The Thundermans are back, and they’re undercover! Popped’s very own Chris had the chance to meet with Kira Kosarin and Jack Griffo, stars and executive producers for Nickelodeon UK and Paramount+’s upcoming series The Thundermans: Undercover.
You can check out the full interview with Kira and Jack below, but stay tuned to Popped for more coverage highlighting The Thundermans: Undercover!
Kira Kosarin and Jack Griffo on Life After ‘The Thundermans’
Chris: “Did you ever think you’d be coming back after finishing the show to do a movie, and to do the sequel series?”
Kira: “No, no, but going into the movie, I definitely did hope it was going to result in another series.”
Jack: “Yeah, I think when we did the movie, we were like, ‘What if, you know, like, what if this could be a thing?’ Of course, we hoped for it because we love our show and we love what we do so much.
Kira: “When the show first ended, we really thought that was goodbye to Nickelodeon and frankly, like it needed to be for us for a while. We needed to go do other jobs that weren’t kids, TV, that weren’t those specific characters, that weren’t being on set every day because of who we were.”
Kira Kosarin on Returning to ‘The Thundermans’
After years of playing Phoebe Thunderman, Kira Kosarin took a step back to explore music, social media, and personal growth. Now, she’s returning to the show, not just as an actor but as an executive producer. Looking back, she reflects on growing up on set, taking time away, and bringing new experiences back to the role:
Kira: “Yeah, we were on set all day, every day for like, very important years of your life where you’re supposed to be like out living life and developing as a person. We were working full-time jobs from 15 to 20, playing people who were almost us, but not quite us. So we definitely needed to take that time in that space away. And, you know, we both went our separate ways, went to music and went to other, you know, [Jack] got into an acting class and I went into social media content creation. Like we just went our separate ways. But then we’ve gotten to now take all of the things that we learned and all that new context and bring it back to the shows as executive producers and as actors. So, it’s been really cool.”
Kira Kosarin and Jack Griffo on Executive Producing ‘The Thundermans’
Chris: How does it feel being executive producers on The Thundermans: Undercover?
Jack: “I think when you’re hired as an actor, you’re hired to fit in a very specific little role in a big puzzle. You know, even if you are the star of a show, right? They expect you to just do that and be an actor, you know? So getting to be EPs is so cool and I learned so much this year. But getting behind the scenes and working with the kids on their lines, that was really fun for me, and giving input on the story and stuff like that, I think by the end of the show, in the original series, we felt comfortable enough to sort of speak up a little bit, but now this was just taking it to a completely another level.”
Kira: “It’s a seat at the table to be in the rooms that you wouldn’t otherwise, be in. You know for me, the most exciting parts of it and the best places to learn are in the production meetings, in the pre-production hirings of the crew, like being in those early conversations
when a script is still in outline means that you can, as things are developing, put in input, rather than just coming into a final product on the day and trying to work with what’s been created, you get to be part of the creation of it, and that’s really special. I feel like the EP stuff informs the actor stuff, and the actor stuff informs the EP stuff, and there’s such a synergy between those two roles, and so getting to do both at the same time is really a treat.”
Jack: “I think it was a respect thing from Nickelodeon, you know, there for them to feel comfortable enough to let us do this and give us that incentive to come back and not only come back and be actors but do this whole new thing. It’s an acknowledgement that we know the show and that we care about it and can be trusted.”
Catch the new series, The Thundermans: Undercover on Nickelodeon UK and Paramount+ from Monday 17th February. You can also watch every episode of The Thundermans on Paramount+ now.
The Thundermans are back and they’re undercover! The brand-new Nickelodeon superhero series sees Phoebe, Max and Chloe Thunderman tasked to go undercover to investigate a new threat in the town of Secret Shores. While on this mission they aim to nurture Chloe’s superhero skills and help her to keep her powers a secret. As the threat becomes more dangerous, the Thunderman’s must work together to help defeat the supervillain, known as Mastermind.
