For millennials like me, there were few things more exciting than the premiere of a new Disney Cannel Original Movie. Knows as DCOMs for short, these titles (which are streaming with a Disney+ subscription) are still beloved today by folks who watched and re-watched them as kids. Few are quite as iconic as Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, which was so popular it became a full-blown trilogy. But actress Kristen Storms revealed that the director originally wanted another actress, and I truly can't picture anyone else in the role.
DCOMs remind audiences of their childhood, and Zenon boats a colorful design, quotable lines, and the musical stylings of Proto Zoa. Storms played her signature character for all three movies, but recently told TV Insider that director Kenneth Johnson wanted another recognizable actress. As she put it:
I went through, like, seven callbacks. The director and the producer were at odds with who to hire. The other person was Allison Mack. The director wanted Allison Mack, and the producers wanted me.
Well, my mind is blown. Storms was pitch perfect as the title character of the Zenon franchise, so the idea that the director didn't originally want her in the role is pretty mind-blowing. And it's even more crazy that Smallville actress Allison Mack, who famously was arrested for contributing to the NXIVM cult, was the second choice for the role. Zetus lapetus!
While Mack plead guilty and is now synonymous with NXIVM, there was a time when she was just another child actress, competing with Storms for a gig on Zenon. It sounds like she got close to taking the gig, but the producers of the film won that battle. Later in the same interview, the Days of our Lives actress shared how this casting process motivated her performances, offering:
I went into it knowing I was not the director’s first choice, and it’s just in my personality to want to prove him wrong about his thoughts on if I could do it or not. That’s a great motivator for me always, and I just worked really hard.
Sounds like she had a great perspective on this situation, even as a young actress. The director not wanting her for the title role of Zenon only made her want to be even better, and leave it all on the screen with her performance. Ultimately this motivation was successful, as she was wildly charming throughout that first movie and beyond.
As previously mentioned, Mack's legacy is now mostly associate with her legal struggles and association with NXIVM. One can only imagine how differently fans would feel about the Zenon trilogy if she was the star instead of Storms. Alas, that's not how casting for the DCOM actually went.
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