Kirsten Storms may be well-known now for playing Maxie Jones in General Hospital. But before that, she was an adorable ’90s actress playing Zenon in three movies. If you can believe it, Storms says that a Smallville actress almost starred in the Disney trilogy instead.
In the Zenon movies, you follow the adventures of a teenage girl raised on a space station. Played by Kirsten Storms, we saw Zenon navigate Earth for the first time in Girl of the 21st Century, encounter aliens in The Zequel, and compete in a contest on the moon in Z3. This Disney Channel trilogy is best known for its inventive slang like “Zetus Lapetus” as well as introducing us to technology that didn’t even exist in real life at the time, like portable video calls and voice-controlled assistants.
While Kirsten Storms has played Maxie Jones for 20 years, she told TV Insider she’s most recognizable for Zenon. She continued to say how complimented she was that fans still think about her famed Disney character:
“For the most part, it’s people my age who are in their 30s,” says Storms. “I do get a lot of messages from people saying they had their kids watch it with them recently, which I think is great. But, yeah, all the time, maybe even more than General Hospital, I still get Zenon conversations going. It’s very cool and I’m very thankful for that, obviously.”
Who almost played Zenon?
Considering how iconic Kirsten Storms’ portrayal of Zenon was, it’s hard to believe she almost didn’t play the futuristic adventurer. The soap opera actress said to TV Insider that she was pulled in different directions from the first movie’s director and producer, saying it was between her and Smallville’s Allison Mack:
“I went through, like, seven callbacks,” said the General Hospital star. “The director and the producer were at odds with who to hire. The other person was Allison Mack [who went on to play Chloe Sullivan in Smallville, then spent time in prison for her involvement in the cult-like NXIVM organization]. The director wanted Allison Mack, and the producers wanted me.”
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Director Kenneth Johnson wanted Allison Mack, but Kirsten Storms said she refused to give up in securing the sci-fi role:
“I went into it knowing I was not the director’s first choice, and it’s just in my personality to want to prove him wrong about his thoughts on if I could do it or not. That’s a great motivator for me always, and I just worked really hard.”
Kirsten Storms continued to call her role in the Disney trilogy “the highlight of my acting career.” You can watch all three movies available to stream on Disney+.