Clash of the Thundermans, the latest chapter in the long-running Thundermans franchise, is now streaming on Paramount+, and ahead of the film's debut, we were able to catch up with the film's leading lady Kira Kosarin, who plays Phoebe Thunderman/Thunder Girl, and get her insight on the high stakes adventure.
In our lengthy chat, she walks me through some of the film's biggest moments, including Phoebe's huge decision and how that launches the family Civil War, and some behind-the-scenes details, including what it was like to film on the iconic Kent farm from Smallville.
We also get into what it was like growing up with this character and now being able to step into a mentor role for her younger sister. She was also kind enough to share details on her time on That '90s Show and a whole lot more!
The main cast features Kira Kosarin (Phoebe), Jack Griffo (Max), Maya Le Clark (Chloe), Diego Velazquez (Billy), Addison Riecke (Nora), Chris Tallman (Hank), Rosa Blasi (Barb), Dana Snyder (Dr. Colosso), Daniele Gaither, (President Kickbutt), Robyn Bradley (Mee-Maw), and Ariel Winter (Cognita).
Paramount+ is home to the complete Thundermans franchise, featuring all four seasons of the beloved original series, the hit reunion movie The Thundermans Return, and the newest chapter, The Thundermans: Undercover.
Clash of the Thundermans is now streaming on Paramount+!
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ROHAN: With you and Jack stepping into these executive producer roles for the movie, how were you able to shape the direction your characters went and what you ultimately wanted to achieve with the story this movie tells?
KIRA: Good question. I mean, it's a collaboration between a lot of people who have been part of this franchise for a very long time, which is I think what makes it so special. I adore our writer showrunners, Jed Spingarn and Sean W. Cunningham; they are just the best. My favorite part of being part of this project in this iteration is getting to work more closely with them on development and creative structuring and decisions. They came to me with a pitch of what this movie was going to look like, and we had a lot of conversations that moved and shifted.
Yeah, I'm trying to remember individual pieces and what I want to share without spoiling anything, because part of what makes this movie so exciting and so fun—but so hard to talk about in press—is that it's got kind of a big thing that happens. That big thing that happens, we really wanted to set up perfectly. So that's why I'm stumbling a little bit, because I am trying to figure out how to speak to that without revealing it.
I guess I'll just stick with saying that it was a collaboration on everything from the tone to the individual choices of which character would be supporting which character in the split of the family, the sort of balance of action to comedy and heart, and the balance of superhero stuff to family stuff. It's all a team effort.
ROHAN: Having played Phoebe for over a decade, were you surprised with the side she chooses in this movie?
KIRA: I was. I actually pushed back at first on which side of the conflict that Phoebe was on, because it felt to me like Phoebe would push for the education route, right? Because we know she is all about education and training. But at the same time, I think she takes her duty as sort of a leader in the family as seriously as she takes her duty as a leader on the Hero League—you know, on the T-Force—and we know that it's really important to her to keep the family unit together. So, we had a lot of conversations about that.
Ultimately, I think we also decided that it was just a more interesting choice for her to make, rather than just being like school, school, school, nerd, nerd, nerd. Because she is that, but she also, ultimately above everything else, just wants to do the right thing and make the right choice. Sometimes she's correct in that, sometimes she's misguided in it, but her intention is always to try to do right by her family and by her community. So yeah, there were some interesting conversations in the development, but ultimately, I think I like where it all landed.
ROHAN: Considering how close Phoebe and Max are, would you say this family Civil War helps them see each other's differing perspective a little better? Were you able to maybe step out of your character to see why Max does what he does?
KIRA: Yeah, I think that the stances that the characters take reveal more about both of them in a way that's interesting. Because of one of the reveals that we find out in sort of the first third of the movie, we learn about a decision that the parents made while raising the kids that hugely impacted their lives, and it's a really interesting layer of why they have become who they've become.
ROHAN: You were very young when you started the show, and now, you get to step into a mentor role for your sister, played by Maya Le Clark. How have you found that transition and being put into a position where you're able to guide her through the same trials and tribulations you went through?
KIRA: It's the best. I love Phoebe being a mentor to Chloe. I love Kira being a mentor to Maya. I adore her; I think she's a really cool, special, fun, interesting kid. I love that I get to have a little sister in her. I mean, you know, she was three when the original show started, and she was cool from three to seven, but she was a tiny, tiny person. So to get to really know her now as a teenager has been so special, and I keep pushing the writers for more Phoebe/Chloe stuff because I just think it's so fun and it's so sweet.
I want to see Phoebe being nurturing, you know? You see her being a little tough love and really trying to guide her and shape her, but I also want to see more of the fun. We had an episode during The Thundermans Undercover where Phoebe was trying to help Chloe with her date to the dance, and she made every move wrong. She's not a good fake mother or big sister sometimes, but again, her intentions are pure. So I would love to see more of the Phoebe/Chloe mentorship relationship, selfishly because I want to hang out with Maya more.
ROHAN: The movie has a bit of everything from action to comedy. As a performer, do you find nailing the comedie balance more challenging or is it the more superhero-heavy action beats?
KIRA: Balance is the right word. The balance is the most interesting part. The comedy obviously comes really naturally and is sort of what we've done forever. The action and the drama is its own thing. I will say I think Jack and I both really enjoyed the opportunity to kind of lean into a little bit more grounded drama on this one, and in the context of this movie, we were able to sort of dive a little bit deeper into the drama, so that was just fun to explore.
But the balance is the hardest thing as an actor: to sit at any moment, especially because, you know, you shoot a movie out of order, and you're always trying to keep track of where in the sort of emotional development of the story are we, and where are we sort of in the sequence of the movie in terms of the comedy and the drama. We do kind of bounce back and forth. There's also no laugh track to contend with, and figuring out like when it's helpful and when it hurts us. So the balance was the puzzle, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
ROHAN: You were able to shoot on location at the Kent farm from Smallville, which is such an iconic location in DC history. What was it like going to that location, and then choreographing that amazing fight scene with Jack?
KIRA: Thank you! First of all, yeah, iconic location, really cool to be there. Second of all, I'm just such an outdoor girl. Like, I'm just so much happier when I'm outside than when I'm inside. One of my least favorite parts of acting in a soundstage on television is that, you know, you go into a cold, dark, concrete box all day every day. Not to complain, obviously; it's wonderful to have the stability, and it's a great concrete box to work in, but my soul is so fueled by being able to see trees.
So just getting to show up for a day at work and be on a farm where the air smells fresh, and it's beautiful, and it's Vancouver, and it's cool and crisp, was magical. I was just so happy to be outside. And then it got really hot, and then it rained, so you obviously have the things that happen when you're exposed to the elements that can make work harder to pull off within your time frame.
But it was great, and the fight scene with Jack was cool. You know, we've fought against each other on the show once before in the context of The Haunted Thundermans crossover where I was possessed by the Green Ghoul and it wasn't really us. This is the first time that Max and Phoebe have physically really faced off, I guess since the big Z-Force competition at the end of the original series. So it was sort of a new iteration of that. But it was so intense and serious in a way that we haven't gotten to play with before.
It was awesome. It was a really great scene to shoot. It did rain, and we were up against the light going away, and it's such an important scene. It was a little bit of a stressful two hours of trying to get it done, but the moment we did, it just felt magical that we had made it happen and it looked so great. Plus, there were cows and chickens and animals to wave to. I had a blast; I never wanted to leave!
ROHAN: Ariel Winter, who we all know from Modern Family, joins this movie as Cognita, and she's phenomenal as well. What was it like bringing her onto set, figuring out her energy, and playing off of her throughout the movie?
KIRA: She's lovely. Actually, Jack and I have known Ariel for a very long time. Jack and Ariel were friends a long time ago; I met her through him. We haven't seen each other in a few years, but she is wonderful and has always been lovely. First of all, it was just really nice to catch up with an old friend.
But then professionally, she just slotted right in. People know her from Modern Family, but she's also an incredibly talented and successful voiceover actor with Sofia the First and everything. So she's just really precise. She's really good at taking notes and executing them cleanly. She's really smart, she's quick, and she was prepared. She had no ego, was just happy to be there, good at her job, and just delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed working with her; I think she's wonderful.
ROHAN: Without spoiling the ending, of course, Max and Phoebe both end up going in very different directions, but it seems right for their characters. What kind of led you to that decision, and where Phoebe is going after this film and beyond?
KIRA: I think one of the driving thought processes behind that choice was we just wanted to figure out what's new. What can we do that we haven't seen before? And like you said, what feels right? I think having had this sort of 13 years now of the franchise overall, including the gap in the middle, I feel like we've sort of earned the opportunity to make some big swings, because these characters are in such a different place in their lives than they were all those years ago.
And like you said, yeah, I think it feels right for the characters. And also, I think we wanted to open up the door for more different storylines going forward if we're fortunate enough to be able to carry the franchise forward after this. There's a lot of thought that's already gone into what that would look like if we got to see what happens next. It's a little bit of a cliffhanger, but also we wanted it to be satisfying in case we don't get to make more, because you know how this business is. We've all watched shows that end on cliffhangers and you go, "No, that wasn't satisfying!" So we wanted to try to make it something that would open the door for a next chapter, but also feel like a satisfying ending. I hope it is! I'm nervous to see responses to the ending.
ROHAN: Having so much history with this show on television, what was it like scaling this one up to even bigger than what you've done before, making it feel just a little more "filmy" than what people have seen in The Thundermans Undercover and the original show?
KIRA: Like I said, part of it was finding the balance in terms of the tone: the over-the-top comedy that you know and love from The Thundermans, and the sort of more grounded, filmic reality. There were times, like shooting on location at the university for the big opening scene or shooting on the farm for the big fight, that felt like, "Whoa, we're making a movie!" But there were also so many moments where we were just in our set where we had filmed Undercover in the house, and, you know, we always encourage the crew to laugh because it helps for timing and energy. So we're making people laugh, and it just feels like the old days of making the TV show. Each day was different; there were days that really felt like, "Whoa, we're doing a new thing here," and there were days where it was just like, "All right, another day of work on The Thundermans."
ROHAN: Since there is plenty of comedy, do you have much room to improv, especially with all these moving set pieces with the action, or is it strictly to the script?
KIRA: There's a lot of love poured into making sure the script is right, and then once the script is the script, we're pretty word-perfect. The writers will usually have alts that they'll bring to set that they might plan in advance to ask us to do so that they have options. But there's very little improv, just because on a show like this, the pacing is so tight and we need to get so much out, and the comedy is so specific. It's just a different format.
Sometimes one person will sort of... Actually, you know what? I think the "improv" more comes from when one of us will do an unexpected read of a line, do it in a way that no one's expecting, and then the other people will sort of play off of that novelty and unexpected energy.
I also now, at this level of 13 years into the franchise, I don't act really when we rehearse. I just say the words flatly so that I can save the energy for the first take, because I hate when you have a great performance and it was on rehearsal and they weren't filming. So there's also a little bit of newness that comes from that. But yeah, we don't tend to improv too much, except for someone maybe throwing in a joke here and there to try to make the other person laugh. Also, when there's stunts involved and gags involved and actor safety is involved, you have to be word-for-word because everyone is listening for a specific word to pull the pyrotechnics, or pull the mat, or whatever. So it becomes a safety thing.
ROHAN: You were on That '90s Show a few years ago, which was phenomenal. What was your experience getting on that set, working with Kurtwood Smith, Debra Jo Rupp, and the whole cast?
KIRA: It was a dream. It was the best job. I had a blast; I would do anything to play Betsy Kelso again. I had so much fun in that character, I had so much fun on that set. Debra and Kurtwood were lovely leaders of the set. Laura Prepon directed the episodes that I did. And the cast was great; they were all so excited to be there and doing that job, and just lovely people around. I'm still in touch with a few of them.
So yeah, I was pretty heartbroken when that got canceled. I was really hoping they were going to go for another year and that I might get to play that character again. But as we know, nothing's ever really dead in this version of the industry, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that maybe there's a future there. We'll see.
ROHAN: Since Betsy has such a perfect blend of chaotic energy—versus Phoebe who is so straight-edge—what is that challenge like as an actor playing those two extremes?
KIRA: Funny enough, the chaos is actually much easier and more fun for me to play as an adult. I think the straight-edge was much easier for me to play as a young person who didn't have any real-world experience. But nowadays, the Betsy type is actually a lot more fun for me. I mean, they're both fun in their different ways.
The harder part actually was just nailing the tone, because first of all, with the timeline: Thundermans ended, years went by, and I was about to go back to Thundermans when I did '90s Show. So it was kind of my first time... I was kind of shaking off the rust, which, you know, sitcom is deep in my bones so it wasn't too hard to dig it out, but I was getting back into it.
Network multicam comedy is a slightly different tone than Nickelodeon multicam comedy, and so that was sort of the interesting bit: finding it as I went with Betsy. I sort of feel like Episode 3 came around and I went, "Oh no, wait, let me do it! Now I know what I'm doing!" Which happens all the time. I mean, Addison said that she had that experience coming back to The Thundermans franchise, that it was like the final day that she was like, "Oh man, I feel like I'm finally back in my character! Now I'm ready to do it!" But yeah, it was great to be able to do that before going back into Phoebe to get me revved up again.
ROHAN: Stepping away from these characters, growing up, and coming back—does that make you much more appreciative of the experience you had as a child actor?
KIRA: It recontextualized everything. I am so grateful for the experience that I had as a young person on this show. That being said, I really needed those years to go become a real person, for so many reasons. Just from a time perspective, when you're working on a show, there's very little time to put into building yourself as a person, especially when you're a young person who doesn't know how to handle time management, work-life balance, and self-care yet. I was also dealing with school, social life, and trying to grow up.
And also because when you're young, those are the years where you're figuring out who you are, and when you're spending most of your time as another person, it can kind of stunt that process a little bit, especially when your character is sort of based on you. So the lines get very blurry.
Those years that I was able to be away from it, I was able to really swing in the other direction and then find the equilibrium of who I am as a person. That will obviously keep changing throughout my whole life; I don't think that we should stop growing up because we hit a certain age. But I was a very different person coming back to this new project, and so getting to sort of live through it in such a different context in my life has been really cool.
Based on the hit Nickelodeon live-action superhero comedy series The Thundermans, Clash of the Thundermans follows youngest sibling Chloe as she develops a new and unpredictable superpower, causing the Hero League to demand they send her away to a superhero boarding school to learn to control it. Faced with the prospect of sending Chloe away for years, the Thunderman family is split down the middle, with Max, Hank and Nora wanting to hand her over for her own safety, and Phoebe, Barb and Billy willing to ignore orders to keep her with her family.