SDCC 2019: The CW's 'Nancy Drew' to lean more towards the supernatural than a regular crime and mystery drama, cast reveal
The Teen detective series, 'Nancy Drew' had its pilot screened to the audience in the ongoing San Diego Comic-Con 2019 in Ballroom 20. The CW series follows the young detective played by a newcomer Kennedy McMann. Talking to ET Online, reporting live from SDCC, McMann and the rest of the team spoke about their roles in the upcoming sleuth series.
"This Nancy (Drew) has been what she always has been, incredibly courageous and full of confidence," said McMann. "We also see more fire from her, and she's also flawed in some ways we haven't seen her represented so much in the past. She's grown-up now, she's an adult and she's dealing with a lot of tricky situations."
Maddison Jaizani, who plays Bess Marvin, one of Drew's best friends, said: "From the outside, it looks like (Bess) knows what she wants in life, she looks prim and proper, but deep inside she's going through a lot of anxiety, and she's hiding her own secrets too."
George Fan (Leah Lewis) is a "tough girl" in the series as described by Lewis. "She and Nancy have got some beef to deal with. It's cool to see them come together at some point while they solve these mysteries. She doesn't like working with Nancy, but she eventually has to."
Alex Saxon who plays Ace in the series felt his role is chipping in to help Nancy and Co. solve crimes when he can. Tunji Kasim plays Ned Nickerson and remarks that his character has got a bit of a past: "As we go deeper in the series, we'll get to know what secrets he's been hiding."
The cast also opined that the series leans more towards the supernatural genre than just being a regular crime and mystery drama. "It's a very supernatural world," McMann said. Soon after the screening of the pilot episode, the cast and creators of the show were part of a Q and A and as per a tweet, executive producer Noga Landau said during the panel that part of the reason the town's name was changed to Horseshow Bay over River Heights was to avoid confusion with Riverdale, the other teen drama on The CW based on Archie Comics characters.
When asked about the possibility of the Hardy Boys making an appearance in the series, Landau teasingly said, "We shall see." The official premise reads: "After 18-year-old Nancy Drew's college plans are put on hold, she finds herself involved in a ghostly mystery when she and her four friends are witnesses (and suspects) to a murder, and team up to find the person responsible."
'Nancy Drew' made her first appearance in 1930 and since then has been a staple of children’s literature and an American cultural icon. Created to be a female counterpart to the 'Hardy Boys', the 'Nancy Drew' books were written by numerous ghost-writers under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. The series has been through many iterations over the years but continues to fill library shelves to this day.
'Nancy Drew' will premiere Wednesday, October 9 at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.