If you grew up watching channels like Cartoon Network, ABC Family or Universal Kids, then chances are you’re familiar with Totally Spies!, the French anime-style series about teenagers Sam, Clover and Alex who work as undercover agents for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP). Maybe you even consider it one of the best animated TV shows of all time, though if you’d like to refresh yourself on the series, it can be streamed with an Amazon Prime Video subscription.
In any case, it was recently announced that Totally Spies! is being adapted into a live-action TV series that Will Ferrell is working on. While speaking with CinemaBlend, Jennifer Hale, who voiced Sam and the girls’ rival Mandy in the English version, pitched herself for appearing in this project. What was especially fascinating, however, was the reason the actress told us for why she’s not appearing in the animated series’ revival.
Jennifer Hale Wants To Appear In The Live-Action Totally Spies!
In case you missed the news from Variety, Will Ferrell is executive producing this live-action take on Totally Spies! through his Gloria Sanchez Productions banner alongside Jessica Elbaum and Alix Taylor. Amazon MGM Studios is developing the potential series with Banijay Kids & Family, and it would follow Sam, Clover and Alex, as described in the article, “navigate saving the world as international spies, while trying to survive the ups and downs of first year college life.” No writer or talent is attached to the project yet.
While interviewing Jennifer Hale about her work on X-Men ’97 (which included her shouting out Ted Lasso while praising the friendship between Jean Grey and Storm), I wanted to get her thoughts on Totally Spies! making the jump to live-action, and here’s what she told me:
Here's my thought. Hey, Will Ferrell! I'm in! You find a spot for me in that Totally Spies! [TV show]! I am all in and I think the other spies would be too. Spies moms, right here.
While Hale is chiefly known as a voice actress, she’s clearly game to jump on camera for the live-action version of Totally Spies!, and she thinks Andrea Taylor and Katie Griffin, who respectively voiced Clover and Alex, would be willing to join her, with Leigh taking over voicing Alex in Season 3 after Katie Leigh. Since it’s early into the developmental process, there’s no guarantee this will necessarily become a show, but if it does, I join Hale in hoping that someone from Amazon reaches out to her and the others about appearing, even if it’s just a cameo.
Why Jennifer Hales Isn’t In The Totally Spies! Revival
News of this live-action project comes a little over a month after Totally Spies! debuted its seventh season in France. The series originally its first five seasons from 2001 to 2007, then followed them up with Totally Spies! The Movie in 2009, then Season 6 in 2013. Now this second revival has arrived and is set to air globally on Warner Bros. Discovery’s channels and platforms later this year, meaning it will likely be streamable with a Max subscription. THR also shared that Season 8 has been gotten the green light.
However, when the English version of Totally Spies! hits the 2024 TV schedule, viewers won’t hear Jennifer Hale’s voice on it. When I asked her if she was involved with the new season, she answered:
Oh man, it's so disappointing, Adam. We did that show for [six] seasons, Andrea [Taylor] and I. There was a shift midway where the budget required that they go to Canada to do production, but I'm a dual citizen, so I stayed on the show and so did Andrea. I was contacted, I want to say… a little while ago, I don't remember the exact dates, and asked if I would work nonunion. And I said I can't, I choose to support my union and my community, but please reach out, maybe we can figure something out that would respect the union and allow us to stay on the show. And I never heard anything back. There wasn't an effort to work anything out, which was disappointing.
Well, that’s a shame, though I admire Hale for sticking with her dedication to working union jobs. Still, if you’re enjoyed Totally Spies! back in the day, you’ll need to get used to hearing Sam and Mandy sound different whenever Season 7 is released stateside. At least Hale looks back at her time on Totally Spies! positively, and again, getting some kind of role on the live-action adaptation would help keep that stretch of her career going.
For now, you can hear Jennifer Hale as the voice of Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor in X-Men ’97 Season 1, which can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. Don’t forget to also look over the best Prime Video shows while waiting for news on the live-action Totally Spies!.
