'Richie Rich' Netflix: Brooke Wexler Talks Playing Irona The Robot Maid With 'An Attitude' [EXCLUSIVE, VIDEO]
Beloved comic character Richie Rich is slated to make his Netflix TV show debut in 2015, and one of the show's stars, Brooke Wexler, is revealing how fun the show can be.
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Wexler, 21, is slated to play Irona the robot maid on Richie Rich, a live-action TV adaptation of the famous comic about the richest kid in the world. Debuting Feb. 12, 2015 on Netflix, the new kid-friendly series is one of Wexler's first big breakout shows.
Wexler spoke exclusively to Enstars about the process of working with so many kid actors and why Richie Rich is a show for everybody.
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Enstars: What was the process like of getting the role of Irona?
Wexler: I went in, I recognized the "Richie Rich" name right away. I wasn't familiar with the character Irona until after I asked, my dad had read the comic books and everything. He gave me insight. I kind of picked it up in a way that was different - kind of Stepford Wife-y. She's less of a robot that people would think of off the top of their head and more of Stepford Wife.
Tell me more about Irona.
She's Richie Rich's robot maid and the majority of the time in the maid's costume. The funny thing about Irona is that she actually doesn't like cleaning! She's the total opposite of what a maid should be. She's a little bit spoiled but that's what makes it funny. She has a little bit of an attitude. Sometimes she'll wanna watch soap operas as opposed to cleaning.
So what goes into playing a robot maid? Any sort of makeup or technical work that goes on behind the scenes?
It's funny, I even assumed it was gonna be silver paint or something like that. But she's not, I think it's more in the voice. There's a kind of voice that comes with Irona and that kind of gives it away, some of the movements. I remember I was off set once and I handed my mom a water and she looked at me and started laughing. She's like "you're handing it to me so robotically!"
Obviously Richie Rich has multiple child actors in the main roles, so what is it like working with them?
It's been fun. Very different. The show I was on before, Sequestered, was such an adult setting and sometimes it would end filming at midnight. So going into a production with kids after was very different. And it's kind of nice as an adult because you have to follow the timeline they have to follow so I got off work at dinner time! You spend so much time together you really do develop these relationships and I think they kind of use me because I was the older one of the group, as their big sister. So I get questions about girls they like or I'd come back to my trailer and it would be "TPed," with toilet paper! It was a fun kid setting.
How does it feel to be part of the Netflix family now?
It feels great. I think for a while we didn't really know, and when we found out everyone was really happy. It's interesting because if you said years ago you're a part of these new media platform and doing an online series, it's looked at so differently now than it was then, so it's interesting how much the industry changed, and being part of Netflix now is such an honor. It's their first live action kid show that they're doing. House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black and Richie Rich.
Those are the three.
[Laughs.] Not like the rest of their original shows.
Any Netflix shows you watch?
Yes I do. I love Orange Is the New Black actually. I watched right when it came out. I love that show. House of Cards I just started recently and I'm still in season 1.
You've done some modeling before and now you're dipping into acting - how has that transition been so far?
It's funny because acting had always been no. 1 for me, and I think people don't really see - they think an actor kind of comes out of the woodwork really quickly. It takes so many years to get going. So while that was happening I was taking classes and going on auditions and the whole real audition process was close to me getting roles, but just the act of getting into acting itself, there was modeling too that I just thought well, why not try to get more of an audience on something else. It was something fun to do, it was something that just came as opposed to being pursued so much.
What would you recommend about Richie Rich not only to kids but to families?
It's a very fun show. For me, and people would find this embarrassing and not admit it, but I totally fall asleep to the Disney Channel. [Laughs.] Or if I'm in a really crappy mood, watch a light, fun show to kind of get your mind off things. And Richie Rich is kind of like that. You watch it and it's just fun and makes you laugh, it makes you smile and sometimes that's nice.
And that actually kind of separates it from House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black. Those shows are pretty dark.
Yeah, I watch American Horror Story and then realize it's midnight and I'm terrified. Turn on Richie Rich and you laugh and you forget everything bad and it's funny. I think there's also kind of adult things in there that you can find too. Irona is an older character so you don't have to be a young kid to watch it and laugh.
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Watch the Richie Rich movie trailer from 1994 starring Culkin here: