"Join Levi Chambers as he chats with the cast of Disney’s Goosebumps about how the series brings diversity, inclusivity, and spooky fun to a new generation! From facing inner demons to fighting real monsters, Elijah M. Cooper, Stony Blyden, and Galilea La Salvia dive into their characters' emotional journeys and share how the show reflects real-world struggles. Plus, we find out who’s a Goosebumps Reddit expert and which surprising piece of Goosebumps media blew their minds!
Goosebumps: The Vanishing, a new season of the thrilling anthology series, is set to premiere all eight episodes on Friday, January 10, 2025, on Disney+ and Hulu!"
Goosebumps: The Vanishing, a new season of the thrilling anthology series, is set to premiere all eight episodes on Friday, January 10, 2025, on Disney+ and Hulu!"
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Hey everyone, I'm Levi with Gaiety.
00:02Hello.
00:03Hey, what's up?
00:05Not much.
00:06How are you guys doing?
00:07Good.
00:08How are you?
00:09Good.
00:10Good.
00:11It was an early morning because I was all EST.
00:12So I've been in here with you for a while.
00:15I'm going to jump right into it.
00:17So your characters each bring unique personalities and backgrounds to the group.
00:21There's a lot of diversity in Goosebumps on Disney Plus.
00:25How do you think the diversity within your characters reflects both real world diversity
00:30and also kind of highlights what Goosebumps was lacking before, right?
00:35When it 30 years ago.
00:38And then I'm also curious how those characters, how you hope that they're going to affect
00:43young viewers, because that's what, that's who's going to watch it on Disney Plus.
00:46And let's say, let's start with you, Stoney.
00:48Yeah.
00:49I mean, I think, you know, especially for my character, like what I think everyone could
00:52take from this, that he's a guy that has a lot of work to do on himself.
00:55He has a lot of stuff.
00:56He has a lot of internalized anger, a lot of internalized jealousy and frustration towards
01:00the world.
01:01And I think for someone young, seeing that at an earlier age, because he's of course
01:04a little bit older and still deals with that.
01:06So I think for someone that's, you know, young, seeing that happen, maybe feels the same way.
01:11You can kind of see how his arc changes him into a little bit of a better person.
01:15I don't think anyone can kind of pull a bit, pull a little bit from that.
01:18I think.
01:19Yeah.
01:21Yeah.
01:22I think, I think Disney, Disney's, you know, all about being like inclusive and you really,
01:29and really diverse and you, it really shows in this new season of Goosebumps.
01:32We have like characters with completely different backgrounds and stories and, you know, I play
01:37Frankie and, and she's Latina and she's hardworking and she tries to, you know, she's kind of
01:43forced to raise herself in a way because her mother is working full time and, you know,
01:48she's, she's a first generation American and she's just trying to put herself through college
01:52and she's dealing with, with so many issues.
01:55Meanwhile, also battling monsters and also dealing with her own like love life situations.
02:01And there's just, there's just so much with this story that's, that's really beautiful
02:05that, you know, it really shows kids watching and just people of all ages that they're not
02:12alone in these, in these issues.
02:14And there's, there's really good media that, that represents these, these real world issues
02:20that teenagers are going through.
02:21Yeah.
02:22Yeah.
02:23I think Disney, along with our, our showrunners, Hillary and Rob, they did a fantastic job
02:29of really just like reflecting what the real world looks like, what real life teenage issues
02:36look like, what, you know, a real diverse world looks like in, in, in the casting that
02:41we did.
02:42The real things that people face in life.
02:47It really does.
02:49This story does a fantastic job of, of balancing, you know, what it means to, to be a teenager
02:56and encounter things and go on, go on a journey of, of, of self exploration while also giving
03:07that, you know, traditional goosebumps, scary, spooky feel.
03:11And I think that it's a thing that audiences will really love about the series.
03:15Yeah.
03:16I feel like that's definitely one of the best parts about the show is that it really explores
03:19both horror, but then also friendship and it kind of blends fear with camaraderie.
03:24Do you feel like the characters relationships reflect a theme of inclusion and belonging,
03:31maybe especially for, for viewers who may feel like outsiders because of their background
03:36or their gender or their orientation and Stoney, I'll start with you again, if that's okay.
03:41Yeah, I think absolutely.
03:42I am, I think he like, especially, I think Trey has a very hard time finding his group
03:49because he is so just aggressive towards everyone.
03:52And I think he has a hard time finding friends that want to be around him.
03:56So I think as you see, the show goes on and he has to kind of embrace like that anger
04:01that he has into more of a bravery and courageous nature.
04:04I think people can really pull from that.
04:06I think.
04:07Yeah.
04:09I think, I think these characters also in the way that we interact with, with each other,
04:14I think is very special.
04:16And it's something that you can see evolve and change throughout the season, which is
04:19really nice because it doesn't just like, it's not set in stone and it really reflect
04:23reflects real life of just like, you know, relationships change and feelings go all over
04:29the place and it's not perfect all the time.
04:31And that's something really nice that they, they included because I feel like, you know,
04:36if you compare like episode one to our last episode, these characters are truly in different
04:40places of life and, and they've been through so much at that point.
04:44And I think that it's really cool to kind of see that transformation within them.
04:49Yeah.
04:50And I think of this story, of course, is Goosebumps.
04:52So it's going to have fantastical elements.
04:55It's going to have these, these things that, that draw you into, you know, originally what
04:59the series is about, but we play teenagers, right?
05:03And so that's going to speak to teenagers and, and, you know, there are teenagers of
05:08all backgrounds that are going to see this.
05:10And I really think that they are all going to feel as though they have a home in the
05:13show.
05:14They have a character or multiple characters that they identify with, understand their
05:18struggles, who they are, the backgrounds that they come from.
05:22I really think that, that, you know, everybody did an amazing job of putting that together.
05:28Did this question is for all of you.
05:29Did any of you do research or read, you know, any of the old, I say old, I mean, I'm a nineties
05:35kid, right?
05:36Any of the Goosebumps books in preparation for this or watch any of the movies?
05:40Yeah, definitely.
05:41I'm, I'm, I'm on that subreddit.
05:43I'm such a Reddit girl.
05:47Like that's usually where I get all my information.
05:49I just think it's so, so fun.
05:51Anyway.
05:52No, definitely.
05:53I mean, there's, there's a bunch of media to pull from.
05:56There's, there's the iconic books, like 204 books to choose from.
06:01If you're ever bored, just pick up a Goosebumps book.
06:03I'm telling you.
06:04But, um, but yeah, there's like, there's, I'm going to say it again, guys, there is
06:08a Goosebumps musical.
06:09Yeah.
06:10There is.
06:11Yeah.
06:12Yeah.
06:13I was listening to it the other day.
06:15I didn't know that.
06:16It's kind of crazy.
06:17Yeah.
06:18No, definitely look into it.
06:19See, this is why you need to be on the subreddit.
06:20Was this like a legit, a legit thing?
06:23It's cool.
06:24Yeah.
06:25I mean, Al Stein was like, I approve.
06:28I think his voice was in it and if, yeah, I think he was like, actually like, I don't
06:33know.
06:34Or maybe this was on subreddit.
06:35Yeah.
06:36Yeah.
06:37But yeah, no, there's like so much to pull from.
06:41So yeah, I mean, you can have, you can have a blast and just spend all your time there.
06:46That's what I was doing last week.
06:50Thank you so much to all of you for giving me your time today.
06:53I really appreciate it.
06:54And I'm excited for everyone to see the new season.
06:56Thank you so much.
06:57Yeah.