Posted in: Disney+, Fox, Marvel, TV | Tagged: X-Men '97, X-Men: The Animated Series

X-Men '97 Star Alison Sealy-Smith on Her 23-Year Journey Back as Storm

X-Men '97 star Alison Sealy-Smith reflects on her journey back as Storm after her original run on X-Men: The Animated Series.

It's rare for an actor to develop a memorable role, much less be synonymous with it, as Alison Sealy-Smith has for Ororo Monroe, aka Storm. You can make the argument that she's done more for the beloved Marvel character than the character's live-action counterparts played by Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp. While she's done her share of live-action roles, including a memorable run on the CBC drama Street Legal, the actress made her mark as mistress of the elements across all five seasons of X-Men: The Animated Series, across 55 episodes from 1993 to 1997, and reprised the role for the X-Men: Mutant Academy games before getting asked to reprise her role again 23 years later for Disney+ animated sequel series X-Men '97, alongside castmates George Buza (Beast), Cal Dodd (Wolverine), and Lenore Zann (Rogue). Sealy-Smith spoke to SooToday as part of her appearance at the inaugural SaultCon in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, to discuss her return to the role in 2024 and the current second season.

X-Men '97 Star Alison Sealy-Smith on Her Triumphant Return as Storm

When Sealy-Smith started to receive messages about the new X-Men series, she didn't take it seriously at first. "I laughed to myself — I don't know what kind of scam this is. I don't know what he's trying to sell me. But I'm going to delete this because the X-Men was a quarter of a century ago," she said. "He writes back again a few weeks later, and he goes, 'No, this is serious. They're thinking about doing this reboot. Is this Allison Sealy-Smith who did the voice of Storm? Disney is trying to get in touch with you.'"

One thing the actress admits to never doing before during her original run but is doing now is the convention scene: "I'm a bit of a newbie, but the most gratifying thing is to come face to face with your fans, to understand the impact that a show like the X-Men has," she said. Another guest at the con was TAS castmate Alyson Court, who played the original Jubilee and reprised her role in the form of Abscissa, an older, wiser, and more powerful incarnation of her original character, sharing a scene with the X-Men '97 counterpart played by Holly Chou in season one. For more, you can check out the full interview. New episodes of X-Men '97 stream Wednesdays through August 12th on Disney+.

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