Power Rangers Dino Fury’s big premiere is right around the corner, and fans will have a chance to get to know all of the new Rangers throughout the season. The good news is you actually don’t have to wait until tomorrow to get to know the Rangers a bit better, as ComicBook.com had the chance to talk to the awesome cast of Dino Fury, and you can check out our full interview in the video above! We talk to Russell Curry (Zayto), Hunter Deno (Amelia), Chance Perez (Javier), Tessa Rao (Izzy), and Kai Moya (Ollie) all about the show, their characters, and even some Marvel and Sesame Street, because really, why not?
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Now that we have some details on who they are playing, we wanted to know their favorite part of their characters and the element that is nothing like them in real life.
“Oh man. I think it’s easy for me because the thing I love about Zayto the most is the thing that I am least like,” Curry said. “I think he’s such strong leader and such a disciplined person. I feel like I can be pretty disciplined, but he takes it to a whole nother level man. And he’s always cool-headed for the most part, he is able to find solutions very quickly without getting super emotional about things. And yeah, I just want to be more like Zayto in my regular life, from here on out.”
“Okay. So I like most about Amelia is how optimistic she is,” Deno said. “She seems to always try to find the good out of anyone and anything in any situation. And I feel like we’re very alike on that. And the only thing I’d say that we’re not alike is I’m just not obsessed with the paranormal. I love it, don’t get me wrong. I’m just not obsessed with it. But besides that, we’re pretty identical. So that one’s a hard one.”
“What I like about Ollie the most is that he’s so sharp,” Moya said. “He’s sharp on everything. He gets things quickly. He’s always the one to be like, Oh, I understand what’s going on here. You know? And so he’s really sharp with that. And he’ll pick up on things very quickly, he’s a quick learner. He’s very into science. I am not. I avoided science at all costs. So that’s where we’re different.”
“I’d say the thing I love most about Izzy is that she is so driven and focused and loves what she does, is so passionate about what she loves and just kind of keeps pushing forward and keeps pushing herself no matter what, and encourages others to do the same,” Rao said. “I’m not quite as athletic as she is. I’m definitely not as athletic as she is. I do enjoy sports, but nowhere near as much as she does well.”
Rao remembers a time early on where this definitely came into play, but wouldn’t spill the beans just yet on what happened.
“Actually, the first thing, the first day that I had to shoot, I had to do something athletic that I swore was about 13 I’d never do again,” Rao said. “I can’t say. I can’t say. I don’t think I’m allowed to say yet. I don’t think it’s out there. But one day I will say what that is, but it was quite difficult.”
“I feel like Javi and I are a lot of like,” Perez said. “He’s a musician, he’s a little bit silly, but he gets to rise up to the occasion when the moment calls for it, which is really cool. Step up to the plate. So I think it’s really fun playing that character because I feel like I can just be myself a lot of this time in front of the camera. So I really enjoy playing him.”
As for the season itself, Curry thinks the tone of the show is going to surprise some people when they start watching the episodes. “I think that the overall tone and feel of the show is going to be a little bit different from past seasons,” Curry said. “I don’t think it’s better or worse. I think that it’s going to be a little bit noticeably different. I think it’s going to be amazing. I’m probably biased, but I think that people are really going to dig it. Yeah, probably not. You’re right. But yeah, people are really going to dig this different tone and vibe that we bring to it.”
It must be a pretty surreal thing to play a Power Ranger, and the cast remembers one moment on the set that crystalized how beloved the franchise is.
“I’m pretty sure Tessa can agree with me on this one, one day we were about to wrap out and this dad had came up with his child and was like, we have been searching for you guys,” Deno said. “We’ve done the research on where you guys are filming. We’ve been looking for you guys and we live down the road and you just happened to be here. His child was sick obviously, and he just really wanted to meet us and get to talk to us. He got a picture with us, and it was just a really cool moment that they had been searching for us for so long, and they just happened to stumble upon us. It was at the perfect moment because we were just about to leave, and it was very heartwarming.”
“Yeah. It felt like it suddenly kind of … I mean, I think I knew it, but I hadn’t really felt it, of this moment of like, wow, this show is so much bigger than any of us individually,” Rao said. “The story and the show is so much bigger than any of us individually. The story and the connection that it has with the people around the world. So many children, and not just children, but people that have grown up watching it and become adults and still really love the show and have so much passion for it. It’s so much bigger than any of us, and it was so humbling and touching to know that someone who’s dealing with quite a lot of stuff in their life, however old they are, could maybe get some relief and enjoyment out of the story that we’re getting to tell. So that was amazing.”
“It was one of the best reality checks. It was like, wow, we are the new Power Rangers,” Deno said. “That’s so weird, and so many people look up to us and everything, and it was just really cool that they had been searching for us and they finally found us.”
Part of the reason the show is so beloved is that cross-generational fandom Deno Rao was referring to, and that actually brought up another franchise that has that same ability to cross divides for all ages. That would be Sesame Street, so we had to ask if they could have any Sesame Street character as their sidekick, who would it be and why? I started things off with the pick of Cookie Monster, because cookies are dope and so is he.
“You know what’s so funny is when I read your question, I read the question and I immediately said Cookie Monster,” Deno said. “And then I saw your response and I’m like, ‘That’s phenomenal.” I was like, “Cookie Monster all day long. What?’”
“And Hunter also bakes amazing cookies. So they would be best friends,” Curry said.
“Probably the Cookie Monster as well because then we could just share all the time,” Kai said. “That’s probably why, or Elmo. But Elmo just because he was my favorite when I was a kid. I remember Elmo. I’d like to have him around.”
“I’m going to jump on the same bandwagon as the Cookie Monster, just because he’s got the cookie and you got to get the cookie,” Perez said. Now, if he’s in his veggie phase, Perez is cool with that too. “It’s definitely good. I make good vegan soup.”
“So it’s quite controversial when I say, I think I’d quite like to meet Oscar the Grouch,” Rao said.
“Because you’re both green,” Curry asked. “Because we’re both green,” Rao confirmed.
“Also because I just find his negativity coming from him specifically so amusing,” Rao said. “I don’t know if it was a different form, if it was human form, I’d quite enjoy it as much. But I think there’s something about him being in a trashcan and he’s so cute and green. I just find it really cute and I feel like it would be fun to just kind of go around with him each day and hear his negativity.”
“I was originally going to say Elmo because he was my favorite as a kid and he’s red,” Curry said. “Red’s almost always been my favorite color except for a weird phase I had where it was silver. It didn’t last long. But mine would actually be, this one’s for my brother, Brad, Grover would be my guy because that was my brother’s favorite growing up because Grover didn’t get enough love. So I’d be there for Grover.”
You can check out even more from our interview in the video above, and you can watch the Rangers. inaction when Power Rangers Dino Fury premieres on Nickelodeon Saturday, February 20th.
Let us know what you’re looking forward to most in the comments or as always you can talk all things Power Rangers with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
