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American Morning
Star of Tomorrow: Raven-Symone, From 'Cosby' to "Dolittle'
Aired June 21, 2001 - 10:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Michael Okwu in New York.
You may not recognize her face today, but Raven-Symone's actually been gracing TV screens for the last 12 years. If you don't recognize the name, here's a clue. You've seen her in a lot of reruns opposite a guy called Cosby. Back then she was three. Now you can catch her on the big screen with funny man Eddie Murphy in "Dr. Dolittle 2."
Laurie Blackman met Symone at the Central Park Zoo to see how she really interacts with the animals in this "Showbiz Today Report"'s "Star of Tomorrow."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "DR DOLITTLE 2")
RAVEN-SYMONE, ACTRESS: Dad, you are the last person who should be talking about anything being embarrassing.
EDDIE MURPHY, ACTRESS: Now what's that supposed to mean?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAURIE BLACKMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You may know Raven-Symone from her childhood on THE COSBY SHOW or "Hanging With Mr. Cooper" or her music career. But we are here at the Central Park Zoo to talk about "Dr. Dolittle 2." So what changes in the second one?
RAVEN-SYMONE: Well, you see a lot more of Charisse. She's a lot older. She's 16. She has a boyfriend played by Lil' Zane. And she has the typical father/daughter relationship with her father. I mean she's very rebellious and she's not liking because her father, since he can talk to animals...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "DR DOLITTLE 2")
MURPHY: Woah, woah, woah, wait. This is your date?
RAVEN-SYMONE: Dad, Eric. Eric, dad.
ERIC: Ha-ha, my man. What's up? What's up?
RAVEN-SYMONE: Eric, no. We have to stay here with the family and eat dinner. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKMAN: We haven't seen you doing the dating thing, I don't think, have we?
RAVEN-SYMONE: You haven't seen me be me neither. I was always a sweetie pie on "Hanging With Mr. Cooper" and "The Cosby Show." So this one, you get to see, you know, and then I also do a dramatic scene with Eddie Murphy. So you get to see different sides of me.
BLACKMAN: Are you a rebellious teen?
RAVEN-SYMONE: I am not a rebellious teen. I am a sweet person sometimes...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop lying.
RAVEN-SYMONE: Look, my dad said stop lying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, stop lying.
RAVEN-SYMONE: I am nice. I am sweet.
BLACKMAN: I don't know, your dad doesn't seem to think so.
RAVEN-SYMONE: I believe that I am the sweetest -- no, I'm joking. I have my moments but it's kind of fun because all the stuff that I can do, like Charisse talks back to her dad and she's really rebellious, I can just, you know, play it out in the character rather than doing it with my dad and then getting in trouble. So it's OK.
BLACKMAN: You were 3 years old when you started "The Cosby Show." At 5 years old, you were the youngest person ever to sign a recording contract, with MCA.
RAVEN-SYMONE: Yes, my first album was called "Here's To New Dreams." I was five. I was singing and rapping and doing everything. And then I had my second album that came out on my own record label called Ray Blaize Records (ph). It was called "Undeniable." And that came about three years ago. A great album. I was on tour with 'N Sync with that album. I was on a world tour and a military tour.
BLACKMAN: You've done music. You've done television and you've done film. You've essentially done every genre at 15 years old. What is your favorite? What do you like to do best?
RAVEN-SYMONE: I have to say acting has one side of my heart and then music has the other side and if I stop one then, I mean, I have half a heart. I can't live without half a heart.
BLACKMAN (voice-over): Laurie Blackman, CNN Entertainment News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKWU: Man, I feel old. That's all the entertainment news for now. But join me in one hour when "Showbiz" -- when we have our "Showbiz Sessions." We're going to feature the R&B sounds of India.Aire. Her debut album "Acoustic Soul" is getting deep into the souls of music critics. That's "Showbiz Today Reports" at 11:30.
In New York, I'm Michael Okwu.
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