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Raven joins other young stars for musical Disney film
submitted by: Lisa D.
source: Hartford Courant
Date: August 14, 2003
By Roger Catlin
It's not a huge stretch for Raven, the star of the Disney Channel comedy That's So Raven, to appear in the musical feature film The Cheetah Girls.
"I've always done music," Raven said. "Since I was 5, I had my first album. My second album was when I was 13. And this is just another venture for me to show people that I can do it."
Mostly, Raven, formerly known as Raven-Symone, is known for her acting, first on The Cosby Showas Olivia, then as Nicole in Hangin' With Mr. Cooper. After playing Eddie Murphy'sdaughter in both Dr. Dolittlefilms, she's been a rising star at the Disney Channel, where she first appeared in the film Zenon.
With Hilary Duff's departure from the Disney Channel, it looks like Raven stands alone as the channel's tween queen. But in Cheetah Girls,to debut tomorrow at 8 p.m. on the Disney Channel, she's part of a group that pursues a common goal in music, despite varied backgrounds.
Based on the popular books by Deborah Gregory, The Cheetah Girlsalso stars Sabrina Bryan,who has appeared on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful,and Kiely Williamsand Adrienne Bailon, two-thirds of the R&B group 3LW.
The Cheetah Girls"reminded us of our group in the nurturing baby stages," Williams said. "Just girls who have a dream."
And 3LW is like the Cheetah Girls in another way, Bailon said.
"We're so different, but we're able to come together to do something that we loved, which was doing music," she said.
The third member of 3LW isn't in the show because founding member Naturi Naughton left the group just before the release of last year's CD A Girl Can Mack. She says she was forced out.
Cheetah Girls was "a perfect opportunity for us to jump into... while we were transitioning, trying to find a new member," Williams said. "Actually, right after we finished the movie, we started searching for a new member and found her."
Jessica Benson joined 3LW in December.
"She's really excited about the movie," Williams said. "She's all excited about going to the premiere."
For author Gregory, seeing the creations from her book make the move to film was emotional.
"You know, I cried," she said. "It was kind of amazing to see it."
That worked for the young actors, too.
"We're living what she dreamed of," Williams said. "It's an inspiration for us."
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