The Illuminerdi: Your character was built up to be a love interest for Johnny Yong Bosch’s Adam Park. Was there any attraction there at the time and was there talks to have you have a recurring role or storyline that season?
Sabrina Lu: Oh yeah I mean well I think because I got found out like it would have been really hard to have me recur and be like “hey you don’t remember me do you”?. But as far [as] that same thing of coming down and being a student since I totally got busted. When you know um oh my gosh drawing a blank on the teacher’s name. But when she’s like we don’t have a new student named Sabrina and everyone’s like so that was like the moment that it was just pretty obvious. then actually transforming into Scorpina at the tree and that sort of thing.
But yeah I mean I love seeing Johnny at cons and things like that. I mean I’m older than all of them are so they were closer to the true age of the character. I was playing High School characters at that time but I was in my mid-20s. I was older than they were. You know, of course, he’s cute, he’s a cute person, but yeah I would say probably say we didn’t even spend that much time together like off-camera. I hung out more with Steve because he was like helping me with the little kata and stuff. We would just sit around stretching I mean if you’ve seen Steve do any of his martial arts he’s very strong and flexible.
But anyway as far as recurring I think it would have been difficult. Plot-wise I think she would have had to come back just purely in villain form. Then I’m not sure if they could figure out where the plot was going to go from there. It would have been to come back and do some of the stuff that she got to do in the original series. I love the way that the comic books spun her off know just kind of hanging out disguise as a person. It’s really funny to see Goldar like supposed to blend in but he’s just clearly not human.
The Illuminerdi: Scorpina was a major plot point for HyperForce and in the comics. In your mind what other story arch’s did you want to explore with her character?
Sabrina Lu: Well it’s funny I’ve always thought it’d be really fun to have her and Goldar almost like being parents. Having their kids like playing on the soccer team and trying not to get to riled up. Then becoming their monsters, so that would be a bad form… Where basically like a kid’s soccer game so but you know how parents are always getting like two. It would be like one of those shows like thirty rock or those kinds of things. Where basically you’re kind of in disguise as like a regular family but you’re totally aliens not to mention in our case we are actually villains.
It would be a la Wizards of Waverly Place kind of thing. Maybe same kind of thing we’d have our own like a band or something. But anyway it would be fun to see her have that character. That’s why we are getting little glimpses of it in the comic book is super fun. But I would say more stuff where I don’t want, where obviously they are not human. But where you just see that humanity coming out so being in disguise as humans. Even with the little thing of the taffy. Some things like “Oh taffy? Ill have some taffy”. She just come off it’s almost very like a la Monica from Friends. When she’s like hiding.
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The Illuminerdi: You are an incredible advocate for autism awareness; off the top of your head what would be the top 5 tips you’d have for friends and family of people (especially kids) that experience autism (or other disorders on the autism spectrum)
Sabrina Lu: The biggest thing I will say to a family that’s got a new diagnosis is just breathe take a deep breath and is going to happen. Your attitude about everything is going o make a huge difference. so take a breath remember that no one knows your child as well as you know your child and that the best thing you can do is kind of gather the information.
Follow your gut and if things don’t feel right, then they probably aren’t right for your family…Every single diagnosis every single human is different… there are no fixed timeline-like people will ask questions and very incoherently…
If you can make a person’s life fill with joy then that’s a win… Find ways to fill their life with joy and if you discover a spark then run it…Make sure everyone on their team totally believe in your child and if anyone doesn’t then they don’t deserve to be there…They just need to be out there and sometimes that might mean homeschooling and that’s what it did mean for us. I know it’s not possible for all families but for us it was far and away the best choice that we made…Think about building confidence.
Sabrina Lu will forever be immortalized in Power Rangers history and her performance as Scorpina will be cherished by fans and remembered. Even though she only appeared in one episode, her impact while playing Scorpina will never be forgotten. But of course, her incredible advocacy in Autism Awareness and helping individuals on the spectrum is her true legacy.
With her recent return as Scorpina in Battle For The Grid and having a lightning figure, she can hopefully appear in future Power Rangers-related projects.
What is your favorite Scorpina moment? Were you excited when Sabrina Lu reprised her role in Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid? Do you hope Scorpina can return in a future season or project in Power Rangers? Let us know what you think in the comments below, or let us know on Twitter.
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