VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Jeanine Mason Shares What She Thinks Makes ‘WondLa’ Special

Actress Jeanine Mason revealed in her new uInterview what she thinks sets her new AppleTV+ animated series WondLa apart from other children’s shows. 

WondLa follows Eva, voiced by Mason, a spirited teenager raised in an underground bunker by a robot caretaker. On her 16th birthday, an attack on Eva’s bunker forces her onto the Earth’s surface, now inhabited by aliens, with no other humans to be found. 

“This is an epic adventure series, and Eva is this young, enthusiastic, hopeful, excited, young 16-year-old,” Mason told uInterview founder Erik Meers. “She’s living in an underground sanctuary, and she’s preparing to emerge to the surface of the Earth and finally meet her fellow humans. She emerges to find that nothing is as she expected. So she’s on this epic quest to find the other humans, and she’s often faced with the possibility that maybe it’s just her. She meets all these wonderful alien creatures along the way and creates a family that I’m obsessed with. It’s really endless; it’s like a feast for the eyes.”

When asked what aspects of the series drew her in, Mason replied, “Found family was a huge one. And the general optimism, I think we could all use a little optimism right now, especially young people; it’s like, we know it’s daunting, and obviously change happens and leaving the nest is intimidating, but it’s also hugely exciting, and you’re capable. You’re prepared, and change should not be entirely scary; it should also be enjoyable.”

Mason said she related to her character. “I’m an optimist myself; I’m definitely a bit of a cartoon character in real life myself,” she said. “I’m like an Energizer bunny. I’m silly, and I love making people laugh. I’m not very serious, so all those things are very funny to get like, a fully pass on being strange and excessive while working on this.”

Remembering particular moments that spoke to her, Mason said, “We don’t hold back in her confronting stuff that a 16-year-old might encounter in their lives – and a lot of the stuff about encountering loss surprised me as an actor who primarily works on live-action, there was no holding back, like, we really went all the way with processing grief and processing joy, and it made me excited for young people to watch it you know because there’s no promise that their life is going to be void of that.”

WondLa is set to premiere on AppleTV+ on June 28.