We can’t believe the season one finale of Nickelodeon’s newest hit series WITS Academy is airing tonight 🙁
With only a few more hours until the season finale, CelebSecrets4U is giving you the inside scoop on what you can expect from the big episode thanks to Jazzy Williams.
If you haven’t been watching (why haven’t you though?) or just need a recap, WITS Academy is the spin-off to the hit series Every Witch Way that wrapped this summer on Nickelodeon. It follows Andi Cruz (Daniela Nieves) as she becomes Guardian to two of the Magical Realm’s toughest W.I.T.s, Jessie (Julia Antonelli) and Ben (Jailen Bates), at a school for young witches and wizards in training. As the best friend and unofficial Guardian to the Chosen One, Andi finds that her reputation precedes her. Throughout the season, she has to work hard to prove that she can live up to expectations as the first and only human Guardian, while helping her assigned witch and wizard to graduation day. Along the way, Andi forms relationships with other Guardians and will have to decide who is friend, who is foe and who may be more than just a friend.
In tonight’s episode titled “It Must Be Magic,” Ruby (Kennedy Slocum) and Emily (Meg Crosbie) get trapped in the Dyad tree during a carnival; Andi (Daniela Nieves) teams up with the other Guardians and WITs to save Ruby, Emily, the tree and the Magic Realm. Paola Andino, Rahart Adams, and Richard O’Lawrence Bryan guest star — how awesome!
CelebSecrets4U caught up with Jazzy Williams, who plays Kim Sanders on the telenovela series. Kim is a whip-smart inventor who is extremely intelligent, quick-witted and always willing to lend a hand; she is easily the smartest student in the Academy. She becomes Andi’s roommate in the second episode and immediately befriends her. Kim’s WITs are Harris and Sienna. In our interview with Jazzy, the Nickelodeon actress tells us if she relates to her character, her “perfect gadget,” working with Kennedy Slocum, and who she wants to guest star from Every Witch Way. Jazzy even opens up about her first acting role, her favorite Nickelodeon shows, and where she would like to film if the series was picked up for a second season — make sure to read the Q&A below!
The season one finale of WITS Academy airs tonight, October 30th @ 7PM ET/PT on Nickelodeon.
CS4U: Can you tell us about WITS Academy and your character?
Jazzy Williams: “WITs Academy is a school where witches and wizards learn how to harness their powers and protect the magic realm. My character (Kim) is roommate to Andi—The first human to be accepted into the academy. Kim is dorky, sweet, and very book smart, but not very street smart. She always means well and wants the best for everybody, but she can become quite sensitive when others don’t show her the same courtesy.”
CS4U: Do you think you have any similarities with Kim?
Jazzy Williams: “I like to inject elements of my life and personality in Kim. For instance, when I dance on the show, I’m actually imitating the way my little sister, Marlie dances. Kim is a dork like me, but I’m a little more mischievous than Kim. I love pulling pranks on set! I brought in BeanBoozled jelly beans which have the most disgusting flavors and fed them to practically everyone on set. I’m not the best prankster, but I hope practice makes perfect. ;)”
CS4U: So you’re a witch with no powers, but you create cool gadgets to compensate that. What is your idea of the “perfect” gadget?
Jazzy Williams: “Well, I’m on the east coast a lot and it’s freezing in the winter, and you can only put so many blankets before you start to feel like a suffocated mummy! So for Christmas, Santa brought my sisters and me electric blankets and they’re amazing, but they only work when you’re sitting or lying down. So, I would want to invent electric leggings and undershirts that work exactly like an electric blanket, but you can wear them under your usual clothing and on the go.”
CS4U: We recently interviewed Kennedy Slocum, who plays your roommate, Ruby. Other than not having powers, do you think Kim and Ruby have anything in common?
Jazzy Williams: “So far, Ruby and Kim are polar opposites, but they both have a tendency to overcompensate for their insecurities. They may have different methods for making up what they lack, but in the end, I think it comes from the same place.”
CS4U: What makes WITS Academy different from all the other shows about witches?
Jazzy Williams: “I think there are lots of things that make WITs different from most shows. My favorite difference is the age range between the characters. The younger students’ ages go from 8-12, and then there are the older students who are roughly around 16. Because of the vast age differences we have storylines that appease all age groups. You’ll see the teens worry about finals and having crushes on each other and within the same 30 minutes you can see the WITs use their powers to conjure crazy animals.”
CS4U: If you can have any of the other cast members from Every Witch Way guest star on WITS Academy, which one would you want to appear on the show and what would they do in the episode?
Jazzy Williams: “I think any character from EWW could bring a different and fresh dynamic to WITs, but I got to meet Elizabeth Elias (who played Mia Black on EWW) and she was so sweet!, so I would love to have a chance to work with her.”
CS4U: The show was shot in Miami — what was it like filming on location? Where would you like to shoot if picked up for season 2?
Jazzy Williams: “I loved shooting in Miami, it was so beautiful! But the crazy weather made it a little difficult. One minute it would be clear blue skies and the next minute we would have to run under umbrellas to escape the pouring rain. If I could choose the location for season 2 I would choose places that I’ve always wanted to visit—Australia, Japan, Paris, Rome, Alaska and Hawaii. I’m sure all of those places aren’t in the budget so realistically—LA :)”
CS4U: You and your older sister, Brynn, have both performed in plays. Do you guys ever fight over a role?
Jazzy Williams: “There have definitely been times when we have auditioned for the same role, but we’ve never fought because of it. We even help each other prepare. We were raised to be supportive and proud of others’ successes, especially of those you love. I remember once I had an audition for a movie, but Brynn didn’t get the same audition. She took me in and while she was in the waiting room the casting director saw her and asked her to audition. My sister politely declined. Even though she would have loved to audition, she didn’t want to take anything from me. She’s great like that.”
CS4U: Do you remember your first, real gig? What was it like?
Jazzy Williams: “When I was 4-years-old my sister, Brynn and I auditioned for the musical Annie at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, MD. Because I couldn’t read yet Brynn helped me memorize all the lines for the character Molly before the audition. But, during the audition, they only asked me if I could read so I said very proudly “I can read my -at words and my -ad words,” but they never asked if I knew the lines so I didn’t get to show them what I could do. When my mom found out that I never actually got to audition, she brought me back and asked if I could perform some of Molly’s lines for them. I got the role. 🙂 Fun fact: my sister and my mom were also in the show. That was the first and last time the three of us performed in the same show. It was so much fun!”
CS4U: Nickelodeon always has the best shows. What was your favorite Nick show growing up?
Jazzy Williams: “I loved Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, and Keenan and Kel, but the world stopped for the Kids Choice Awards! It was a national holiday in my house! (I’m actually watching Wallykazam! with my little brother and sister right now—that’s definitely a house favorite.)”
CS4U: Since we are CelebSecrets4U, can you spill some secrets about yourself or your character that your fans may not know?
Jazzy Williams: “When I first auditioned for WITs Academy I was actually auditioning for Ruby. I didn’t read for the character Kim until the last round of callbacks. I also have a fear of small animals and crickets. I know disclosing that information will come back and bite me in the butt.”
