Well on her way to becoming a young Hollywood legend in her own right, Skai Jackson, best known for her portrayal as Zuri Ross on the Disney Channel’s Jessie and Bunked, sits down to talk with Teen Vogue. The young starlet, excited about getting back to work after a six-month hiatus, opens up about Bunk’d Season 2, a new Marvel protagonist based on her and Internet bullies.
“She’s taking on some new responsibilities because she may be a counselor-in-training this season,” Jackson told the magazine, commenting on her character’s progression in the show. “We also have a new character named Griff on the show who’s a juvenile delinquent, so you will definitely get to see their relationship together this season.”
Jackson goes on to tell the magazine that she herself has grown up a lot over her time off, truly relating to her character. “Zuri is slowly starting to become more of who I am in real life. Starting on Jessie, she had a huge imagination, and had her imaginary friends, but now that she’s 13 she has definitely passed that stage in her life and has grown so much.”
In addition to being an amazing actress, this superstar 14-year-old is also a role model and champion for girls, in addition to speaking out against internet bulling. “I always want to do things in my career that would make people proud,” she explained to Teen Vogue. “Being a role model is a little bit of pressure on me, but I know that people will support me either way which is a good feeling.”
In a sense, Jackson’s knack for putting bullies in their place on social media has become a sort of superpower, encouraging her fans and followers to always be themselves, embracing her mantra, #skaisthelimit. “I was 9 when I first started [acting], and of course being known from TV, you are going to get some hate,” she explains. “At the time, I didn’t know how to deal with it and would read every comment and get so upset by it! But now I honestly don’t care what anyone has to say about me because I’m only living for myself at the end of the day.”
As a testament to her superhero status, Jackson recently learned that she was the inspiration for Marvel’s new protagonist, Riri Williams, who will take over as IronHeart this year. “I didn’t believe it at first when everyone was tweeting me about it, but when I saw it was actually true I was so happy. It’s awesome that they would think of me and base the next big Marvel superhero off of me. That was definitely something I was not expecting and I’m so honored!”
