She’s a “Supernova Girl”! The Disney Channel Original Movie Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century premiered in 1999, and is still super-iconic.
Starring Kirsten Storms as the title character, the film — and its two sequels — follows the story of a teenage girl who lives in an Earth-orbiting space station. After traveling back to Earth and space, she’s forced to save the galaxy, on more than one occasion, we might add.
Years after the first movie aired, Kirsten teamed up with her former co-stars Phillip Rhys (Proto Zoa) and Gregory Smith (Greg), for a reunion in June 2020, where they reflected on the film and plans to possibly reunite for another sequel.
“It was such a fun shoot, we all hung out together. Because we shot it at my high school during the summer break, they let a bunch of my friends be extras,” Greg recalled, referring to the movie’s filming site in his hometown of Vancouver, Canada. “So, in all those scenes, that’s who I palled around with growing up.”
Kristen added, “I hung out with Greg and his friends the entire shoot. I still look back on that time as being so much fun.”
Despite no concrete plans for another film just yet, all three were down to explore the possibility.
“They’re rebooting a lot of the OG Disney stories so I think that would be fun,” Kirsten said. Phillip added, “There’s definitely something there. There’s a reason it connected with so many. The story, the sensibility, the universal tale … ultimately ‘there’s no place like home’ from the Wizard of Oz, everyone can identify with that.”
While Kirsten left her Disney Channel days in the past for other roles, the actress said she still gets recognized for playing Zenon.
“It’s funny, I get asked to say [catchphrase] ‘zetus-lapeutus’ all the time, and I just go with it,” she gushed. “I love that this movie stuck around for so long. And now people are playing it for their kids, which I think is really cool.”
Click through our gallery to see then and now photos of the Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century cast.
Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.
