The follow-up to the beloved animated series The Proud Family, called The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, is now on Disney+.
The streaming service is also home to the original series, which stars Kyla Pratt as Penny Proud, Tommy Davidson as her dad, Oscar, Paula Jai Parker as her mom, Trudy, and Jo Marie Payton as Penny’s grandma, Suga Mama. However, all the attention means Kyla and Jo Marie have to be quiet in public — unless they want a lot more attention from fans, that is.
“You know, something, this thing here, this thing never changes,” Jo Marie laughs to ABC Audio, referring to her distinctive voice. “So, a lot of people have heard this thing, but it gets me through the bank real quick!”
She says with a laugh, “Because the minute somebody notices my face, I open my mouth. And so the bank manager says, ‘Miss Payton, can you come over here, please?'”
Payton adds that people recognizing her voice sometimes makes running errands a bit busier. “My daughter used to say, ‘Momma, if you just don’t say nothing, we might be able to get through.’ But if I say the slightest of things, somebody turns and looks, and my granddaughter says, ‘Yeah, that’s her, that’s her!'”
For Pratt, sharing Penny Proud’s voice also gets her noticed — even if she doesn’t necessarily want to be.
“I have the same issue!” she agrees with Payton. “Like, I literally tell people I don’t know how to be quiet. I just don’t. So I’ll be the grocery store and someone will come in like two aisles over. Even now, with having to wear mask everywhere, it’s like I have to shut up. Otherwise, people know!”
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