What’s a lab rat? Before today, it was simply a rat in a science lab… but today, it’s so much more. Disney XD is premiering its new show, LAB RATS, today at 3pm ET to unleash its hilarity onto the world.
LAB RATS follows the life of Leo (Tyrel Jackson Williams) after he discovers an underground lab in his step dad’s high-tech home. The lab features the experiment of three super human teens: Adam (Spencer Boldman) has super-human strength, Chase (Billy Unger) has super-human intelligence and Bree (Kelli Berglund) can move at lightening speed! The super teens convince Leo to take them to high school where their unpredictable actions lead to disruptions in Leo’s life, but the four quickly learn to become a strange new family.
The Mag got the chance to speak with Tyrel, Spencer, Billy and Kelli about their experience working on the show, being super-powered teens and more!
Tell me about your character:
Billy: Chase is the youngest of the three super human kids and he has super bionic abilities, so he’s super intelligent. When he goes to school he aces every test thrown at him. He can see from afar, hear conversations across the room and he can sense things before they happen.
Kelli: [Bree] has super bionic powers and she has super speed and agility and she’s really tough, like the boys. She grew up with two brothers and she’s had to live up to their standards. When she goes out into the normal world, she’s really insecure because she has to act like a normal girl and keep up trends and stuff like that.
Spencer: [Adam’s] kind of the comedic relief of the show. He’s not the brightest, the show is done by the same producers as THAT ’70s SHOW [and] my character is pretty much the Kelso of the group. He’s not the brightest and he lives within his own little world, which is what I love so much about playing him. It’s a lot of fun, I have super strength and heat vision, so that’s cool to play.
Tyrel: Leo is kind of a quirky kid: he likes comic books and video games, science-fiction, and in that sense I’m a lot like Leo because I like that kind of stuff. At times, he can act like he’s a ladies man also, he is not at all! I think that’s one of the things that draws people into Leo is that he has an air of confidence about him even though there’s not much to be confident about.
What do you love about playing the character?
K: It’s so awesome! When I first got the script, I fell in love with the character. I thought it would be so cool to play someone with bionic powers and still be able to relate to a real girl. She’s really easy to relate to.
B: I love that his personality is so different from any other character on our show. The show is so character driven; there aren’t two characters on the show that are alike…Chase is really quirky and cool because he’s a martial artist so whenever his super intelligence fails and he’s in a bind with his brother and sister and they have to fight in a mission, he’s the first to go at it. I just think that that’s pretty cool.
S: What’s funny is that the script will always progress and Adam is literally always doing his own thing…. and he gets really excited about the small things in life, like he gets a locker for the first time and that’s a big deal, and when he sees girls for the first time, because they’ve lived in a mansion their whole life and so this is their first time really seeing the world…As actors, it’s our job to make a connection with the audience, it’s something that releases the inner fun, the inner goofiness in all of us
T: I’m able to react the way that I would react in a certain situations that he goes through. It’s mystifying and amazing, I would love to have a millionaire father, so that aspect of the show is really fun too.
Favourite episode:
T: I’m really excited for the third episode, “Leo’s Jam,” because Leo does a dance number, so I’m really excited about that… I like to dance in my spare time.
S: “Leo’s Jam,” when we all go to a dance for a first time, it was just really fun to shoot. Since our pilot, I feel like the shows have just really gotten better and better and for me that’s saying a lot, because I love the pilot so much.
B: Leo’s birthday and we all kind of forgot his birthday so we wanted to throw him a party, but he got lock in the laboratory closet because it was a surprise party. We forgot that we had locked him in the laboratory and had this huge party and he had to watch it all unfold from the lab and of course that’s pretty heartbreaking so we want to make it up to him.
K: For our big summer special, we need a whole new sound stage to film it. It’s super crazy, but super hilarious.
Favourite super-powered character in real life?
B: Definitely Spider-man. He is my favourite superhero. He always has been and he always will be. When I was younger I actually thought I was Spider-man; I had like four or five different costumes. I was obsessed, he was my whole life. I still enjoy going to watch the Tobey Maguire films because that was my life when I was younger.
S: I love Batman, I love Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of the BATMAN movies. Growing up, I had an older brother, so for Halloween my brother would be like Batman and I would be Robin, or he would be the Red Power Ranger and I would be the Green Power Ranger; like I was always the sidekick. I have mad respect for all of the sidekicks out there because I was always one growing up.
T: My favourite would be the X-MEN because they’re totally based off the mutations and the DNA and stuff and how they’ve always attributed to their powers. I always think to myself, whether I’m watching a show or reading a comic, I’m like, “Wow, I want to go to the lab and have them mess with me so I can have that.”
Are there any characters with super powers that you draw inspiration from?
K: I try play off certain characters, but they don’t necessarily have super powers. My character can be pretty sarcastic at times, kind of like Alex from WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE, so I try to add that to my character.
If you weren’t on the show, what else would you be doing?
B: I’m really, really into guitar, that’s one of my other passions besides acting. It’s one of my main hobbies! I also love to draw.
K: I’ve been dancing my whole life and I keep it really close to my heart. I think that if I wasn’t doing the acting, then I would either be a professional dancer or a choreographer. I think that would be pretty cool.
S: I just graduated high school, so I guess I would be in college, but I’m really fortunate to get to be a part of the show and I’m very thankful for having this opportunity, Disney has been very good to me.
T: I would still be acting, going on auditions and stuff. If I wasn’t on LAB RATS I’d probably be saying to myself “I wish I was on THAT show!”
Thank you Billy, Kelli, Spencer and Tyrel! Don’t miss the premier of LAB RATS today at 3pm ET on Disney XD!