Raven Baxter, the central character of Disney's That's So Raven and the rebooted 2017 series Raven's Home, was almost a lesbian, but actor Raven-Symoné turned the opportunity down.
Symoné revealed the news on the Pride podcast to host Levi Chambers. When Disney begin writing the rebooted series in 2017, they approached the out actor with the idea of making her iconic character a lesbian.
"There was a conversation before the series started and I was asked the question, 'Would you like Raven Baxter to be a lesbian?' And I said, no. I said no," Symoné shared. "The reason I said, no, wasn't because I wasn't proud of who I was, or I didn't want to represent the LGBTQ+ community in any way. It was because Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter. There was no reason for me to change the human that she was in order to fit the actress that played her. And Raven Baxter is a character that I was proud to play. Even if she is straight, cisgender, I don't mind, let her have her moment."
Symoné, who came out in 2014 and married her wife Miranda Maday last year, didn't feel the need to see that representation on screen, though she admits she did chuckle at the queer undertones of the show. The plot of Raven's Home sees a grown-up Raven Baxter and her bestie Chelsea, played by Anneliese van der Pol, living together as two divorced single moms raising their kids under the same roof.
"I felt like the quiet undertones of living with Chelsea was enough, you know?" she said. "Not that that was a true statement, that was never the intention of living with my best friend, but, you know, people say stuff that is just hilarious."
At the end of the day, Symoné just wanted to stay true to the character of Raven Baxter in her mind as well as keep it separate from her own identity, and perhaps the most obvious way to do that is with who they love. "I didn't want to change who she was. When you really start blending your personal self with your character self, it's even harder. Like, I'm stereotyped for the rest of my life. Let's just keep it 100. You know what I mean? If you ever see me in another character, you see Raven Baxter, and that's just what the deal is. I think the one thing that differentiates me from her is now a lot more."
Who could've predicted this plot twist?
Listen to the full podcast over at Out.
