wannabe

‘’River originally came in for the kid from the other side of the tracks. But we wanted River to do the scientist kid. It was kind of a nerd character, and this was the last thing that he would ever want to be. It was a tribute to his acting chops that he said, “Okay.” He had to wear glasses and cut his hair short. Whenever there were girls around, he would quickly take the glasses off and try to look as cool as possible.

(…)

There was always an outsider quality to him. I think he must have felt that way somewhat, because his family was unusual and his name was unusual. On Explorers everything had to be done special for him. He had to have a special lunch; his parents wouldn’t let him wear leather and stuff. He had to constantly explain that to people and justify it. River, I think, of all the kids, wanted to grow up fast. He didn’t like the idea of being a kid.’’