“You got to keep up!” Kyla Pratt exclaims when I tell her how active she’s been lately.

She has a valid point. In the past few months alone, she stopped by Scott Evans’ House Guest, and she also appeared on Blocc Party, Issa Rae and Prentice Penny’s celebration of Insecure as the HBO series approaches its 10th anniversary. (I still think Pratt and her friends did Issa dirty during that hilarious Season 4 episode, but I digress.) Despite all of her success, along with the things already on her plate, Pratt remains one of the hardest working actors in the business.

Her career began when she was a child, eventually leading to roles in Dr. Dolittle, One on One and Love & Basketball, of course. Still, one of her most enduring roles has required audiences to hear her rather than see her. Pratt was 14 when she auditioned to voice Penny Proud in Disney Channel’s The Proud Family. Twenty-five years later, the character is an integral part of her life. “I think I will always be a little bit of Penny,” Pratt tells ESSENCE.

Penny returned in 2022 with The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, introducing the Prouds to children whose parents grew up watching the original series. Pratt has experienced the same thing at home, where she can now watch the show with her own kids and use its stories to spark conversations with them. Now, another chapter is coming to an end. Louder and Prouder returns to Disney+ on July 29 for its fourth and final season, with Penny facing new challenges alongside the family and friends audiences have known for decades.

With the franchise celebrating its 25th anniversary, Pratt talked about growing up with Penny, watching The Proud Family reach another generation and what she has learned from voicing the character for most of her career.

ESSENCE: You’ve been Penny Proud for 25 years, which is crazy to think about. What does it mean to you to have grown up alongside that character?

Kyla Pratt: It means so much. I didn’t realize it at the time, but being Penny Proud, I think it really helped shape the woman that I am today. I know a lot of people didn’t grow up with certain things, and I didn’t realize that our generation was getting something so special in seeing a Black family together and on television. So for me, all the things that we were talking about on the show and we got to perform, I thought that was normal life. I thought everybody knew about Kwanzaa. I thought everyone talked about segregation. I thought everyone talked about these different family dynamics, and I didn’t realize that they didn’t until a show like The Proud Family came along. So it really helped mold me into the woman that I am. And I think I will always be a little bit of Penny.

And then why do you think the show was able to connect with audiences for so many years?

KP: I think The Proud Family and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder were able to connect with so many audiences for so many years because it was real. It was authentic. No matter what character is your favorite character, you know someone in your life that acts like one of these characters or wants to act like one of these characters. And I believe mental health is so important to me, and I believe seeing yourself in some type of way on screen just helps you feel seen or heard or not alone. And I think a show like The Proud Family is something that touches major topics, but also keeps it fun and light and fresh and educates as well as entertains. So I think that’s why it’s hard to not have something like The Proud Family on.

So with it being the final season of Louder and Prouder, can you take me back to when you had to record Penny’s final scene? What were the emotions like?

KP: It’s crazy because I didn’t know. I actually found out a couple of weeks ago that this was going to be our last season. So recording this season was just like any other season. I get to come in and be loud and lose my voice and just to be silly and be heard. But we’re also working with some things with Disney+ as well. We have a Christmas program coming out, and hopefully we have more things that we can work on with them. So just because it’s the end of the Proud Family: Louder and Prouder doesn’t mean that’s the last time you’re going to see The Proud Family.

Okay. You were scaring me. I was like, we need closure.

KP: (Laughs.) I know. Because literally after the last season, people are still writing to me, like, did she run away? What happened? I’m like, “girl, I don’t know. I can’t tell you.” I mean, hopefully you guys get some type of closure, but I don’t think any type of closure is going to be good enough for a show like this to end. But I can tell you that Penny’s not going anywhere. Her and her crazy family are still going to see adventures with them. So don’t be too sad.

When you first auditioned for The Proud Family 25 years ago, why did you want to do it? Did you have any idea it would become so iconic?

KP: Well, auditioning for The Proud Family, I was 14 years old. So for me, it was another audition. And back then I didn’t really like my voice, so I didn’t really think that it was going to go anywhere. I was like, “oh, this cartoon is fun. It’s cute, but my voice is weird.” So, auditioning for it, it was like every other auditioning situation. And then being able to come in and work on it, I easily fell in love with voiceover. I was like, wait, I can help bring a character to life by just my voice. And the animators are recording my facial expressions and then going back and drawing later. I think being a young person and having some type of outlet where you can go and scream and yell and be a little crazy, I think that helps with your mental health as well. So, I feel like being a part of The Proud Family probably saved me in my teen years.

How does it feel for you to know that there are people that watched that show then that are now introducing it to their children? Have you thought about that?

KP: I’ve definitely thought about that because I have kids. The fact that the first time around filming this, I was recording this for me and I was recording it as a teenage girl and just having fun and just living and just yelling and telling stories. And now being able to watch it with my kids. And when The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder first premiered, I believe my youngest was around maybe eight or nine. And to have her excited, to have new episodes coming out and for them to hear my voice. And now for our show, our writers and creators, they’re just amazing. They incorporate so many things that are going on now so this generation can get the same feeling that we had. Now, I’m able to have discussions with my kids about certain things because of the conversations that The Proud Family started.

So, for me, being able to be across generations of being able to entertain and guide and teach, it’s an amazing feeling that I don’t think a lot of people get to experience. So I feel very blessed to be in that position and to be a “cool mom.”

How do you think Penny has changed since the original series and how have you changed with her?

KP: I think Penny has matured a lot since the original show. I don’t think she has matured too much. I feel like they kept it young and still in the teenage vibe because I feel like everyone can relate to that time in their life. I have matured on a way deeper level than Penny, just being a young woman and having experienced my teenage years, 20s and 30s. And we’re very different now, but it’s not hard to go back and tap into that young girl that I was. So I think I’m very fortunate. Not a lot of performers get to play a character for over 20 years.

You actually spoke on this a little bit earlier in the conversation, but if you could expound please, because I think it’s very important. I wanted to talk to you about how The Proud Family portrays the Black linear family. Why do you think it’s crucial for us to be shown in that light?

KP: I think it’s very important to see Black families on TV, period. I believe back in the day it was always… society has a way of making you feel like one thing is it, and that is the standard of beauty. That is the ideal family. And I believe seeing yourself on television helps you feel seen and makes you feel like you’re not alone. And I know that even having a character like Oscar Proud, who’s yelling and crazy and jumping all over the place can remind you of a father figure in your life or an uncle like Bobby who’s just singing and wants food and doesn’t want to do certain things. And just I think having something that you can relate to helps you mentally. 

I think that the world is a melting pot, and there’s a lot of families on television that I watched growing up that are not like my family. So I believe that we should show a great depiction of everyone. And even the stories and the situations and having to have conversations about skin tone, having conversations about boys and sports at school and all these different things. I think that young people need that. I think that for older people, it helps them because they’re able to flash back to a time in their life where they needed it and it might have some healing in it. So I really feel it’s important to have a family like the Proud Family on. And I love that it’s a cartoon so we can be a little kooky with it and a little crazy with it. It’s good for us to see us.

With you being a seasoned actress, how do you prepare for a vocal role?

KP: I think for me, preparing for a role that’s just vocal has always been hard. I have never breathed from the right place and I’m a very loud person, so I tend to lose my voice a lot. But for me, I think being in the booth and being a voiceover actor, I think it ultimately reminded me as an artist not to worry about what you look like and to focus on giving the performance regardless of what your appearance is. Because of course we’re in the booth, we don’t have hair and makeup, which is one of my favorite things I used to come in and chill. But you get to yell and scream and enunciate and vocalize things without worrying about what your face looks like. And that’s very distracting. And a lot of actors believe that you have to be cute all the time. So for me, I think stepping in the booth just reminded me like, no, by any means necessary, we have to bring this character to life.

We have to make sure that the audience is feeling it. And if your voice is not doing what it needs to do, then you failed. So I love being loud and I love being proud. So for me, it’s a natural thing. I don’t think it ever scared me. I think it just helped me grow as an artist, and I appreciate the years that I was able to do it.