The Proud Family didn’t just teach its viewers to be loud and proud.
For the 20th anniversary of the Disney Channel hit, which first premiered on Sept. 15, 2001, Kyla Pratt reflected on her time playing leading lady Penny Proud. As Pratt reminded us, she was just a young woman when she first lent her voice to the animated series, and, thus, the experience influenced her identity.
“I didn’t realize how much it was shaping me,” she exclusively told E! News, “and also how much of my personality, you know, came through with playing Penny. I think I always grew up confused about people being bullied about certain things, because I was always like, ‘No! Stand up for yourself!’ And now as an adult, I feel like a lot of that came from, you know, helping portray that character.”
In fact, playing Penny Proud taught Pratt to love a part of herself that she previously struggled with: her voice.