Courageous Nerd

Conducted in July 2023, Issac Ryan Brown talks about his role in Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home

*THIS INTERVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY CONDUCTED PRIOR TO THE SAG-AFTRA STRIKES IN SUMMER 2023

Actor Issac Ryan Brown discussed playing “Booker” on Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home, working with on-screen mother Raven-Symoné and much more.

How did your journey in acting first start?

Issac Ryan Brown: I got started acting when I was around four. My first commercial was a ‘Got Milk?’ commercial. From there, I came out to LA when I was around six. After I did America’s Got Talent, I was on a show called Sam and Cat.

I just bounced around from show to show for a couple years. Then I got Raven’s Home when I turned 11. That’s seven years now.

Being born during the run of That’s So Raven, how familiar were you with the show before landing Raven’s Home?

Issac Ryan Brown: I didn’t really watch it, my entire family were huge fans. Literally, from top to bottom. My grandmother had watched The Cosby Show so she knew Raven from that show. Another set of my siblings had grown up watching That’s So Raven. Then you have me coming up and trying to figure out my place in the industry.

I had to study this show to get ready for my role in Raven’s Home. I didn’t grow up watching it, my family watched the show and were huge fans. I was just blessed and grateful to be able to be part of such an amazing franchise.

We’ve also spoken to Navia Robinson, who played your character’s twin sister Nia. Is there a different process playing twins compared to regular siblings?

Issac Ryan Brown: Definitely, definitely. Twins have a deeper bond even than most siblings. There was another level of connectivity that we kind of had to play. Sometimes, we had to mirror each other’s cadences and delivery of certain lines.

We spent a lot of time with each other off-screen as well. It definitely took a little more to build that twin chemistry for sure.

What have you enjoyed about the show’s setting shifting back to San Francisco?

Issac Ryan Brown: I loved our shift to San Francisco. The main reason for me was because around season four, I didn’t know what to do with Booker. If we had gone back to Chicago, I wouldn’t have known where to take him. He still would have had sister and everyone around as crutches. He wouldn’t have had to grow up as fast.

San Francisco, everything changed suddenly. Grandpa Vic had a heart attack, he had a new high school, girlfriend, cars. It all happened very, very quickly. It forced me to make a very quick character decision with him. It put me in situations where I could age and mature him. A lot of fun for me.

Getting to work with all the new castmates was really fun as well. The weird thing about Rondell [Sheridan] was our first time working together in Raven’s Home season 2, I didn’t like him that much. He just kind of carried himself… he kind of knows everything. I’m just being dramatic. He was trying to give me tips.

That’s what it felt like to me. We’d been doing this for almost a year and a half now without you here. Who are you? Then, I got to know him in the later seasons. I was like, wow, he’s just a really dope guy. He’s kind of a charcuterie board of information. He knows a little bit about everything.

When I bought my house, he helped make sure I went over everything. He was really a cornerstone for us in our later seasons. Of course, you have Felix [Avitia], who’s a genius in his own right, Emmy [Liu-Wang] who’s brilliant and Mimi [Mykal-Michelle Harris]. our new little budding star. She’s just so ridiculously talented and it was just a blessing to be able to work with everyone.

Do any of your previous guest star roles stand out in your mind?

Issac Ryan Brown: I loved working on The Rookie. They had to put me through football camp. I wasn’t really an athlete growing up. They put me in the actual training programme. It was fun to go and play with other people who played football. That was really fun.

Black-ish was my first real recurring guest spot. I got to build kind of a pattern with that group of people. That was really fun. Those are just a couple.

What would you like to say to fans of Raven’s Home?

Issac Ryan Brown: Thank you guys for all the years of support. We really do appreciate it. Never give up on your dreams, stay steadfast.

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