EXCLUSIVE: Libe Barer & Gary Anthony Williams Talk Their Characters in Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

Libe Barer & Gary Anthony Williams play Casey and Pops, respectively, in Disney’s new animated series, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. The two sat down and chatted their new roles and what’s to come in the new series. Check out what they had to say below.

Lunella Lafayette and Casey are such a great characters. For so long being smart was never cool on television, but these too are both smart and cool. Why do you think it is so important for there to be characters like this on screen?

Libe Barer: “Why was smart ever not cool? I think there’s a lot of really cool reclaiming of, reestablishing what is cool in this show. One of the things for myself is I love that Casey speaks Spanish and is cool. I would have loved to see that as a little girl and I love getting to bring that to life.”

Lunella has such a tight knight family and Gary, you got to play Luenella’s Pops in the series. What was that like?

Gary Anthony Williams: “It’s the best. Libe and I have been working together all day, so she’s heard me say this a million times, but I grew up in a huge family. I have six sisters, two brothers, mom and dad and then my grandmother was always there. My cousins were always there. So to get to show that whole family unit, literally the way that I grew up, except for down South, to get to be a part of that and that heart and love that comes from my character, Pops, who’s Lunella’s granddad and also just a huge fan of Moon Girl, even though he doesn’t know it’s the same person, that means everything to me. Like he’s that rock there for his family, that true love that he has for his family and also, the community. That skate rink that he owns, he could have sold that out but he kept it for the community there, it’s such a cool part to play.”

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will premiere on Disney Channel on Friday, February 10.