RAIN CUDDLE BUDDY Ft. Anna Cathcart

Drew Afualo hosts Anna Cathcart, star of XO, Kitty, for a wide-ranging conversation blending her acting origins, childhood fandoms, career realities, and personal quirks. They bond over shared nostalgia for Disney Channel, musicals, and the grind of entertainment, while Anna reflects on transitioning from wide-eyed kid performer to self-aware adult navigating fame's tradeoffs.

From Disney Dreams to Early Sets

Anna never saw acting as a realistic job growing up in Vancouver, inspired instead by endless Disney Channel marathons like Shake It Up—which she credits for sparking her obsession—and stars like Zendaya as Rocky Blue. Her older sister led her to commercials at age seven, starting with a silent Campbell's Soup ad where she just ate soup, followed by a Crayola chalk dance at 12. These "best days of my life" hooked her. Right place, right time landed her Odd Squad on PBS Kids at 12, her boot camp: two years in Toronto, learning everything from scratch. By 13, Descendants let her fangirl openly—staring into Sophia Carson's eyes, admitting she had her poster. Now 10 years in, she notes the shift: kid fun became adult "job," but the core joy of inhabiting characters persists amid waiting and resets.