Superstar
06-01-2006, 04:24 PM
Raven Symone doesn't mince words when she talks about how it was to rejoin the rest of Disney Channel's "Cheetah Girls" to make a sequel to their highly successful 2003 telepic.
'There were catfights'
"It was weird, putting together young women our ages -- 19 to 22 -- one of whom had not been in the mix," says Raven, who has her own music career, and thus has not been part of the Cheetah Girls' recording or touring activities over the last three years. "I'll be honest. There were territorial issues. There were catfights. It was not all peaches and cream off camera."
However, she is quick to add that once the camera rolled, "Everyone stepped up to do the job."
The new "Cheetah" movie -- helmed by "High School Musical" director Kenny Ortega, with Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan and Kiely Williams back as the rest of the girl group -- was shot in Barcelona and will debut in August.
Meanwhile, with her hit "That's So Raven" sitcom now wrapped for good, Raven, now 20, has several movie prospects pending, as well as concerts.
"I'm touring across country, and I'm up to 35 dates through the end of the year," says Raven, who leans toward R&B with alternative lyrics in her music. "The first round I think people came wanting to see Raven Baxter, to see what she could do," Raven says, referring to her series character. "Then they started to see me as a separate entity with my own style. It's really not about the money for me; it's about the feeling of the music. I like the way some of the old performers -- Janet Jackson, New Edition, Aerosmith -- put across their songs and let you really understand."
'There were catfights'
"It was weird, putting together young women our ages -- 19 to 22 -- one of whom had not been in the mix," says Raven, who has her own music career, and thus has not been part of the Cheetah Girls' recording or touring activities over the last three years. "I'll be honest. There were territorial issues. There were catfights. It was not all peaches and cream off camera."
However, she is quick to add that once the camera rolled, "Everyone stepped up to do the job."
The new "Cheetah" movie -- helmed by "High School Musical" director Kenny Ortega, with Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan and Kiely Williams back as the rest of the girl group -- was shot in Barcelona and will debut in August.
Meanwhile, with her hit "That's So Raven" sitcom now wrapped for good, Raven, now 20, has several movie prospects pending, as well as concerts.
"I'm touring across country, and I'm up to 35 dates through the end of the year," says Raven, who leans toward R&B with alternative lyrics in her music. "The first round I think people came wanting to see Raven Baxter, to see what she could do," Raven says, referring to her series character. "Then they started to see me as a separate entity with my own style. It's really not about the money for me; it's about the feeling of the music. I like the way some of the old performers -- Janet Jackson, New Edition, Aerosmith -- put across their songs and let you really understand."