Top 10 Behind the Scenes Secrets About That's So Raven

Raven’s crazy antics led her to meet some of her idols including Maisha, “Boyz ‘N Motion” and Pressure. But did you ever notice their resemblance to real stars? Raven jams with Maisha, a parody of Moesha, and chills with “Boyz ‘N Motion”, whose hit song “Bye, Bye, Bye, Home Cookin’” should clue you into which boy band they’re spoofing. She also stars in a music video alongside teen heartthrob, Pressure, who much like Usher during this time, is at the height of his career. With the “Raven’s Home” reboot on the go, we wonder which stars they might parody today.

If Raven’s school gave you a sense of Deja Vu, here’s a hint: the school is called “Bayside High School”, ring any bells? It’s not just the name that “That’s So Raven” shares with “Saved By the Bell”, but also the same set. “That’s So Raven” creator Michael Poryes, who also wrote for “Saved By the Bell”, took this connection a step further in the episode “Double Vision”, when Raven kisses a character who resembles Zack Morris. We wonder how many of our other favorite shows may have been filmed on this set too.

In “Party Animal” Raven tries to avoid disaster when she has a vision of Cory saying he hates her. When their parents get sick and can no longer take Cory and his friends to the zoo, Raven brings the zoo to them. Her crocodile hunter impression is hilarious but this scene proved to be rather traumatic for the actress, who’s terrified of snakes. In an interview, she revealed the look of terror on her face was real and that she burst into tears when the snake was placed on her shoulders. The things we do for family.

In mid season three Raven’s mom suddenly disappears from the show and we’re told that she’s now attending law school in England. However, the reality is far more heartbreaking. T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh’s grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s during the show’s first season and she was her primary carer. She would bring her grandma to the set and check in on her between takes. When the show broke the Disney Channel 65 episode rule and announced a fourth season, her grandmother’s condition had worsened so she decided to dedicate herself full time as her carer.

When Raven and Chelsea head to the country, you can totally see the family resemblance between Raven and her country cousins. Raven plays Auntie Faye, Delroy and Baby G, and makes a whole lot of hard work look totally effortless. She says that it would take them two hours to transform her into Baby G and four hours for her Delroy makeover. Since each character had to be shot on a green screen separately, it took them two weeks just to film this episode. It sounds like a trying process but we think it was totally worth it.

Raven and Chelsea are #friendshipgoals so it’s hard to imagine that this dynamic duo almost never happened. The casting team had already chosen another girl to play the role of the best friend, Emma… yes, you heard us correctly, Emma. Luckily Raven stepped in to say that she vibed better with Annelise Van Der Pol, which helped land her the role. The pair remain great friends on and off screen still today, even reuniting in the show’s reboot “Raven’s Home”. It’s impossible to imagine anyone else playing the loveable, ditzy Chelsea so major props to Raven for making this call.

Hey now, hey now, this is what dreams could have been made of. After the great success of “The Lizzie McGuire Movie”, the team behind “That’s So Raven” wanted to take a shot at a longer feature too. The premise of the movie would be that Raven would go to France to start her own fashion line. When chaos ensued, she would of course try to save the situation . . . but then end up misbehaving. In an interview, Annelise Van Der Pol even said that a script had been written, but the movie had to be scrapped due to Raven’s busy schedule.

In the episode “Goin’ Hollywood” Cory wins a competition to make a guest appearance on a TV show called “Better Days”. There we meet a young star called Ally Parker who just wants a normal life. Sound familiar? The episode served as a pilot for a potential spin-off about a child actress juggling stardom and attending a regular public school. The idea was reworked, eventually becoming one of the Disney Channel’s most successful shows to date, “Hannah Montana”. The show launched Miley Cyrus’ career and became a worldwide phenomenon - and it appears that we have “That’s So Raven” to thank for that.

In 2015 Raven Symoné featured in the OWN documentary “Light Girls,” where she divulged that while filming the show, she would tan three or four times a week to look darker. She had to stop when a lighting guy told her she was getting so dark that they would need to relight the whole set! Raven was a wonderful role model to anyone growing up in the 2000s, so we hope she managed to discover the same self-love values she instilled in her fans.

Before Raven landed the starring role, the show looked very different from the one we know and love today. For starters, she auditioned for a supporting role but impressed the casting directors so much that they not only made her the star but renamed the principal character from “Dawn” or “Rose” to “Raven”. Until now the writers toyed with the titles “The Future Is On Me” and “Absolutely Psychic” but renamed it “That’s So Raven” once she’d been cast. We’re thrilled the creators saw her star quality, as there could be no one better suited to the role.