Frankie Grande‘s energy is absolutely contagious, and in Nickelodeon’s Henry Danger: The Musical, his character Frankini literally spreads Frankie’s bubbly, high-energy personality to Swellview– putting a musical curse on the town! “The role was actually written for me by Dan Schneider, and he created Frankini based on me. He’s essentially an ego-maniacal YouTuber who would do anything for likes!” Frankie, who has recurred on Henry Danger as Frankini, explained in an EXCLUSIVE podcast interview with HollywoodLife. “It’s so fun because I’ve created such an amazing, out of his mind, whackadoo character out of him. It’s been really lovely.”
He continued, “I think Frankini was a loner growing up and he discovered he was really smart, so he created this world and just has a goal of being a social media star, but somehow got lost along the way and started doing things that are really uncool to get views on YouTube.” In Henry Danger: The Musical, which premieres on Nickelodeon July 27, Frankini uses a machine to put a curse on the town that forces them to sing and dance nonstop, and it’s up to Kid Danger and Captain Man to put a stop to it.
“I think there are characters on Henry Danger that are truly evil, but Frankini… I think they enjoy him,” Frankie revealed. “He’s not going to ruin everything, he’s just misunderstood.” In the musical episode, Frankie gets to show off his Broadway background by dancing and singing throughout (all while rocking rhinestoned boots!) “Sam Martin wrote the music — she’s one of the writers on Henry Danger and she always dreamed to write a musical… she wrote 26 songs and the musical was born,” the actor explained. “She really wanted Frankini as the villain and I was so honored when she said that. Plus, Chris Judd is the choreographer, so it was so much fun to work with him.”
We can’t wait to see Frankie Grande as Frankini do some damage in Swellville (before Kid Danger saves the day — hopefully!) Make sure to listen to our full interview with Frankie on the HollywoodLife podcast!