'Nancy Drew' Star Kennedy McMann On Playing Iconic Super Sleuth: 'It's Been The Best Time Of My Life'

The CW is bringing a classic favorite into the year 2019 this fall when the brand new series Nancy Drew premieres this Wednesday night at 9:00PM ET/PT. This take on the super sleuth stars Kennedy McMann as Nancy Drew and Scott Wolf as her father, Carson Drew. Aside from taking place in the modern world, Nancy Drew also introduces an aspect of the supernatural that gives the series a unique feel while staying true to the iconic source material it was inspired by.

CBS Local's Matt Weiss caught up with McMann and Wolf ahead of Wednesday night's premiere to discuss their roles on the show, the dark secrets hiding in the shadows of Horseshoe Bay and why this series will feature fewer felines than the books did.

MW: Good morning Kennedy, good morning Scott! how are you both doing today?

SW: Doing well?

KM: Great, how are you?

MW: Pretty good over here and first of all congrats on the new show, big premiere, exciting stuff!

KM: Thank you so much!

MW: Now Kennedy I want to start with you, obviously Nancy Drew is such an iconic series, I wanted to know if you were a fan of the books growing up and what does it mean to you to take on this role?

KM: I was a huge fan of the books growing up! My mother is an author and a bookseller growing up, so we were a very literary focused family. My parents were also very focused on giving me as many positive examples as possible of people who are independent, self-reliant and brave; Nancy Drew is the embodiment of that. So I think the years I spent pretending to be Nancy Drew in my head really paid off and then when other people were like 'yeah I guess this girl can be Nancy Drew' I was said, "Really?! You're going to let me do it?" [laughs] It's been the best time of my life finding out that I got the role.

MW: Scott, you're playing Nancy's father on the show, can you talk about that relationship and what's in store for your character?

SW: Carson Drew, who is Nancy's dad, he's an attorney, he is a hometown kid made good. Their hometown of Horseshoe Bay where these people live is very much a character in the show. When the story picks up, they're both dealing with the tragic loss of my wife and her mom. So Carson is kind of newly widowed and trying to sort through who he's supposed to be moving forward and more specifically who he's supposed to be now as Nancy's dad. The plan was she would be off at college at this point, but with the loss of my wife and her mom, she has stuck around and is trying to recover from that. Carson is trying to sort through how to be Nancy's father at this point. But as our story starts to unfold and Nancy starts to uncover some mysterious things, Carson's past starts to come into view in a way that is troubling.

MW: For fans of the book, who are very familiar with story and the characters, how close is this adaptation to what people know?

KM: We definitely pull a lot from the source material. The people that are creating the show, writing the show, working on the show are huge super fans. Nobody wants to do wrong by the source material whatsoever. We all treasure Nancy in our hearts. We use a lot, a lot of what's already been there, but then we're bringing it to a new level.

We're introducing a Nancy who makes mistakes and who is complicated and has consequences in her relationships when she has this ruthless pursuit of justice. On top of that there's obviously the element of supernatural that we've added in. We've taken that from moments that have always appeared in the books that are sort of this nod to perhaps the supernatural and really taking that and expanding upon it and allowing Nancy to grapple with the tangible and the ephemeral the realism and the non-real.

SW: Yeah there's always a sense of something deeply spooky around and in the original books it may have been a cat making a noise going through a window. In this incarnation it's something far spookier than that.

MW: So less cats is what you're saying.

KM: Less cats. [laughs]

SW: And more ghosts.

MW: Last question before I let you both go.  I want to ask this to both of you and Scott I'll start with you, if you could describe this series in three words what would you say?

SW: If I could describe Nancy Drew in three words, I would say fun…mysterious…spooky.

MW: I like it, Kennedy, you're up.

KM: I would say it's addictive…refreshing… and entertaining.

MW: There you go, that one's tough I put you on the spot, but I think you're both knocked it out of the park.

SW: Thank you so much. [laughs]

KM: Thanks!

MW: All the best with the show moving forward and thank you for the time today!

SW: Thanks Matt!

KM: Take care!

Nancy Drew premieres on The CW this Wednesday, October 9th at 9:00PM ET/PT. Check your local listings for more information.