The actress additionally recollects her fondest reminiscences capturing with the late Debbie Reynolds, and shares whether or not she’d ever wish to do one other Halloweentown movie, whereas additionally opening up about married life along with her Halloweentown II costar, Daniel Kountz
It has been over 25 years because the first Halloweentown hit Disney Channel — and Marnie Piper herself, Kimberly J. Brown, nonetheless will get stopped on the road, with excited followers reciting quotes from the late ’90s and early 2000s TV motion pictures, and asking her “day by day” if there’ll ever be one other movie.
Whereas selling her partnership with STEM insect repellant in an interview with TooFab, the 39-year-old former baby star mirrored on the franchise’s legacy, and the way Disney Channel Unique Motion pictures are nonetheless beloved as we speak.
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Halloweentown’s Legacy
“I’m so honored,” Brown mentioned of the franchise’s legacy. “We have been simply purported to make one Halloweentown film again within the day. Individuals ask me on a regular basis, ‘Was there a plan?’ ‘No, we have been making one film.’ Disney Channel was very younger and wasn’t in each family but. It has been so wonderful to get to look at the film develop and the channel develop through the years. It is actually due largely to the wonderful followers. They’ve beloved and embraced the flicks so exhausting through the years.”
“We acquired to do sequels. Now they’re on Disney+. I meet generations of households on a regular basis — grandmothers and daughters displaying their children. It is such an honor to be part of individuals’s traditions that manner. We might’ve by no means imagined that the flicks would nonetheless maintain a spot within the season on this manner. It is actually simply so wonderful.”
At 13, Brown was solid as teen witch Marnie Piper in Hallloweentown, with the late Debbie Reynolds starring as her grandmother, Aggie. She reprised her position in Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001), throughout which she met her now-husband Daniel Kountz, and Halloweentown Excessive (2004).
Brown took a glance again at when she was first solid in Halloweentown, and recalled a few of her fondest members working with Reynolds, who handed away in 2016.
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“I’ve beloved Halloween since I used to be a child, so I used to be actually so thrilled. Particularly then — now supernatural, witches and all these matters are seen extra in scripted TV motion pictures — not a lot then, so it was actually distinctive and particular. Like, ‘I get to learn for a teenage witch?'” she mentioned. “As a child, like, Oh my god, to get to faux to do this was additional thrilling to me. And with the manufacturing design of every part, it actually felt at occasions like we have been some place else, like in a Halloweentown. Simply leaning into that in my childhood creativeness, it was simply thrilling to me to get to take pleasure in it personally in a method to and do the work.”
Working with Debbie Reynolds
As for starring alongside Reynolds, Brown mentioned it was “actually an additional particular privilege.”
“You hear such a legend goes to play your grandma and you do not know how it’ll be. She was simply the nicest, kindest, funniest — I imply bawdy humorousness — every part. We had the most effective time. She all the time handled me as a peer, all of us children, even once we have been younger. She actually wished to impart as a lot knowledge as she might.”
The actress mentioned she “wished [she] might have walked round with a tape recorder” to document “every part” Reynolds mentioned.
“She instructed so many tales, and also you assume you are going to keep in mind them. … You become older, and your reminiscence would not work in addition to you need it to,” she instructed TooFab. “I want I had simply recorded every part as a result of every part was so wealthy and filled with historical past. She was the best possible.”
“Her favourite method to introduce herself to followers [who] would collect round set, she would stroll over and say: Hey, I am Princess Leia’s mother,” Brown added, referring to Reynolds’ late daughter, Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher. “The gang would get a kick out of it! They beloved it.”
STEM
Marnie At present & Sequel?
Brown additionally shared the place she thinks Marie can be as we speak, so a few years later.
“I feel she would’ve all the time wished to proceed in a progressive [way], like, let’s take steps ahead, and do all types of latest issues,” she mentioned. “I feel she would both be mayor, or operating for mayor, or in some form of management place, possibly educating a brand new class of witches or one thing too,” she mentioned. “I really feel like she can be wanting to take a seat in that seat for Halloweentown and be in cost in that manner. I feel she would love that.”
And in as we speak’s age of reboots and revivals, Brown revealed that she’s “completely” right down to do one other movie sometime.
“I feel there [are] a ton of potentialities of the place Marnie and the fam could possibly be now. Disney is aware of I am right down to do one other,” she instructed TooFab. “It is as much as them to make that call. Actually, followers ask me day by day — messages, in-person, every part. So yeah, we might all like to do one other one.”
Fan Shock Over Co-Star Marriage
In the meantime, Brown additionally opened up about her relationship with Kountz. The 2 shared the display collectively in Halloweentown II, however did not reconnect till years later in 2016 and started courting. The couple introduced their engagement in 2022 and tied the knot in April.
And whereas they’ve been collectively for a very long time now, followers who have been unaware nonetheless get stunned usually once they see them on social media, which Brown mentioned is “the good factor.”
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“We might’ve by no means imagined the wonderful response and help that we have gotten again from the followers once we first made it public,” she instructed TooFab. “There [are] nonetheless individuals until this present day — and we’ve got been collectively for eight years — [who] will see a submit and be like, ‘Oh my god! Are you collectively?’ And that is nonetheless a lot enjoyable. So yeah, it has been actually unbelievable to get to share on this with the followers a bit, too, and we’re so touched at their response through the years. It is actually wonderful.”
As for what she’s loved most about married life to this point, Brown mentioned she and Koutz love that they will formally seek advice from themselves as “husband and spouse.”
“We could not wait to do this, and we form of cheated somewhat bit beforehand and would reference one another as that,” she shared. “We simply love that. I do not know. There’s one thing so official about attending to name him my husband now as an alternative of my fiancé. That is been an sudden little enjoyable half about it.”
Bug-Free Halloween with STEM
In the meantime, Brown additionally spoke to TooFab about her partnership with STEM, together with a few of her high ideas and hacks for prepping and adorning for Halloween whereas additionally holding the bugs away.
Whereas she mentioned that she likes “faux bugs for décor” as a result of they add to the “spookiness,” she is not a fan of the “actual ones” — and we’ve got to agree.
“Through the years with of adorning with the enjoyable issues with fall florals and jack-o-lanterns, issues like hay bales, individuals do not understand that these sorts of décor can encourage the actual creepy-crawlers. So, amongst my ideas, I feel it is actually necessary to have merchandise like STEM Kills Ants Roaches and Spiders spray as a result of it helps you handle the actual creepy crawlers. It is to be used each for indoors and for open air which is good. I used to be much more enthusiastic about this partnership as a result of they’re doing their enjoyable Halloween promotion,” she mentioned, including that followers can go to stembugout.com and “take an image of your faux creepy crawlers,” and “it is going to magically flip into a reduction code.”
Brown mentioned she likes that the merchandise are made with important oils in order that they’re secure to make use of round pets, particularly Luna, her Goldendoodle.
See extra from Brown within the full interview the highest of this submit!