‘Punky Brewster’ star Soleil Moon Frye still feels ‘so connected’ to her TV character

Soleil Moon Frye (whose name should really be Soleil Lune Frye for consistency) appeared on a recent episode of Pod Meets World, the Boy Meets World rewatch podcast hosted by Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle.

No, Frye was never on an episode of Boy Meets World, but she did appear on Diff’rent Strokes, The Wonder Years, Saved by the Bell, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and of course, Punky Brewster, so if anyone has an absolute right to talk about nostalgic family television programming, it is she!

When asked to reflect on the free-spirited Penelope “Punky” Brewster, the abandoned 7-year-old who first delighted American audiences in 1984 (and was adapted to animation and a recent sequel series), the actress had plenty to say.

“I love Punky so much and I feel like there’s Punky in everyone,” Frye said.

“Punky has gotten me through some of the best times of my life and the hardest times of my life,” she added. “I really feel so connected to her, so I’m really touched when she touches other people.”

This will likely bring solace to the Punky stans out there considering how one might interpret Frye’s documentary Kid 90. That film, released on Hulu in 2021, cast a bit of a jaundiced eye on the experiences child actors had in the 1980s.

“I get very excited about it,” she said regarding the character. “I think that the show had many layers, and heart and emotion. There’s comedy, but you’re also in tears.”

Frye added, “If I ever feel like I’m going through it, I’m like, ‘Okay. I gotta, like, bring in that Punky power.'”

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The live-action Punky Brewster series ran from 1984 through 1988. Its debut one year after Webster (itself launching at the height of Diff’rent Strokes‘ popularity) showed the period’s curious appetite for wacky kids in blended homes. Frye’s comic foil was a grouchy widower played by George Gaynes, a character actor with credits going back 20 years who had just scored memorable roles in Tootsie and the Police Academy series.

The show was enough of a hit with its target audience to inspire an animated spinoff and toys, some of which can now score quite a few bucks on eBay.

“The shoes were, like, unbelievable,” Frye said concerning the creativity of officially licensed Punky merch.

“The doll was so cool. I love a Punky doll. It’s so wild because, at the conventions, people bring these items that I’ve never seen before. There’ll be a Thermos or a lunch pail,” she added, before remarking, “The thing is, I didn’t get a piece of any of that. Somebody did really well from them [though],” she sighed, reflecting on the contracts kid actors had at the time.

“At these conventions, I’ll start getting emotional. There was a bandana. There was, you know, a comic book. All these things that I’m seeing for the very first time at the age that I am now,” Frye, 48, said.

“It’s really beautiful that as we grow up and we have our insecurities and our roller coaster of emotions, and at this moment in time, when I can appreciate it so much and be in such gratitude as I’ve always been, but, like, on a whole other level, where you’re like, ‘Wow,'” she added, expressing a positive sentiment about representing the character that brought so many people joy.

You can listen to the entire Soleil Moon Frye appearance on Pod Meets World below.