Irene Ng interview

Ahh The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo! From 1996-99 the show ran on Nickelodeon about a 15 year old girl solving crimes in her grandfather's police organization and getting into alot of misadventures along the way. You're probably wondering whatever happened to the star of the show Irene Ng? Well she's now married with two kids and is a founder and schoolteacher of a preschool in Connecticut  In this exclusive interview I got the chance to chat with Irene about Nick Studios and her time on the show all a part of the documentary about Nickelodeon Studios.

Then

Now

1. How did you get the role as Shelby Woo?

I auditioned many many rounds in NYC through my agent and got the role.

2. What was a typical day like at Nickelodeon Studios?

You get there, change into your wardrobe and have your makeup done, block the scenes and rehearse, then wait in your dressing room for them to come call you then film. We ususally order our lunch from a menu there, work till evening then go home.

3. Do you remember any other shows being filmed where you were at?

Keanan and Kel and All That

4. What was one of the good things about living/working in Orlando?

Definitely Universal Studios - my family and friends would come to visit, stay with me, and get to cut through lines using my Disney pass!

5. Do you keep in touch with anyone from the show?

For many years I kept in touch with Adam Busch from the show but in recent years we have lost touch, unfortunately

6. You were also often a panelist on Figure It Out. How much fun was that show?

It was very fun to meet all the different celebrities they would have on the show - not to mention being slimed and having to take a shower in the studio after that!

7. Can you describe the feeling of getting slimed?

Wet, gooey, cold!

8. Did you have a favorite ride at Universal Studios Florida?

Space Mountain

9. Are you aware of the 90s Are All that on Teenick? How do you feel about people who were fans of Shelby Woo and other Nickelodeon shows during that time?

No I am not aware of that. I am so touched by Shelby Woo fans, of course. My other fellow actors were all really cute and talented kids. I was much older than them though I look young so I was always like an older sister among them. I became really good friends with the older sister of Michelle Trachtenberg, actually, who's my age and we still meet up with each other. Saw Michelle a few years ago and she looked fabulous!

10. Any other behind the scenes or fan moments that happened on set at the studios you can recall? What do you miss about the show?

I miss the people that I worked with the most - the crew were such nice people. We heard once that Tiger Woods was filming an American Express commercial next door once and we found out which studio and we watched him film the commercial about 20 ft from him, pretty cool.

11. I think that Nickelodeon Studios was a special place for kids and adults to interact with actors and tv shows and just have a lot of fun especially somewhere like Orlando. Would you agree with that?

yes, to the kids it's such a big deal to see the actors of their shows in person and it's so nice to see how happy it makes their day

12. Would you like to see Nick Studios be re-opened?

Most definitely!

13. Well thank you so much for this rare interview Irene and being a part of the documentary. Hope everything is going well for you and new career and family life. Take care.

You are so welcome! Thanks so much, Bilaal!