The beloved animated series X-Men: Evolution debuted 25 years ago. An original take on the mutant team – it ran for 4 seasons, which is almost as long as its predecessor, X-Men: The Animated Series. Often living the shadow of the two animated series before and after its release and having debuted the same year the FOX film X-MEN rocked cinemas and introduced us to Hugh Jackman as Wolverine – there is a die-hard community of fans who were brought up by Evolution and consider it to be the gateway to their love of the X-Men.
Actresses Meghan Black (Rogue) and Maggie Blue O’Hara (Kitty Pryde) portrayed their characters for all four seasons and helped make “Goth Rogue” a cultural and cosplay icon. Steven E. Gordon, known for his animation work and design on films like The Swan Princess and Cool World, created their unforgettable character designs.
Together, all three creatives will appear at The Uncanny Experience this July 12th-13th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of X-Men: Evolution. Meghan and Maggie took time out of their schedules to speak with AIPT and reflect on the series 25 years later.
AIPT: Can you believe that it’s been 25 years?
MAGGIE: No. I cannot. I’m that old. Really? I know. I just turned 50. How did that happen?
MEGHAN: Well, happy birthday!
AIPT: I’m going to start with a general question that I love to hear from people: How were you first introduced to the X-Men?
MAGGIE: I mean, to be honest, I was doing lots of cartoon voices back in those days. I was doing things like Bulma in Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, Gundam Wing, and all the Japanese anime. I didn’t know much about X-Men until I got the opportunity to audition and got the role, and that’s when I started thinking, well, I better study more about X-Men.
MEGHAN: I’m kind of in the same boat. I was in my early 20s, and I don’t even know if I really knew about X-Men. The funny thing is, you know, my character, she kind of was a character I feel like I played a lot on the television side. I definitely got typecast as a lot of alternative, kind of darker characters. I didn’t really know a lot about X-Men until I got the audition. I just loved playing darker characters, and I just kind of went for it and put a little southern twang in there, and you know, there she was.
AIPT: That’s funny because I feel like a lot of the original voice actors in the X-Men world were introduced to it through their audition and through being on the show and learned about the characters that way. I’m curious, after performing your roles, what’s something that you took away from that character that you really appreciate or that you kind of relate to?
MAGGIE: Even just her name, Kitty and Pride, like after that, I felt more of a connection to her – the energy of just having more confidence. That name, Kitty Pryde, gave me some more power. And then she was always like a girly, feminine, playful character, but I don’t know which came first, whether that was her or me because they would film us, right? They would film the way that we would talk, and then they would bring that video down to LA, and they would animate it. They actually used some of our influence to animate the characters. So maybe it was my feminine energy that went into that character, and same with you, Megan, maybe your energy went into Rogue. Also, the thing about being a mutant and feeling like a black cat or a black sheep of the world, I’ve always felt a little bit like an outcast. As an artist, we sometimes feel that way. We’re sensitive, we’re emotional. I’ve always been more alternative, so that feeling of being a mutant, finding your pack, and finding your crew with all the X-Men. That’s what I took away.
MEGHAN: I agree with what Maggie said in that last part. For me, the first time I ever got sick, I was 13, and so I kind of always felt like the outside world saw me as one person, but behind closed doors, I was a bit of a different person and I feel like being that mutant, I kind of felt like I was mutant in my own life. I feel like I understand part of Rogue’s rage as well. Even though that’s not what I put out into the world, I understand that inner torment that Rogue had, and I feel like I related to it in that way. That’s why I loved playing that role so much, because I could be a little bit intense, and maybe a part of my own anger towards the cancer I was battling kind of came out in that. I just really love her character.
AIPT: Meghan, you’ve been very open about your battle with cancer. You mentioned that you in a past interview that you had given up on acting and you’re focusing on other passions in life. Is there anything you can share about this journey, about going through this process and where you are now?
MEGHAN: Yeah. The first time I got sick, I was 13, and then I had leukemia at 16, and then I got into acting – it was always a passion of mine. But unfortunately, at 27, during my time on Dead Like Me, while they were on hiatus, I got tongue cancer. So, losing my career as an actor was beyond difficult. It took a lot of mental healing to know that I couldn’t go back to the thing I loved – that really felt like I couldn’t do anything else in the world. Acting was just, through-and-through, my passion. I have come to peace with that all these years later. My speech is a million times better, but back then, it took a lot of work. And my whole voice changed. I think I told you this before, but after I had tongue cancer, I lost a third of my tongue, so I had to learn to speak again and try to go back into the voice world and put a demo together with my new “voice”, and I actually came across the sides from my original Rogue audition. And I couldn’t do the voice. I can’t. Like, my voice is totally different.
So that was a bit of a trip to go, wow, I just don’t have her voice. I can now do things that I couldn’t do back then, like, I can do little boys or little girls, like little kid characters. I can go really high. Anyways, I’ve kind of put that chapter at bay and made a lot of peace with it. And I’m very open. If anyone wants to ask me questions, I’m not precious. So, please do not hesitate to ask anything.
AIPT: Do you two have any memories of recording X-Men: Evolution and what the recording process was like? Maggie, you mentioned that they filmed while you did your line delivery, but did you guys record solo? Did you record as a group?
MEGHAN: It was awesome. I love it so much. We got to record as a group, and you fed off everyone’s energy. It was magical. Everyone was such a character, and some of the guys, they could do all these different voices, and they would just go off. It was awesome. I would say it was definitely the highlight of my voice career.
MAGGIE: Yeah, that experience of being in the big sound room, because it’s so different when you’re by yourself in a small booth. But when you’re in the group, it’s a big sound room. There might be 10 microphones with music stands so we can have our script there. And like Megan said, playing off of each other because that’s real life, right? You’re in a room, you’re bouncing off the real people, you’re having a real experience. Everybody was so funny.
We would have our main characters that we would do, but then we would also do the “walla” – like the crowd scene – and we would sometimes get cast as the little girl as well that was only in one scene or the teacher in a scene. And we definitely became like a family. Everyone would hug when they saw each other. If we saw each other at other auditions or other jobs, we would feel naturally bonded to each other. It was a for sure one of the highlights as well.
AIPT: One of the most iconic X-Men: Evolution things to survive to this day is the scene with Rogue and Kitty dancing. We’ve learned this is a scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer that Steven E. Gordon revealed later as the influence of that particular dance scene. The episode is called “Spyke Cam” in Season 1.
I’m just curious. Has this meme culture reached your awareness? Do you see yourselves, so to speak, in this dance moment online to this day?
MAGGIE: So, I’ve looked at it, and then I also looked at the Buffy Vampire scene, and I’ve seen that. I guess it was Steven who got inspired by the Buffy scene because of the moves with the elbows up and the hands in the hair and stuff, then he made Kitty and Rogue do them too. So now I understand what they’re talking about.
MEGHAN: I mean, listen, I didn’t see the meme take off until you and the Uncanny Experience tagged us in it. I’m not a big social media person, but my kid went on, and he was like, “Oh my god, you see how many views you’ve had,” and like, “People are making memes from you,” and I’m like, “What, what, what? What is happening?” So, I think they had a big kick out of that. Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. There is such a huge culture and love for the X-Men. I’ve definitely gotten a lot of messages from friends saying, “What? I didn’t know you were in the show!” So yeah. It is crazy.
AIPT: The latest breaking news from Marvel Studios is the Avengers Doomsday film, where every actor on the planet is coming back for this movie. And what’s interesting about it is that they’re bringing in cast members from multiple universes – from across different films and franchises altogether for this one film. So, if you were given the opportunity, would you, Meghan, appear as Rogue, and would you, Maggie, appear as Kitty Pryde in this movie?
MEGHAN: Hell yeah!
MAGGIE: Of course! Oh, the opportunity to meet all the other actors – and I would love to slip into the cool X-Men: Evolution Kitty Pryde outfit. It’d be a blast. Yeah, I would totally love that. It would be such a great experience.
AIPT: You both are going to appear at The Uncanny Experience in Minneapolis this July 12th and 13th. We are celebrating X-Men: Evolution’s 25th anniversary, of course. What are you looking forward to about that weekend? Is there anything that you’re excited about?
MAGGIE: Yeah, I wanna meet all the cosplay fans – all of the fun, colorful people who have been watching and appreciating X-Men for 25 years. I think it’ll be so fun. And the mansion that you guys are going to be doing it at, the location sounds and looks beautiful. I checked out your website. It looks really cool. And, yeah, seeing you, Meghan, in person. I mean, we worked together lots back in the day, but we haven’t seen each other in a long time. We’ll have to do the dance together.
MEGHAN: I think over the years since I left the industry, I’ve had a lot of fans reach out and been really supportive of my journey – really heartfelt. I’m sure some of that will come into play as well, and I’m really appreciative. I am a big person of energy and love, and the more that we can support each other, the better we are in the world. The X-Men community has, to this day, supported me. So that, I’m really looking forward to.
MAGGIE: I’m looking forward to the building, and it is going to be really cool that it’s just X-Men. That I’m totally excited about. It’s gonna be great energy. I just know the two days are gonna be fantastic.
Watch all seasons of X-Men: Evolution on Disney+ and learn more about The Uncanny Experience and purchase admissions on their official website.
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