Jeepers! Your favorite mystery-solving teenagers are back in an all-new, live-action feature-length movie! Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released Daphne & Velma
on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD this week. The film stars Sarah Jeffery (Disney’s “Descendants: Wicked World”) and Sarah Gilman (ABC’s “Last Man Standing”) and is produced by Ashley Tisdale and Jennifer Tisdale’s Blondie Girl Productions. We got the chance to ask Sarah Gilman about her new role as Velma. She was very sweet and pleasant to chat with.
Thanks to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for letting me talk to Sarah Gilman, all opinions I share are my own
I grew up watching the original Scooby Doo and thinking about which character I would be most like. I think everyone does at some point in their life. Girls always wanted to be like Daphne because she was the “pretty” one while Velma was the smart “nerdy” one. What I love about Daphne & Velma is that they break this mold of Dumb and pretty or smart and average with the characters. Both characters are portrayed in a more realistic fashion.
Who was your favorite character from the original show?
Sara Gilman – Velma or Shaggy. They were the ones that solving the mysteries and were the ones that made me laugh,” Sarah Gilman said.
Who do you feel you relate to most?
SG – “Definitely Velma, I’m a rational thinker. I think there were times that I was just method acting, we just connected so closely on certain traits that it didn’t feel like I was acting and it felt like I was settling into myself.”
In this film, you get to do some of the butt-kicking that is usually left up to the guys from Mystery Inc. Where you excited to explore this new side of Velma?
SG – Yes, I was. When I read the script and saw that I had a fight scene I was so excited. I played a lot of sports but I didn’t do any martial arts. I was ready to just kick some butt. It’s like you said, this is a job that usually left for the guys, even in the original cartoons, when something big comes we all hide behind Fred or we leave it to Shaggy and Scooby to make a diversion. So being able to be the one to say, ‘No stand aside, I’ll be the one to take care of it’ and being that strong character and being able to make it into a funny scene to provide some laughs was just the best of both worlds. It was also really fun to film. They let me goof around and just throw a bunch of kicks and punches and cartwheels and was so much fun to film, I felt like I was in the Avengers.
What do you think makes Scooby Doo so timeless that it can be enjoyed by so many generations?
The relationship between these five friends. I grew up watching them and watching them interact as five best friends doing what they love together and I always wanted that to translate into my life and my own group like that. So watching the dynamic and their chemistry, even though they are cartoons, is what attracted me to the show.
The mystery genre, ‘who done it’ and who’s under the mask is a timeless genre that keeps you on your toes. You think it’s going to be this person but it ends up being another person. It’s something fun for all ages to try and figure it out.
I also think that the nostalgia of watching something that you watched as a kid draws the whole family in.
What do you want girls to take away from the film?
Girls can do anything…period. Girls can do anything guys can do but just do anything, period. These girls aren’t damsels in distress waiting to be rescued. They are proactive and fast thinking and they are very real characters that are scared at times and they find strength and inner courage to keep moving forward.
I love the Science and technology focus in the film. You know I’m a sucker for S.T.E.M. especially when it involves girls!
State of the art robots and high-tech gadgets are common sights at Ridge Valley High, an innovative center of learning for some of the brightest minds in the country, including new transfer student, the bright & optimistic Daphne Blake (Sarah Jeffery) who is excited to finally go to school with her online bestie, the whip-smart & analytical Velma Dinkley (Sarah Gilman). But not everything is as innocent as it seems as mysterious disappearances begin to plague the top-performing students on campus. Once cheery and full of life, kids now appear in a “zombiefied” state – lifeless and shells of themselves. Can Daphne and Velma learn to work together and save the students or will they become the next victims? Get ready for thrills and laughs as we follow the first adventures of Mystery Inc.’s fierce female duo.
Bonus features on Daphne & Velma:
Daphne & Velma: A New Ambition
An Updated Classic Mystery
Iconic Styles of Daphne & Velma Reimagined
Gag Reel
“Who is your favorite Scooby Doo character?” Scooby–he’s so wacky and has a great voice!
My favorite Scooby Doo character is Scrappy Doo. I always thought he was funny.