The series finale of Nickelodeon's beloved '90s live-action series
The Secret World of Alex Mack ended on a huge cliffhanger: After Alex helps take down the Paradise Valley Chemical Plant, her big secret is revealed to her parents - she was the kid in the accident that got covered in the top secret chemical GC-161. Knowing the truth, Alex's dad cooked up the antidote for GC-161 for Alex to consume. The series then ends with Alex standing looking down on the town with the antidote, leaving fans to speculate if Alex took the medicine or not.
Now, it looks like we may have the answer! In a recent interview with
E! News, Larisa Oleynik, who played the hat-loving teen with special powers, revealed that
The Secret World of Alex Mack series co-creator Thomas W. Lynch has talked about revisiting the iconic '90s Nick series,
with Alex a now-adult super-powered character.
"Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. Tommy always wanted to do somethings with Alex as a mom and having kids and seeing if one of them gets the powers. I think that's his idea. I'm not totally sure, you know? I would be curious to see if someone came up with something novel," she said.
That means that Alex didn't take the antidote, and not only can she still zap lightning and turn into a puddle, her child (or children) maybe can as well!
For now, Larisa is keen on playing mom to Noah and Dude in a show she's very proud to be part of:
The Healing Powers of Dude. In the brand-new family series, the actor plays mom Karen to Noah (Jace Chapman), a middle schooler who has social anxiety disorder. After years of homeschooling, Noah enters public school with the help of an emotional support dog named Dude. The series is streaming now on Netflix.
"It's a family show in the best sense. But it's like when you find your people, and that's a combination of your parents and your friends and your emotional support dog and whoever else. When you find your people who support you in the way that you feel supported, you can kind of…It's amazing how you can surprise yourself by stepping into things that maybe seem scary, or just by taking a risk and knowing that in the eyes of the people who love you—or the people or the dogs who love you—you will never fail you, will always be OK...Oh my god, I'm about to cry," Oleynik laughed.
Seeing Oleynik, who was the quintessential 1990s crush for many, as a mom in a TV comedy might be a shock to some. Oleynik, however, welcomed the shift in roles.
"Being in the mom zone is the best! That's…what I'm going out for right now, not exclusively, but that's just where I'm at. And it's actually a huge relief," she said. Oleynik, who is not a mom in real life, said she has maternal instincts thanks to nieces, nephews and friends, and felt a kinship when she auditioned with her TV son.
"And so, for me, it feels really full circle, especially since Jace is the age—I'm glad you asked me this question, nobody's asked me this—especially because Jace is the age that I was when I started doing
Alex Mack. There's something about that that feels really sweet and perfect. I'm especially sort of tuned in to what he's going through. He and I actually read together at my final audition, he'd already had the job, but he did sort of like a chemistry read and I just felt so protective of him right away," Oleynik said with a laugh. "So that really, really worked in my favor."
The full circle moment also had Oleynik examining the difference between being a child actor then versus now in the era of social media.
"Oh gosh, I mean, I'm so glad that none of this stuff existed when I was doing press. I mean, I barely know how to handle it now," she said. However, regarding the younger people she has seen dealing with new fame in the 2000s, she said "they're navigating it beautifully."
"But I totally don't understand how you figure that out and how you deal with the pressure of likes and things like that," she said. When she was on Nickelodeon or starring opposite Heath Ledger, Oleynik had the luxury of just leaving it at the door. "I was able to completely remove myself and just go on with my regular kid life. It's different now."
After declining a deal for a fifth season of
The Secret World of Alex Mack, she did leave it at the door and turned her attention toward education. The daughter of a doctor and nurse, Oleynik said education was always emphasized. She went to Sarah Lawrence to expand her mind and have time with her peers. Going to school also helped her out of a typecasting hole as the girl next door. "There are worse things in this world," she laughed.
"Even if I'm saying I'm in the mom zone right now—but I'm very happy to be there—then I can take it upon myself to go do play or even just being in class where I get to explore other roles. I think being typecast is something...you can always work with it. You know what I mean? If you're really determined to take on different things, you can always find a way," she said.
The Healing Powers of Dude is now streaming on Netflix. Click play on the video
here for the ultimate 1990s quiz with Oleynik!
More Nick: Netflix and Nickelodeon Form Multi-Year Output Deal to Produce Original Animated Films and Series!
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