Very few child actors are able to make the leap into adulthood success, but Raven-Symoné is one of the lucky few. The actress has not only been able to go from Disney Channel star to talk show host, but she’s managed to transform herself over the years to stay on top. You could even say her career has gone full circle now that she’s starring in a spin-off series, “Raven’s Home,” of her Disney Channel show “That’s So Raven” (via Hollywood Life).
But even before her days as a Disney star, Raven was starring in TV shows like “The Cosby Show” and “Hanging With Mr. Cooper.” Raven got her start as Olivia Kendall on “The Cosby Show” in 1989 when she was only 4 years old. In fact, when speaking with Hot New Hip Hop, Raven said that she started acting as soon as she “got out of the womb” (via The Atlanta-Journal Constitution). When she first got her start, Raven was described as “adorable” and “the cutest” (via Oprah). Now, she’s considered a stunning starlet who has really come into her own as an adult.
Raven was a fashion icon on the Disney Channel
Raven had a real breakout moment when she starred in “That’s So Raven” on the Disney Channel. If you have Disney+, you may have recently gone back and revisited some of your fave Disney Channel shows from the early 2000s and admired the throwback fashion. Raven’s character in “That’s So Raven” was a fashionista who even designed and sewed her own outfits, according to Showbiz Cheatsheet. It was her iconic looks throughout the series, like her flame jeans, that even inspired many people to experiment with their own fashion (via HelloGiggles).
Speaking of fashion, who could forget Raven rocking the cheetah print in the Disney Channel Original Movie, “The Cheetah Girls.” Not only did that movie allow Raven to showcase her singing talents, but it proved that she could star in not only TV shows, but movies as well. One of her first feature film roles after leaving the Disney Channel was in the family comedy “College Road Trip,” but before that Raven had appeared in films like “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” and “Doctor Dolittle” (via IMDb).
In college and on The View, Raven was able to come out as herself
After Raven-Symoné left the Disney Channel, she found a new home at “The View” and became a co-host in 2015, according to Hollywood Life. However, before that, Raven attended college at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco (via FanBolt). When talking to Oprah Winfrey for her “Where Are They Now” show, Raven admitted that going to college had “given [her] a new lease on life.” She also joked that she was proud to have “made it out [of Hollywood]” without a criminal record or “an addict of any kind.”
While in college, Raven also felt more comfortable being herself and was able to come out to her parents, according to People. The actress eventually “referred to herself as a lesbian,” according to Variety, on “The View” in 2016. It was a happy moment for Raven who felt like she could “help someone else feel comfortable.” She went from being a fashion icon on the Disney Channel to being someone queer fans could look up to and feel accepted. As Raven put it in her Power of Pride Variety interview, “It is about that one person who you’ll never see or meet who watches the show and feels that confidence to just say, ‘Hey, guess what? I’m gay. And if you can’t accept me, it’s okay, because I see Raven pushing through.'”
Raven is now a married lady to wife, Miranda Pearman-Maday
Raven-Symoné’s time on “The View” was actually quite short as she left in 2016, according to The Things. As sad as fans were to see the co-host leave, it was because she was moving on to bigger and better things. At the time, the actress was developing her “That’s So Raven” spin-off series for the Disney Channel. It was in 2017 that “Raven’s Home” finally premiered on the channel. The show is based around an “adult Raven Baxter raising her young family,” according to Disney Channel’s VP of original programming, Adam Bonnett.
Raven returned better than ever to her original home on the Disney Channel. While “Raven’s Home” just wrapped its 4th and final season, according to Pop Culture, there’s still so much to come with Raven. Deadline just reported in March 2021 that HGTV had greenlighted a “What Not To Design” (working title) show for TLC with Raven as the host.
The actress is also still celebrating her recent nuptials to Miranda Pearman-Maday. The two surprised everyone with a wedding announcement in June 2020 (via E!). Of course, the thing on everyone’s minds now after marriage is kids. While Raven has already played a mother on her Disney Channel show, as far as having kids IRL, the actress has said that, “We’ll get there when we get there.”
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