Below is a selection of interviews with the cast and crew of Power Rangers Dino Fury!
From In The Know:
How Chance Perez went from being a firefighter to a Power Ranger
Chance Perez is a new generation’s Black Ranger on Nickelodeon’s Power Rangers Dino Fury.
You may have known Perez, who plays Javier Garcia on the show, for his music first. In 2017, the 23-year-old won ABC’s Boy Band, a singing competition to find the next all-male music group. It earned Perez and the rest of the band, In Real Life, a recording contract with Hollywood Records. But he has since parted ways with the group to launch his own solo career and pursue acting.
Growing up, the California native’s father was his first musical influence and remains so today.
“My dad, he passed away when I was 8 years old, and he was always — I remember him just being such a light in my life,” Perez told In The Know. “I remember like till this day, how much love he had for me and my sisters and my mom. He was a singer as well, so I kind of — he was my inspiration growing up, and I mean, still now.”
Before making his ABC debut, Perez was in another music group called The Boyband Project. But, with the entertainment industry being so unstable and having to support his 5-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, he opted for a more secure career.
“I had to get a more stable job. A friend of mine suggested becoming a firefighter,” he said. “That just like really rang true to me and seemed like something that I wanted to do. So I started going towards that, and in that, you get your EMT certification. Then if you want a better chance of becoming a firefighter, you get your paramedic.”
When he was finally going to be hired onto an ambulance, Perez heard about Boy Band and was later cast on the show. Winning the competition opened up new opportunities for him and now he’s landed a pretty iconic role.
“Power Rangers is something that so many people grow up watching and it’s just influenced people in so many ways,” Perez said. “It’s such an honor to be a part of this franchise and to work with all the people who are on the show, especially this season.”
He praised the cast and crew for being so supportive — especially during a difficult time to be working on a set.
“I landed the role during the beginning of the pandemic,” he explained. “I started doing a couple of auditions. I had never acted before, so it was really — I didn’t expect anything to come of these auditions. It was kind of just like practice for me. Then Power Rangers reached back out to me.”
Perez sent in three audition tapes before doing his last over Zoom with the executive producer and casting director. Then he was cast as Javier “Javi” Garcia, a free-spirited musician with a disapproving father.
Although he’s busy filming Power Rangers, he hopes to release his debut album at the end of the year. In April, he dropped his first feature as a solo artist “Bad” in collaboration with producer Deerock.
“This song was really cool. It was just one of those ones that I heard, and instantly, was like OK. I got to be on this and have a song like this,” Perez said. “It’s one of those up-tempos that you hear on the radio, and just kind of start grabbing your head to even though you never heard it before.”
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