They wanted someone who stood for “empowerment.”
Creators of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” cast Grammy Award-winning artist Lizzo to appear in the series’ first season because they were devoted to her “message of empowerment.”
According to Insider, Lizzo was chosen to play herself in the fifth episode of season one.
Lizzo made her appearance as an invited performer at Oscar Proud’s Snackland theme park. Rather than executing her performance, the singer motivates the lead character, Penny Proud, to embrace her singing talent by encouraging her to perform on stage.
Series creators Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar shared their perspectives on guest stars who cameo as themselves and casting stars to portray completely different roles.
“It’s easier for us to have folks play characters because then if we wrote [a part] for Lizzo and Lizzo said no then now we got to rewrite this whole damn thing,” Farquhar said. “But sometimes — I’ll just use Lizzo as an example — we just loved her whole message of empowerment, [and to] be yourself. And so that was critical.”
“So it wasn’t just Lizzo, it’s what Lizzo stands for that we wanted in the piece.”
As the popular series heads into its second season, fans will see other Black celebrities like singer and actress Keke Palmer
, who has been cast as a main character.As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, Palmer debuted as Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, a neighbor and friend of Penny.
“Keke called me up when she read the announcement and said, ‘No way are you doing this show without me,’” Farquhar said. “So we had to.”
The Proud Family fans can also expect to see celebrities like Normani
, Chance The Rapper, and Leslie Odom Jr. in upcoming episodes for the new season.Season two of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” premieres on Wednesday, Feb. 1, on Disney+.