'Racism at a low level.' Why Raven-Symoné very nearly didn't become Disney's biggest child star.

It's hard to imagine the 2000s without That's So Raven and her iconic "vision face" that held strong through all four seasons of the Disney program.

The show not only shot Raven-Symoné into fame when it premiered in 2003, but also quickly became one of the most popular shows ever released on the Disney Channel.

The series was the first to reach 100 episodes in total. Now the spinoff, Raven's Home, has also reached 100 episodes, meaning Raven-Symoné has been played the role of Raven Baxter for 200 episodes and counting.

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However, we learned this week that the popular TV series almost never happened – and in fact, it began as a completely different show.

Anneliese van der Pol, who played Chelsea in That's So Raven, spoke about witnessing the "racism" towards Raven-Symoné during the initial casting process. 

On fellow child star Christy Carlson Romano’s Vulnerable podcast, she noted that the show initially planned to cast the show's star in a supporting role.

"When I went in to audition, the show was called Absolutely Psychic," she revealed. "It wasn't called That’s So Raven at all."

Van der Pal continued, saying Raven-Symoné had already been cast, but not as the lead –  she was set to play second fiddle to the main character, who would be white.

"At the time, Raven wasn’t the lead. She was the sidekick. They were looking for a lead and I came in to audition for the lead. I think the character’s name was Molly."

While Van der Pol didn't nab the lead role, she said Raven-Symoné was cast as the sidekick.

Raven-Symoné and Anneliese van der Pol on That's So Raven. Image: Disney.

When filming began, however, the production team decided to make a major change when they noticed the former Cosby Show star’s talent.

"When they filmed, they realised Raven was the funniest one and had a following, and so they bumped her up to first position, and then they started auditioning people again," van der Pol stated.

"I think that was kind of, like, racism at a low level – I guess if that's even a possibility. They couldn't really see a Black girl leading a show. They only saw her as a sidekick."

In 2017, Raven-Symoné and van der Pol returned to the That’s So Raven universe for Raven’s Home – a reboot of the original series that sees the friends navigating motherhood together.

Raven-Symoné and Anneliese van der Pol on Raven's Home. Image: Disney.

This year, the show celebrated 20 years since it first aired, and its legacy cannot be understated – especially for Raven-Symoné, who told EW she now understands the gravity of being one of the first Black women to have a TV show named after her.

"It didn't impact me as much then as it does now, because I was 15," she explained. "I was like, cool, I got my own show. It means so much now because I understand the [gravity] of what it means and the calibre of humans that I am in the pool with."

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The star continued, "I think it was kind of a good thing that I didn't let it go to my head. It was just about working and wanting to create great content at the time."

Now that she has Raven's House, the actor is able to look at the longevity of her career through a different, wiser lens.

"It's interesting having a career as long as I have. In different age brackets, [audiences] understand me and know me from different character perspectives," she said.

Feature Image: Disney/Getty.