Culture

Billy Porter and Zachary Quinto to play gay dads on Proud Family reboot

By Sam Damshenas

13th May 2021

Entertainment Weekly via Disney+

Disney+ is adding some diversity to the streamer with their upcoming Proud Family reboot.

Titled The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, the series will see the return of the original cast and a few more high-profile names including Pose’s Billy Porter and Heroes’ Zachary Quinto as the franchise’s first ever gay couple.

The stars will play Randall Leibovitz-Jenkins and Barry Leibovitz-Jenkins, respectively, the adoptive parents to Keke Palmer’s 14-year-old activist character Maya Leibovitz-Jenkins.

Another new addition to the cast is EJ Johnson, who takes over the role of Michael Collins from Phil LaMarr. Michael is Penny Proud’s flamboyant best friend and son of the school coach who is often bullied for his non-conformity.

Louder and Prouder will continue to tell the story of Penny (Kyla Pratt) and her bonkers family, which includes her mother Trudy (Paula Jai Parker), father Oscar (Tommy Davidson), twin siblings BeBe and CeCe and grandmother Suga Mama (JoMarie Payton).

The series will also see the return of Dijonay Jones (Karen Malina White), LaCienega Boulevardez (Alisa Reyes), Zoey Howzer (Soleil Moon Frye), Uncle Bobby (Cedric the Entertainer) and Felix Boulverdez (Carlos Mencia), among others.

Announced in February, Louder and Prouder is currently in production at Disney Television Animation and will be released on Disney+ in 2022. Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar, who led the original series, return as executive producers.

Calvin Brown Jr is the co-executive producer and story editor, Jan Hirota is producer and Eastwood Wong is art director.

Proud Family originally ran for two seasons between 2001 and 2005 before concluding with a television movie. The series received critical acclaim and was nominated for several awards throughout its run.

The entire series is now available to stream on Disney+.