardrobe fittings on an animated character.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah. I think that in this episode that we watched, they also. She also has her streetwear outfit, which is like, she. Yeah, she had, like, a white shirt and green pants or something.

[Will Friedle]

Okay. But it was a major deal if they wanted to change this animated character shirt was like, meetings.

[Ryder Strong]

Because I do think that it was pretty revolutionary to have, like, a girl superhero. Right. Or a girl hero at the time. I feel like now it's kind of standard. But it is interesting to me the way that they sort of made her kind of perfect. You know, she's everything. She's a cheerleader, popular, and a hero. And, like, I also, you know, going back to the princess thing, like, I had the conscious thought, I was like, well, Brick, is the princess being saved by Kim in this? Like, he's the one in peril, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

That you take the jock and you. The big football jock, and he's the one tied up that she's got to save. Do you guys remember, like, what was the initial pitch beyond the story points? Like, what was like, oh, I know this one well.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

So the. The guys, Bob and Mark, great story. They were going up to pitch something else, I believe, right? Or. No, they left after a pitch.

[Will Friedle]

No, no, no, no. I think they were going up, weren't they? This story. Now, again, everyone hears these stories. It's like the Michael Jacobs stories about I knew this or I knew. So we've heard this story a hundred times, but who knows?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Well, yeah, panels and. Oh, no. But when did Bob and Mark tell us this? I don't even remember.

[Will Friedle]

I think they've. I think they said it on the. On the DVD commentary, too. And I think they've told us this a number of times. So tell the story. We're dying.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Sorry, Sorry. Okay, sorry. So basically, they were going up to the Disney Channel building where Garry Marsh was awaiting them. Gary Marsh was a longtime president and then global president of Disney Channel. He's pretty much the reason why Disney broke through for so long in the golden era, so to speak.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And he mentored a bunch of us young girls at the time. He was a really great guy. Anyway, so they were going up to him, and, you know, I think Bob looks at Mark or Mark looks at Bob, and he goes, she's Kim possible. She can do anything. And the other looked at the. At him, and he goes, he's Ron Stoppable, and he can't do anything.

[Will Friedle]

That was it. They literally looked.

[Ryder Strong]

So they just literally said those names to each other.

[Will Friedle]

And they were like in an elevator, apparently by themselves, totally silent. One turned to the other and said, kim Possible. She can do anything. And the other one turned back and said, ron Stoppable. He can.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And then they went. Went upstairs. They pitched it somehow. And then that was it. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. And that was it.

[Ryder Strong]

So it's names.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, it is.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

That's what. It's branding at the time. I mean, when you think about it. But I know that we were the first show in the history of Disney Channel and this is pre. The Internet, the first show to be picked up for a fourth season because Disney Channel had the 65 and out rule. So you hit three seasons and you're done.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, Even seasons was. Was a part of that. Like, we kicked out. And then I think Raven was the first live action.

[Will Friedle]

Live action. Yep. And ours was the first show on the entire Disney Channel. And it was solely based on letter. A letter campaign that people wrote in saying they wanted more episodes of Kim Possible. No Internet, nothing. Just handwritten letters. We want more Kim Possible. I think there was a petition and they brought it back for a fourth season.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

Which is really cool. And then we did a movie, which was great. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

How was the movie? How did the movie. When did they pitch the movie idea to you?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Oh, gosh, we did multiple movies. We did.

[Will Friedle]

We. Oh, wait, wait. I guess that's right. I guess a stitch. Well, what they would do is they would do three or four episodes in a row that was one storyline, and then package it as a movie.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, that's how they did the movies.

[Will Friedle]

Well, I think A Stitch in Time was done that way, but I think so the drama was done as a movie, I believe so. I think so. What they'll do is they'll say, hey, we're gonna do four episodes in a row that are this one storyline, and then we'll package that as a movie.

[Danielle Fishel]

Do they do that because there's some financial benefit to that.

[Will Friedle]

There must be. There must be something. But then we thought the series was over and so they were going to end with so the drama.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

When you do voiceover work, you're paid per session, and, you know, that was a little bit of a thing that we did back and forth on. And I think some people in the cast were really good about standing their ground on, you know, different seasons and renegotiating. And I'm, like, really grateful to that because I hadn't. I was just Happy to be there and. But in the end, I think we got paid pretty fairly and like, we had really great morale with Lisa and Bob and Marco. We all loved each other, even from.

[Will Friedle]

Well, we're still friends with all them. I talk to Lisa all the time and Lisa directed me then in Guardians of the Galaxy and Batman. I mean, there's a number of things that I've worked with Lisa on. She did Big Hero 6, which she brought you on as well.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, that's right.

[Will Friedle]

They're great. But yeah, there was. I mean, especially under the Garry Marsh regime in Disney Channel history, they. Synergy. We always joke about the Disney synergy, but especially on the channel, synergy was hugely important. So it's like that's what they want to do is they want to take, you know, a star like a Raven. You know, a perfect example is somebody like Raven, who's so multitalented. And it's like, okay, we want you to star in your own sitcom. And then we want to do an animated series with you. And then we want to do the Cheetah Girls with you. It's like, what can we do to build the brand? And you saw this with Miley Cyrus and you saw this with Christie and I mean, it's. That's. What they're trying to do is build the brand as much as. And that's all. That was all Garry Marsh. And I think I feel like you.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

The old school Hollywood, like Mickey Mouse Club, studio system, contract player. And it worked. It worked.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, it did. Especially with Disney Channel. Who, who legitimately would say we can't pay you. What other studios would pay you? Yeah, because we don't have the money. And when, you know, when Fox or Paramount. Well, no, but that's the thing is when Fox or Paramount says we don't have the money, you go, come on, you're making hundred million dollar movies. Disney Channel was always kind of its own little entity in the world of Disney. So they were making $400,000 movies, $1 million movies, $1.5 million movies. Now with zombies, the last zombies movie was $40 million.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Shut up.

[Will Friedle]

So that, I mean, they're obviously now in that rarefied air, but before, back in the day, when they're like, we don't have the money, they kind of didn'.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, Disney had the money. Disney Channel.

[Will Friedle]

Disney Channel did get it.

[Danielle Fishel]

And they are separate companies.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, correct, Correct. That was, it was, it was two very different things. But they were always.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I'm sorry, I just can't get over that. Zombies was $40 million, $40 million.

[Will Friedle]

And the next Descendants, I'm sure, will be even bigger than that because they're pulling in huge numbers and streaming and they're trying to get people to their platform.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

They're also. Disney doesn't really exist anymore. Disney Channel proper. I mean, you guys can confirm this, but I think it's Disney branded partners.

[Will Friedle]

It is. And like, Disney XD is gone. Disney. Yeah. So the technical dcom is probably gone, but it's. They're now just huge tentpole movies on these. The days of Brink and the smaller Even Steven.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Like Even Steven and My Date with the President's Daughter.

[Will Friedle]

Well, no, that was. That was Wonderful World of Disney. That was abc. That was a different. That's a whole different brand.

[Danielle Fishel]

There are so many umbrellas and so many different names.

[Will Friedle]

Chances are everything is owned by Disney. By the way, Christy, you. You have the distinction, which we've talked about, a magical rewind of still having the kiss that does not belong on the Disney Channel in the Even Stevens movie. What? Oh, yeah, because everybody else, there's like Disney Channel kisses.

[Ryder Strong]

It's like, kiss, kiss, kiss.

[Will Friedle]

Christy grabs Josh Keaton and shoves her tongue down this man's throat. And we're like, sitting there watching and we're like, oh, that's not a Disney Channel kiss at all. What the. Yeah, it was very good. You still have that.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

As we were dating at that time. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

They were together and they forgot that they were filming a Disney Channel here.

[Danielle Fishel]

On boy meets world. Mr. Will Friedle with one Love Hewitt.

[Will Friedle]

Exactly. It was that kind of kiss.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Thank you.

[Will Friedle]

It was. It was that kind of kiss.

[Danielle Fishel]

I have receipts.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Good. Good. I'm with her. I'm too.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

That's what Hello's oral and personal care products are all about. They take the mundane of every day and inject it with some everyday yay.

[Will Friedle]

Take hello's Anti Plaque and Whitening Fluoride Free toothpaste for instance. It will brighten your routine and delight your senses with a formula that's equal parts fresh, friendly and has plaque fighting power.

[Danielle Fishel]

Or see the difference that a whitening toothpaste powered by vitamin C can do for your smile with hello's Vitamin C Whitening Fluoride Toothpaste with thoughtful and fun.

[Ryder Strong]

Products that can make brushing your teeth feel like a confetti filled bathroom dance party.

[Will Friedle]

So say hello to Happy to making the most of every moment.

[Danielle Fishel]

Say hello to a vegan cruelty free and never tested on animals toothpaste and.

[Ryder Strong]

Say so long to dyes, parabens, artificial sweeteners and flavors and other things you can do without.

[Will Friedle]

Visit helloproducts.com and let hello add some everyday yay into your life.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Christy Carlson Romano]

You can Google this, because I did get tagged and asked about it. By the way, Ryder, you're still quiet. Are you okay?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. There's too many of us. If I jump in every time, it's.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Gonna be always this cry.

[Will Friedle]

Yes. Yes. During interviews. Yes. This is Ryder.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

He's a thinker. He's a thinker.

[Danielle Fishel]

He is. He's soaking it all in.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

That was back in New York, right before I did the pilot for Even Stevens. I got cast with Jenna Uskowitz, who's from Glee. Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, we know Jenna. Yeah, we've done a pod swap with Jenna Uskowitz.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

She was a baby. She's younger than I am, and we had done some, like, Broadway kid things back in New York, and so we just knew each other. And then we ended up all getting cast in this strange. I think it was Marshalls Sears, and it was their Millennium Tour, and Larger Than Life is playing, and we're chasing these guys, and we were featured extras, essentially. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

You had a name screaming fan.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

There you go, screaming. And so we ran after them all day long. We had to run after them and scream and, like, was it really them?

[Will Friedle]

Was it really the Backstreet Boys in the commercial. Wow.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, it was really them. You can see very clearly. And then. And then I have a picture with them and with Jenna and all the other.

[Danielle Fishel]

Have you seen the Millennium Tour show at Sphere?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I saw that. It's happening.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And I want to say, like, I've definitely chatted with some of the guys over the years and seen them and stuff, and I'm like, if I go, it's gonna. It would be amazing.

[Will Friedle]

It's an incredible show. As somebody who's not. I mean, I like them all as people. They're great guys, but, you know, obviously I'm not the demographic for their music, but, man, what a show.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

It was so happy for them. I'm so happy for them. It was great.

[Will Friedle]

Really a wonderful way to spend a night. It really was.

[Danielle Fishel]

So since we're on this 2000s millennium tour backstreet Boys section of the interview, I thought a very dated question I might be able to ask you is, did people ever ask you to record their voicemail messages in character?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I think I had that listed when I first doing Comic Cons because I heard that Tom Kenny did it.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And then Gary Mariano, who's another Gary at Disney, he was like our biggest PR guy. He would have people do his voicemails. So he had Goofy and he had, you know, Jim Cummings. And so, yeah, I think I did that for a few, but I don't do it anymore. But that would be fun, wouldn't it?

[Will Friedle]

I just did one last weekend. As. As Ron Stoppable or. No. At a convention, somebody came up and they said, we record my voice. No, as. As Ron.

[Danielle Fishel]

So I'm, you know, hey, you know.

[Will Friedle]

Jen's not here right now. Leave a message.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Boo.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, like, that kind of thing. It was all really funky.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

So, yeah, I will say that Kim's voice is just my customer service voice. And I. I tend to agree.

[Will Friedle]

That makes sense. Whereas that's one of the things I really noticed, and we talked about this in. In the episode when we recapped the Kim Possible episode is my voice changes so much from the. From starting. Ron. Ron Season one is essentially just me. Like, come on, kp. You gotta, like. And by the end, I'm all the way up here, and he's so much crazier, and it's like, not even close to being the same voice. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

So I noticed that watching this episode, I was like, when Will does the.

[Will Friedle]

Voice, it's way different.

[Ryder Strong]

It's way higher. And this was closer to you. And I was like. But then throughout the episode, it got more Ron, like.

[Will Friedle]

And by the end, it's crazy. And so.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay, that's funny, because I was wondering if that was something that just happened after you finished the show. Like, just over the years, you've gotten more exaggerated.

[Will Friedle]

I remember sitting. And when we talked, I remember sitting in a Booth with John DiMaggio. It was just the two of us at this one episode. It was the start of season whatever three. But it was. I should have listened to him because the episode started and I said, something's like, you know what, kp? And he's like, that's not the voice. You know, John, that's not it. And I'm like, what? He's like, dude, that's not Ron. And I'm like, it's not. And then I couldn't get it back. And so from here on, he was just like this. So I. Going back, I would love to have kept it kind of in the initial register that we saw of this one episode where it was just kind of like my voice. Right. Because he really got. I mean, obviously it's a cartoon, but super cartoony towards the end. And it's like. It's. If you watch the second episode and the second to last episode, it's two completely different characters. So, I mean, the voice is different.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Everything. Because I went to college and started smoking cigs, and they had a little chat with me. They were like, you good? And I was like, yeah, I'm sorry. And then I ended up having actually to be. Farewell. I had a double nodular surgery before Beauty and the Beast. I remember that I found out that I damaged my vocal cords over the years. And so I think once I fixed that, I probably was back to being old Kim and.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, but, yeah, you were. I mean, you were in college. So you would come in and when you were on phone patch, you'd be like, morning. Like, oh, hey.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And it's funny, I didn't put those pieces together. It had to have been the nodules. It really did, because those things are nasty.

[Will Friedle]

Because, again, I smoked for 25 years by that point, and I. You could still get up to the top register. But no, you had. You had vocal damage. So that's. I mean, that's what it was. I mean, you could tell the. That that rasp does not start within a year of smoking.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So, no, that was.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I think that. Who has it? Phil. Not Phil Collins. Who's that? Rod Stewart.

[Will Friedle]

Rod Stew Stewart.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Nodules. And he never let them go because he liked the texture. That's.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Oh, you never. You never knew. I remember one voiceover actor said to me, his name is Corey Burton, who smoked for, like, 40 years. And I remember saying to him one time, hey, Corey. And this guy did the voice of everything. I said, hey, Corey, are you ever going to quit smoking? And he said, no. I figure another five or six years, and I can hit every. Every register that I want.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

So it's like in his head, he was, like, smoking for a reason. I was like. He said at one time, he literally tried to write off his cigarettes as a work expense because he's like, I'm a voiceover actor, and I smoke because I want the rasp and I want the lower registers. And. But. And of course, the government was like, yeah, that's not going to work. But he. He tried because he write off his cancer treatment. Yeah, right. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Don't smoke kids. Don't smoke kids. It's very bad.

[Ryder Strong]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

So back to Kim Possible. Did I know? You obviously did not remember that Ryder had. Well, you actually thought Ryder was on many, many more episodes.

[Will Friedle]

But Ryder was the Topanga meeting Kim Possible.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes, Ryder was the Topanga.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I low. He wished that she would have actually taken Brick seriously, because my toxic trait is that my husband is, like, not Brick, but he looks like Brick.

[Will Friedle]

Brendan does kind of look like Brick, doesn't he?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And I always had a thing for, like, you know, dumb guys, so my husband, however, is not dumb, but okay.

[Will Friedle]

Didn't he also go to Columbia? He also went to Columbia. Your husband, didn't he?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

And was a marine, not dumb guy.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, but I like that. Like, you know. You know, whatever. I'm gonna go down a rabbit hole. I shouldn't, but. But I.

[Will Friedle]

A little meathead.

[Ryder Strong]

A little meathead is good. Is that what you're saying?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Like, survive the apocalypse with me. You know, like, cut down a tree.

[Will Friedle]

Survive the apocalypse with me. I love that.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Oh, my God.

[Ryder Strong]

All I remember is because I didn't. I don't even know if I had a picture of Brick. I just remember they just cast me, I guess, because they knew the connection to Will or whatever. And I just remember getting. Going into the studio in New York and be like, how, you know, what do you want? And they were like, I think your voice is pretty close. Just a little Keanu. And I just dropped it a little bit and, you know, slowed down, and that was Brick. And watch it. So I was like, oh, yeah, it fits this. This. This look very much not me, but it fit. It fit the character.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Can you guys, look at yourselves. An animated character. Do you see your voice mostly, or do you actually see it blended into your character?

[Will Friedle]

I see me if I'm doing it right. If the voice is wrong, I don't see me, and that's how I know the voice is wrong. Like, for instance, I never saw me in Star Lord on Guardians of the Galaxy because I pitched the register too high, so the voice was too high for the animation that they had. And I never saw me. Whereas I always see me in Ron. I see me in Terry McGinnis, Batman. I see me in almost every other animated character I do. But if it's not right, then I don't see myself.

[Ryder Strong]

Interesting. Yeah, I never watch anything I've ever done. This might be the first cartoon ever.

[Will Friedle]

You never watched Star versus the Forces of Evil or whatever.

[Ryder Strong]

The other one.

[Will Friedle]

You're.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

No.

[Ryder Strong]

Indy wanted to watch one, but I don't think it was one that I was in. But, you know, that's just my voice just kind of. I mean, I mostly just do my voice. I don't really do character work, so. But Brick. Yeah, this was. It was weird. I was definitely like, that's not me, but I guess it's cool.

[Danielle Fishel]

Christy, you were Emmy nominated for Kim Possible Best Best Voice Performance. Do you remember who you lost to? And should we curse them now?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I love you, Danielle. You are keeping this ship sailing on the tracks in their life. Yeah, I do, because I showed up and I looked really good and I was ready. But it's okay because it was. Oh, my God, Why am I forgetting Clifford the Big Red Dog?

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And it was the gentleman who played. I'm so sorry, guys. You can kill me for this. Who played the fauns?

[Will Friedle]

Oh, Henry.

[Danielle Fishel]

Henry Winkler. Oh, gosh. I take it back. I would never curse Henry.

[Ryder Strong]

No one can curse Henry Winkler because he's a name.

[Will Friedle]

But that's usually how it worked with animation, especially back in the day. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

You'd have two amazing anime, you know, incredible animation actors and voice actors. And then Nathan Lane, and it was like, all right, I'm not. Well, I'm not going to win. Even though he just was Nathan Lane. It's like somebody. But for those of us who have never been nominated, you should just be happy to be nominated.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I'm so. I don't deserve it. Yeah. When it happened, I was like, what is this happening? But, you know, Shia. I think around the same. I think it was maybe the year after that actually won. And the whole thing with Disney Channel guys was like, they were always competing with Nickelodeon. And so at that point they started realizing their programming was getting awarded. And it became really interesting where then maybe the money started coming for them because then they were green lighting more things. And I remember Adam came to see me record a pilot on my way out before Columbia. I got a big pilot with the creators of Friends and stuff, and that was maybe gonna be my next thing, but it didn't go, and I went to Columbia instead. Anyway, long story short, Adam Bonnett said that was my first time ever seeing a sitcom. Now I wanna go do a sitcom at Disney. And that is why Raven started.

[Will Friedle]

That's cool.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And it's cheaper. Like, I think it was a million dollars an episode for Even Stevens and.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my goodness.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I think it's a bit cheaper from what I was told.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. No, that's why we're amazed that sitcom hasn't come back. Cause it's cheaper than doing single Camera. Camera. So I don't. Why are we not doing 4K? I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna harp.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, you guys both just got Funko Pops. People always dress as the characters for Halloween, including Justin and Haley Bieber last year. Are you surprised how much Kim Possible is, like, even more in the mainstream zeitgeist now than ever before?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

No.

[Will Friedle]

No. I'm not either. No.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

You're asking me? Probably.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

This is.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I'm really a guest on here.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I'm here every week. This is. You're the guest.

[Danielle Fishel]

I host this show.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

You're the guest. I'm one of the Daniettes on this show. So I'm here. No problem.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

No, I'm not surprised. I think Y2K is still trending.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And it's wild that it's still trending, but it is a really interesting time for our culture. And I think Kim was a really important part of that culture. Because I'll be honest, when Kim came out, there wasn't a lot of really great female role models outside of you, Danielle.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, right, right, of course.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

But like, for the. For the tweens. Right. And so what we did was a service to a whole generation of young girls who could only really look to Paris Hilton. No, no shade on Paris Hilton now. But back then, she was in a heart. She had a hard time. And so it's like you were seeing these, like, bits of Kate Moss being super skinny. And like, any kind of women in the public eye were in mostly had. There was a lot of eating disorders. There was a lot of sex tapes flying. I mean, there was a lot of stuff I would, as a mom now, would really want to protect, you know, my kids from. So when Kim came out, she was a breath of fresh air for parents, I'm sure. And also just girls wanting to feel like they could be popular but nice. Yeah. You know, not mean. Like, I don't have to be a socialite mean person. I don't have to be rich, I don't have to be this. Yeah. And like even just putting her in Middleton, when you think about it, it's like she's literally the most likable, most relatable, most well intentioned person and she, to that end, she really is kind of a Disney princess. Like she carries virtues and then she made it apply to, you know, a kid's daily life. Life.

[Will Friedle]

You know, how rare it is, especially nowadays to have something that, you know, you can sit and watch with your kids and not have to worry about anything that's going to pop on the screen. And that's one of the things Disney Channel did better than everybody else was. It's just like even nowadays we keep going back to Descendants or Zombies or the Tentpole kind of movies that they have, there's, there is still kind of something for everybody. They're bright, they're fun, there's music. You're never, maybe there's going to be a chaste kiss or something like that. Or a Christy Carlson Romano kiss. Exactly. But it is, it's one of those things where you, you don't have to, to worry about it. And especially in this day and age with streaming where you could just press a button and you could see whatever you want. It's nice to go back to kind of the ease of Disney Channel in the early 2000s and Boy Meets World and stuff like that in the 90s. That's why so many people are, that's why the Backstreet Boys are selling out night after night after night at Sphere is people want to go back to that time. It just seemed safer. It wasn't technically, but it just seemed like a safer, happier time. So yeah, I think that's one of the reasons. And sitting there with you at conventions and seeing a five year old girl run up to you dressed like Kim Possible, I mean, fully decked out, going like, this is the best and it's the mom and, or even the grandmother we're finding in some places now we're doing that with Boy Meets World too. Like, my grandma loved you. It's like, oh, great. Thank you. It's truly amazing that it's still there.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, the Funkos are really cool. The Funkos took a really long time to come out. I mean, it's. It's interesting how Kim has kind of stood the test of time in the hearts of the fans and a generation of like globally too. Cause she was. We were just the English speaking ones, right. Like, there's. Kim is everywhere across the world. There's a Saudi Arabian brick flag. Like he's somewhere out there.

[Will Friedle]

Well, don't you remember what we did? It's still one of the coolest things I ever did. We hosted a show at the Royal Albert hall in London, which is one of the greatest theaters in the world, literally. And the entire show was Kim Possible themed. So it's. We had what, 10,000. It was full. 10,000 screaming kids, whatever. And it's all dark and you hear. And the lights pop on and 10 or 15 Kim possibles come down from the ceiling.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh my gosh.

[Will Friedle]

And then it's all these, you know, all the local Disney UK people were hosting with us and it was, it was. The whole thing was Kim Possible based. And so you're literally. We're standing on the stage. The Beatles were on and Adele's selling out. I mean, it was literally the greatest.

[Ryder Strong]

Theater in the world. That was while the show was on the air.

[Will Friedle]

No, this was slightly after, I think wasn't when we'd go there, like. Like 2007, 2008. When was that?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah, probably it was before Bell and it was definitely after. You can see it. That's why I'm writing my memoir right now and I've been going on wire image just to remember things.

[Will Friedle]

Oh yeah, it is. So. Yeah. But I mean, it was everywhere. I mean, you're really, really cool because it's, you know, it's kind of timeless. And that's the thing that's so interesting about animation. Unlike Boy Meets World, where you know, when you go see Boy Meets World in Germany, it's our faces. But there might be a German actor's voice coming out. Whereas you go see Kim Possible in Germany, we got nothing to do with it. It's Kim and Ron and then a German actor. So to go to the kind of. The English speaking countries where Kim Possible was big, we saw how big it got. It was really, really cool. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, I know all of us and our listeners will want to know how you are doing. For those who don't know, and it's shocking to say it out loud. You were accidentally shocked, shot in the eye during a clay pigeon shooting accident. How Are you doing now?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I'm laughing. I'm okay. I'm alive. And if you see. You can't even see it. If I pull my skin a little bit, you can see some of the little bit of scar tissue. I actually got shot. I got bird shot, scattered, which is still technically being shot. Right. Some people are like, she didn't get shot with a bullet. I'm like, you got shot?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. They're qualifying it. You got shot in the face with a shotgun blaster.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Like, she didn't really get shot 200ft away. Yeah. So. And this is why I really just took a turn with spirituality. Not like I'm a Bible thumper or anything like that, but it's like I just had to re. Recognize that I, like, received a miracle, you know? And, like, the reason I say it's a miracle is because where the thing entered my eye, it actually entered a fat pocket. And then that was miracle number one. Right. And then miracle number two is that it landed behind the eyeball. One millimeter, which is a tiny pencil tip from anything critical that would have blinded this eye. So when I went to the trauma surgeons, they were like, there's multiple miracles at play here, but we can't say they're miracles. And I really had to sit with that and just be like, well, you know, I'm never going shooting again and trying to be cool and try to, like. But to be fair, Special Forces had just come out, and I guess I was on a high with. It's a crazy show. Don't ever do it, guys. Don't. Don't, y'. All. Danielle, you're on Dancing with the Stars right now. I'm so excited for you.

[Danielle Fishel]

And that's much more my wheelhouse. Much more my wheelhouse.

[Will Friedle]

Way less shot in the face on Dancing with the Stars.

[Danielle Fishel]

Never had any dance experience.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I.

[Danielle Fishel]

There is for sure 100% chance I will not get shot in the eye. So I.

[Will Friedle]

It's knocking wood. Knocking wood, as we say.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

You never say that. Because I'm just saying. Okay, I'll pray for you. And also, team Danielle once again.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you so much.

[Will Friedle]

No, I just remember seeing the. It was. I. It was like something came out, and it was just, hey, pray. Pray for us, or something like that. And I instantly called Brendan. I'm like, dude, what happened? And I'll just never forget. He's like, oh, yeah, Christy got shot in the face. I was like, wait, wait, what? Because he's like, yeah. And he explained the whole story, but it was just like, she got Wait, what? And then you, like, hopped on the phone, like, hey, FaceTiming.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Or.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, we were face.

[Will Friedle]

We're FaceTiming. Because you're like, yeah, look at all. And I'm just like. And you're all just all sorts of up. And you're like, yeah, I got a shotgun blast to the face. And I was just like, wait, wait, what? Because you don't. You can't comprehend what you just said. Yeah, that. You just.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

It was on ABC Nightly News. Like, I was like, because how are you not going to. It had the word Disney and it had shot and it had face element. So I was like, well, clearly. And here's the reason I even shared it. Okay, guys? I shared it because I had a Clarence ad that was coming up, and I didn't. And I was like, well, skincare. I love skincare. But then I was like, shoot. Like, I'm not just going to put. I can't hide from this reality. Like, I can't pretend this didn't happen. And I was really forced to look inside and be like, all right, this ad, like, if they drop it because it's on deadline, screw them. Right? But they didn't. They're lovely. And then I just went ahead and shot something and was like, this is what happened. And I was trying to be as authentic and honest as I could be in that moment. It was a scary moment. And it wasn't like I was doing that for views at all. I was just trying to. Yeah, I was just trying to share something. And strangely, a lot of people who have had eye damage, like, came out. It's like a niche group of people.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, there's always a group.

[Ryder Strong]

The Sisterhood of Eyes Lost.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. The person.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

I'm telling you, like, they're like, we're a group of people. We're here for you. And I was like, that's great. I wanna help somebody. Right?

[Will Friedle]

Did you do your skincare ad? Like, and that's when I put. Ow, ow.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, no, didn't do that.

[Will Friedle]

That's good.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Isn't that horrible? Like, listen, we need to keep. We need to keep feeding these babies. I got two of them. It really.

[Danielle Fishel]

It really was the most Kim. Possible accident you could have possibly had. You're basically now a superhero. So what would Ron have said to make her feel better, Will?

[Will Friedle]

Probably. Hey, at least it didn't hit your eye.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Ron.

[Danielle Fishel]

It totally did.

[Will Friedle]

It went behind it. It went to a fat pocket. You explained the whole thing. You're fine. Come on, let's go.

[Danielle Fishel]

You weren't really shot?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Let's go get a knocko. You weren't really shot. It was just bird shot. It was 200 yards away.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Suck it up.

[Ryder Strong]

Let's go.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Like a mansplainer.

[Will Friedle]

Exactly. Let me explain to you why that's wrong.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Christie.

[Danielle Fishel]

Christie, I want everyone to know what you are up to. Now, you mentioned that you're writing a memoir. What do you want people to know about your life and your career right now?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Oh, gosh. I'm doing good and pretty happy and healthy. I live in Austin, you know. Ron. Ron. Oh, my God. Sorry. Will and I will do some.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay. Just call him Ron from now.

[Will Friedle]

That's all right. That's fine.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Happens a lot, actually.

[Will Friedle]

What's the other thing you call me all the time?

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Oh, we don't say that. Right.

[Will Friedle]

What's the other thing you call me all the time. Yeah. No, you call me Brendan all the time. Yeah. We'll be places. And she's like. And that's when, Brendan, I'm like, nope, that's your husband. She's like, all right, sorry.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

And I think we'll be doing more Comic Con together. I've been out of it for a while, but since the Funkos came out, I think it's a lot of fun to be going back into that world and meeting people. So please come and. And see us together. Yeah. My deadline's coming up on that book, so looks like it'll be out next year, next fall. It's a really, you know, it's a big publisher, and clearly we've had a lot of people who've grown up in Hollywood, have really great memoirs. Like Alison Stoner just had one come out. Their book is amazing. Jeanette McCurdy's book just came out. Mine is different and, you know, different perspective in general. Everyone's got their own story, so really proud of it already. But give me some time. It's. It's. You know, the marketing will come out at some point. Yeah. What else am I doing? Gosh, I don't know. It's a hard question. I'm not podcasting right now. I can on that. So.

[Danielle Fishel]

Taking a Podcasting break.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Yeah. YouTube and podcasting break.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, Christie, thank you so much for being here with us. Thank you for joining us and sharing this. Kim possible reunion with all of us. It's always so good to see you. And, yes, thank you for finally joining us.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

Anytime. If you need me back, I'm. I'm here.

[Will Friedle]

Well, you gotta come back on Magical Rewind because we got. I think we're gonna do Cadet Kelly's coming. Yes. We gotta rip into that. Do you make out with any? Well, I don't want to know yet. I don't wanna know yet. We'll see.

[Christy Carlson Romano]

No, I don't.

[Will Friedle]

You don't. Okay, good. All right, good.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you, Christy. Great to see you.

[Will Friedle]

Bye.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, thank you all for joining us for this episode of Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us on Instagram Pod Meets World show. You can send us your emails@podmeatsworld. And we've got merch.

[Will Friedle]

Boo ya. Never be normal and buy some merch.

[Danielle Fishel]

Podmeetsworldshow.com writer send us out.

[Ryder Strong]

We love you all. Pod Dismissed. Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fischl, Wilfred L And Ryder Strong, executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production Danielle Romo, Producer and Editor Tara Sub Bach, producer Matty Moore, engineer and Boy Meets World superban Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon. Follow us on Instagram odmeatsworld show or email us at podmeatsworldshowmail.com.

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