‘Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder’: Daran Norris & Susanne Blakeslee on Returning to Cosmo & Wanda (VIDEO)
The Fairly OddParents debuted March 30, 2001 on Nickelodeon. Now, 21 years later, the beloved animated series is getting a live-action and animation reboot in The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder – a Paramount+ original series debuting March 31.
“Based on the original smash-hit franchise, The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder will pick up where the original ended by following Timmy Turner’s cousin, Vivian ‘Viv’ Turner, and her new stepbrother, Roy Ragland, as they navigate life in Dimmsdale with the help of their fairy godparents, Wanda and Cosmo,” the series description says.
The original voices of Cosmo and Wanda, Daran Norris and Susanne Blakeslee, return to the series as everyone’s favorite married fairies. And in this TV Insider exclusive, they share what it was like to return to their (insert Mr. Crocker voice here) fairy godparent characters in the series, now streaming on Paramount+.
“For me, coming back to Wanda didn’t change a thing. I just didn’t have to go out to the grocery store as Wanda. It was very, very awkward. Now I have a place that is legitimate that I can do her,” Blakeslee teases. “It was a thrill and a shock and exciting, all of those.”
“Completely unexpected!” Norris says of the reboot. “Even when he heard that Paramount+ was doing another version of Fairly OddParents, there was no reason for us to expect to be involved. It was a live-action show, and as Susanne has said, ‘Well, good luck to whoever plays those roles.’ So knock me over with a feather when they reached out to say, ‘Hey, we’d like you guys to reprise your roles.’ Wow.”
Blakeslee and Norris make up the animated cast (Norris also reprises his role as Jorgen Von Strangle, who makes occasional appearances in Season 1). Joining them in the live-action cast are Audrey Grace Marshall as Viv, Tyler Wladis as Roy, Ryan-James Hatanaka as Tyler, Laura Bell Bundy as Rachel, and Imogen Cohen as Zina.
The OG Fairly OddParents ran for 10 seasons, with the series finale airing in July 2017 (the series is available to stream on Paramount+). Norris and Blakeslee say they barely used their Cosmo and Wanda voices in the five years since the show ended. After five years away from Cosmo and Wanda, the actors broke down what it was like to get the voices back.
Nickelodeon/Paramount+
“I’ve likened it to like an old pair of jeans that are just really comfortable,” Norris says.
“The fact is I hadn’t really, except in casual conversation — or with kids, sometimes I’ll do the voices — I hadn’t done them in a long time,” he continues before employing his Jorgen and Cosmo personas. “So it was a relief to just sort of sit down and get in front of a microphone and go, ‘Well, do you still have it?’ ‘Um, I guess so. Yeah, let’s go!’”
“It was just so much fun to jump back into the character. I adore her and the scripts are so funny that it’s just a joy to be part of this,” Blakeslee shares. “Of course, I don’t have to work half as hard as the live actors. They put together these singing and dancing numbers in this compressed amount of time. It’s just amazing. It’s truly spectacular for me to watch.”
The live-action/animation reboot is exactly what you’d expect of a kids’ sitcom: campy humor and shenanigans that lead to heartwarming moments. And it peppers in shoutouts to the original series outside of the fairies.
Justin Stephens/Nickelodeon
Timmy Turner appears in live-action form (played by Caleb Pierce) in the pilot before he heads off to Stanford. And there are even characters that feel like spinoffs in this spinoff. Garrett Clayton, for example, plays a pop star spinoff of Justin Timberlake named Dustin Lumberlake, keeping things in the *NSYNC family. Fans of the original show will recall one of its most memorable guest characters, Chip Skylark, was voiced by *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick.
But the return of Cosmo and Wanda — complete with their adult humor and penchant for amusing chaos — is the biggest delight.
“We’ve had so much fun over the years recording this show. To have yet another opportunity to play these people again!” Norris says. “Susanne and I have great admiration and real, genuine love for each other, and I hope that shows through, because man we have fun doing what we do. It’s so great to get to do it again.”
The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder, Season 1, Paramount+
