A New Generation

Transformers: EarthSpark is a new animated series streaming on Paramount+. It’s based on the Transformers movies. The character Mo is voiced by Zion Broadnax (inset above, left), 11. Mo’s family moves from bustling Philadelphia to sleepy Witwicky, Pennsylvania. She and her brother, Robby, are certain it’s the world’s most boring town. But they soon find out that it’s home to a new breed of Transformers called Terrans. These are the first to be born on Earth.

Zion told TIME for Kids that viewers can expect to see Mo “trying to make sure everyone’s getting along, adopting Transformers into the family.” The most difficult part of voice-acting, she says, is “having to imagine everything happening and then put it into your voice: the fighting sounds, the kicks, the punches, the rolls, the cartwheels.”

But it isn’t all action, says Kathreen Khavari (inset above, right). She plays a Terran named Twitch. “[The Terrans] are learning how to be both bots and humans through the love and relationships that they have with Robby and Mo,” she says.