Callie Haverda, the Austin-hailing 15-year-old ushering in a “new wave of kids” in Netflix’s “That ‘70s Show” spinoff, had previously turned down auditions for series filmed in front of live audiences. So one can imagine her surprise when she noticed the viewer bleachers after she had booked the lead role of Leia Forman, her first major starring part.
“I was always so terrified of [live audiences] for no reason because it was something that I’d never done. I was unsure of how it would end up being, and I didn’t know that ’90s’ was going to be filmed in front of a live studio audience. So I was getting a tour of the set and the producer Steve Sandoval was like, ‘And those are the bleachers, that’s where the live audience is going to be.’ And I was like, ‘Awesome!‘” Haverda told TheWrap, feigning excitement.
But the starlet, who portrays the daughter to Eric (Topher Grace) and Donna (Laura Prepon), quickly found her groove. Her first scene was not only shared with her on-screen parents, but also heavyhitters Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith, who reprise their beloved roles as Kitty and Red.
“It was extremely intimidating, but as soon as I stepped out there onto the set and came into the room — when I say ‘Hi, grandma, hi grandpa,’ — it solidified the whole thing for me and it felt very surreal,” the actress said. Now, she’s a live show convert and champion: “I think they bring so much more energy and so much more excitement to all of us when we’re filming.”
“That ‘90s Show,” a spiritual reboot of the original and sequel in actuality, centers on Leia as she opts to stay with her grandparents for the summer in good ‘ol Point Place, Wisconsin. While there, she befriends a group of ragtag outcasts, who find solace in her basement — much to the delight of Kitty and chagrin of Red, who struggles to keep his foot away from several asses. What ensues is light-hearted teenage shenanigans reminiscent of the predecessor’s plotlines — lacking a beer tap for a keg, participating in a smoking circle, ascending a water tower (still painted with a weed leaf evocative of the middle finger) — along with some updated scenarios for the time period: like a DVD rental store and frustrations with dial-up internet. There’s also a diverse cast, which course-corrects for the original’s predominant whiteness and unwillingness to engage with queer-coded characters.
While Haverda hadn’t watched the original prior to receiving an audition from her agency and manager, she had heard of the series from her older siblings, who were fans. She began studying “That ’70s Show” via clips on YouTube, particularly zeroing in on any interactions she could find between Donna and Eric, as well as Kitty and Red.
“When I read the character, she just sounded so much like me and so real,” she recalled. “So I was really excited to be able to portray her and just even audition at least.”
After auditioning, she met with the creative team and did chemistry tests with various cast members over Zoom. Leia has some of the same mannerisms all children share with their parents during adolescence — the dorkiness and uncertainty of her father, the inner confidence and nascent maturity of her mother — but she is still her own person, which is a quality that Haverda wanted to preserve in her preparation and execution of the character.
“I didn’t want to over-research because I didn’t want my character to just be like a carbon copy of Eric or Donna,” Haverda explained, “so I just watched the show to get the feel for it. But then I went my own way with the character and developed her.”
Born in 2007, Haverda enjoyed getting to delve into the ‘90s, a time period that has perpetually seen a resurgence in the zeitgeist for its fashion, music and entertainment media. “With the original process, before I booked it, they had sent me an online article about Riot Grrrls that I printed off — like a three-page article and I read the whole thing,” she said. Before filming and after she had relocated to California, director Gail Mancuso encouraged the cast to make playlists for their characters (though much of the music in the show was written into the script).
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“She’s not as outgoing and outwardly crazy as maybe [her best friend] Gwen [portrayed by Ashley Aufderheide], but I feel like a lot of her music kind of represents the rebellious side of her,” Haverda said. “I have a lot of Alanis Morissette; I have Slowdive, which is actually one of my favorite bands; Veruca Salt. ‘You Oughta Know,’ ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ because it’s a super pinnacle kind of song.”
Occupying the well-worn basement couch from the Emmy-winning original isn’t easy, and Haverda said she and the cast were rapt listeners when the OGs gave advice while filming.
“I feel like everything that they said I should have written down because it was all just amazing. I remember very specifically with a conversation I actually had with Mila and Ashton; they told all of us as a cast to just really focus on each other because we’re the driving point of the show, the new wave of kids and if the audience and the fans don’t enjoy us, then what are they going to really attach to?” Haverda recollected. “So it was important for us to really treat each other like a family and work together and be honest with each other. And I love that because they gave us insight into how their relationship was on the original show and how that’s how they all treated each other.”
The ‘90s kids took the words of wisdom to heart, Haverda said: “We grew so close that these relationships that we had in the show weren’t hard to do. I remember in my original chemistry read with Ashley, the creators were all like, ‘Did you guys know each other before this?’”
She continued, “Everyone on the show, all of us are like ride-or-die for each other. And I love how quickly that comes about and I feel like it’s a very honest portrayal of friendships in general and relationships — how quickly they change.”
In Texas, Haverda grew up in the acting scene, booking the second audition she completed. While she can’t cite any one piece of media that inspired her to pursue acting, Haverda credits 2008’s “Nim’s Island” — with Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler — as a film that solidified her desire to break out into the industry. “I was always like, ‘I really want to play a role like that.’”
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The actress explained, “I kind of see myself as a slightly more mature person, and I think that’s a very great trait to have when you’re in the industry … I feel most comfortable when I’m able to just be on set and working with people so it’s always just really been my love.”
That’s why embodying Leia feels so true to her experiences of growing up, maturing and changing. “It’s great to see teenagers kind of coming into their own without forgetting everything that they’ve always known,” Haverda said. “I think she’s a perfect balance of still loving her family and loving her new friends and just this life that she’s kind of made for herself.”
It reminds her of something Rupp told her halfway through filming: “She just told me she remembers watching me with the first episode and she was like, ‘This girl’s great, she’s fantastic.’ But she said as the show progressed, and as we did more episodes, and we had more live shows, she was like, ‘She’s got it.’ That made me feel really great because I felt the same way. I felt like I was growing with Leia and becoming this new version of myself that I was really proud of.”
All episodes of “That ‘90s Show” are now streaming on Netflix.
