Nickelodeon Presents "Supah Ninjas"
“Supah Ninjas” Kicks It Up A Notch on Nickelodeon!
By: Sarah Creamer
Looking for action? Adventure? Comedy? Crime-fighting teenagers? Look no further than “Supah Ninjas,” an action-packed new show that premiered on Nickelodeon this past April. The series follows the lives of the main protagonist, Mike Fukanaga (Ryan Potter), and his sidekicks, Owen (Carlos Knight) and Amanda (Gracie Dzienny). These teens previously lived a normal high-school life until their worlds were torn upside down with the death of Mike’s grandfather. Mike discovers that he is a descendent of a very long and ancient line of ninjas. It is now his job, with the help of Owen and Amanda, to fight crime. They form a team called “Supah Ninjas,” and are trained by the hologram of Mike’s grandfather.
Recently, EnterTeenment News had the privilege of speaking with Ryan Potter, the actor who plays Mike Fukanaga. Ryan has been doing martial arts for seven years, and found out about the audition for Supah Ninjas through a flyer he received at one his practices. When asked if he had been planning to go into acting, Ryan laughed and replied, “No, I was planning on being a superstar baseball player! Life just pulled me in a different direction right now.” However, keep an eye out; baseball fame may still be in Ryan’s future. It was after a baseball game that he discovered he had landed the role of Mike – “My mom got the news, and I didn’t know yet. She was in the stands, and when I went up to bat, she was like ‘All right, ninja! Hit it out of the park!’’
When Ryan went back to Nickelodeon for his second audition, fate stepped in by pairing him up with his now co-star, Carlos Knight. Ryan described the audition, “I went back, and that’s where I met Carlos. We were paired up together, and we auditioned together; which was, just kind of, you know, fate.” Ryan and Carlos also get along very well with their co-star Gracie Dzienny, “Gracie and Carlos are awesome! We’re always cracking jokes off set.”
Ryan does find similarities between himself and his character. “Mike likes action figures, I like action figures. Mike is into martial arts, I am into martial arts. Mike is definitely the average kid, but when he puts on his ninja hood, he develops this confidence which he didn’t have before.”
The filming process for one episode usually lasts about a week. Wondering what Ryan’s favorite episode of the show has been so far? “’Jelly Face’ was easily my favorite episode, because I got to work with Randall Park, who plays my father on the show. He is a funny guy,” Ryan and Randall were shooting the episode during the night, and they had to keep re-applying Ryan’s make-up because he was tearing up from laughter, and even rolling on the ground laughing.”
Being a part of a Nickelodeon show is a dream-like experience for Ryan, “Becoming a part of the Nickelodeon family is awesome, because I grew up watching Nickelodeon. To be on a Nickelodeon show now is just a blessing.” Since teaming up with the network, Ryan has had the chance to meet two of his favorite stars, Drake Bell and Josh Peck, from the hit show Drake & Josh. When first meeting these two, Ryan was understandable nervous, but now he realizes that “actors are humans too, you know?” If you ever happen to spot Ryan Potter out and about, he advises you to “just come say ‘hi,’ you don’t have to stand there and stare at me. I’m a person.”
Besides keeping a watch on Ryan’s show, his talent with martial arts, and his baseball career, you can expect to see his skills as a video editor and director sometime in the future. For now, Ryan has just been directing silly films with his close friends, but he states that, “I will make an effort to make a film with one of my friends, and I’ll post that online to show my fans my directing and editing skills.”
With summer here to enjoy, Ryan has been listening to anything that sticks in his head, and on the weekends he will be with his friends at the beach. While Ryan will be too busy with Supah Ninjas to go on any vacations this summer, his favorite place that he has been is Hawaii; “Hawaii is awesome. There’s an atmosphere in Hawaii, when you’re there, that literally every single muscle in your body is relaxed.”
Be sure to stay tuned in for more information about the cast of Supah Ninjas, and check out this Nickelodeon show on Saturdays, at 8:30PM.
To find out more about this action-packed, adventure series, visit: http://www.Nick.com