The end result is a successful and enjoyable romp that fits with Blondie Girl’s initiative of female-empowering entertainment while at the same time being something that kids and adults, male or female, can enjoy.
Playing the title duo are two Sarahs: Sarah Jeffery of Descendants fame is Daphne, and extremely well cast as Velma is Sarah Gilman (I Didn’t Do It, Last Man Standing). We spoke with Sarah Gilman on the phone recently for some insight into what it’s like to play such an iconic character in pop culture.
The film is released on Blu-ray and DVD today from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
KSITETV’s CRAIG BYRNE: What was it like to take on such an iconic role as Scooby Doo’s Velma?
SARAH GILMAN: It was definitely nerve-wracking, because she’s so iconic and there are multiple generations that have their own perception of who Velma is and who Velma is to them. Taking on such an iconic role, you take the chance of alienating some of those people and what their perceptions are. Luckily, we had a really strong creative team and really supportive producers who were able to help me along the way to figure out exactly who we wanted to make this Velma.
The cartoon, while amazing and one of my favorite shows… she’s a flat character, as the nature of cartoons sometimes are, so to have a human life and expanding on the traits that we know and love, it was kind of scary, but I think we did a good job! I hope everyone agrees. I think she stays true to Velma, and that made it a lot more comfortable and a little less nerve-wracking to do it.
Did you have a particular favorite version of Scooby Doo?
The O.G. Mystery Machine and the O.G. gang is definitely my favorite version, for sure. And then, of course, who doesn’t like the live-action movies? Those are a fun take on it, too. That was right in my demographic.
Sarah and I knew of each other; we had a lot of mutual friends from Disney, so before we started working together, when I heard she was cast, I of course went to my friends and did some detective work and was like “give me the low down. Is she cool, or am I going to be stuck with her for a month? Is she going to be fun?” Only good things were said, so I went in with really positive expectations. We actually first met at the baggage claim at the airport in Georgia. And immediately, off the bat, [we hit it off.] We spent so much time together in Georgia. We were in the same hotel. We were able to bond. She’s an amazing actress, and being able to play with her on set… we were given a little bit of free reign when it came to improv and stuff, so being able to vibe with her on set and see our different acting personalities come together and just work together like that, it was really fun. Sarah is really amazing off screen and on screen, so it was really fun professionally, and just on a personal level.
Can you talk about how Velma is a bit distant from Daphne when they first end up at the same school?
I was a little confused reading the script when I first started, because you don’t really figure out why Velma distances herself from her alleged best friend in the very beginning. But I understand that, personally. When you’re trying to protect someone and you think that the best thing to do is separate them from the situation, or protect them by pushing them away. So I think that’s exactly what Velma was doing. She was trying to help Daphne and ended up accidentally hurting her. I think it really hurt Velma to hurt Daphne in that way. That’s a really relatable feeling that I think a lot of us experience, when we’re trying to do the right thing and accidentally hurt someone in the process. So, that distance that Velma created, it was made from good intentions… but it was so sad to play. I’m so happy it didn’t last for more than, like, 15 or 20 minutes of the movie. Because it was heartbreaking to have to separate these friends that really just need each other.
Daphne and Velma end up at a very high tech school. Can you tell us more about it?
I grew up right when cell phones and laptops were coming out, so I’ve been on both sides of the technology gap and seeing it all come together. So I felt very at home in a school that was as technology-advanced as that. I went to a school where we started using laptops every day in class, in middle school. Obviously not to the extent where there are drones flying around and you have hoverboards in the hallways, but I really love the idea of a school that advanced. It’s very fascinating to me. But at the same time, it created some road blocks or bumps, I guess, in terms of production, because drones are really loud when they’re flying through the air, so that was a horrible thing for sound when we were walking in the hallways. And people were falling off their hoverboards, which would ruin the take, and stuff like that… but yeah. I think it’s a really cool idea, this advanced high-tech school that’s so open and so bright. It’s just very ahead of its time.
That’s actually one of my favorite parts of Velma, because you don’t see a lot of girls tinkering with robots and really immerse with sciences and maths and engineering sectors when it comes to mainstream television and media, so I thought it was a really cool trait of her. She’s so amazingly talented when it comes to these types of engineering and science, and being able to rip apart a robot and create another invention that melts lockers and stuff like that. So it was really fun. I personally excelled in English and History when I was in school, so I can’t relate on a deep level to Velma right there, but it was really fun playing with it, because it’s fascinating stuff, and it’s so interesting. All of the robots we had on set, they were real robots. That’s not put in in post. There were robots moving around on set, and speaking… it was just really fun to play with them.
Can we expect an iconic “Velma lost her glasses” moment in the film?
We can expect that. And the fun part about that, is it wasn’t actually in the script. That was something that our director, Suzi YOONESSI, and our amazing producers and everyone over at Blue Ribbon and Warner Bros. kind of let me put in. It just kind of happened when we were shooting a chase scene, and I was just like “this is it! In the cartoons, Velma’s gonna lose her glasses right about now!” So I just took off my glasses, put ’em on the ground, and started looking for them. They called cut, and were like “that was it! We’re putting it in.”
Can you talk about working with producers Ashley and Jennifer Tisdale?
Ashley and Jennifer are amazing producers. Jennifer was with us on set every day. She was in the same hotel, we got really close, she helped take us to set, she would drive us… she definitely became like a second mom to me while we were there.
They’re not only just there creatively, and have strong creative opinions on the work they do. It’s like a passion project [for them]. It’s about women, too, and women on screen and how they’re portrayed, and there’s a really important message, just having a film about two girls not constantly about the guy they like, and not the damsel in distress. That was really important to them and that’s something I really respect them for, trying to get that message and that portrayal out into mainstream media.
And they know what they want. Jen was there, and she was so willing to listen to me and Sarah if we had ideas and concerns, but at the same time she was there to guide us if we didn’t know what we were supposed to be doing or if we were uncomfortable. She was always there to listen.
Ashley came to set, too, and we got dinner, and they’re just both so easy to talk to. It really made you comfortable.
Are you hoping for a Daphne & Velma sequel?
I am. I don’t think this story is over. I want to see what the girls are doing next. Based on where we left off on this movie, it seems to me that it could happen, but who knows? But I definitely would be there for a sequel.
Can you talk about how this is a movie that all kinds of people could enjoy?
I think it’s something that appeals to all ages for a plethora of reasons. One is because it’s a fun story, at the base of it. It’s a fun “whodunnit” mystery, “let’s solve the problem,” which is a really relatable genre of movies. Everyone wants to figure it out. And of course you have to factor in the Scooby Doo part of it. Scooby Doo is such an iconic franchise, and it’s such an iconic show. Adults know of it. Kids know of it. Teenagers know of it. Everyone’s been interested in Daphne and Velma, but we’ve never really seen them before. We know that they started at the start of the [Scooby] Gang, so we don’t know how that happened. So I think in terms of that, I think anybody of any ages who knew Scooby Doo would be interested in that.
And then of course, the intended demographic is a little bit younger, but my parents have seen the movie because they’re my parents, and they loved it. I don’t know; maybe that’s just because I’m in it, but I’d like to think they liked it! More than that, they said it was a very entertaining movie, and they didn’t have any desire to check their phone during the movie or anything. So I think it’s just a fun story that’s being told, and frankly, a story that needs to be told right now, in terms of these two strong female characters just leading the way and solving their own mystery, controlling their own destiny.
Check out Daphne & Velma on Blu-ray and DVD today! Our thanks to Sarah Gilman for the interview.
