Freddie Prinze Jr. On Why He Returned To Acting For "Punky Brewster" Reboot With Cherie Johnson

Freddie Prinze Jr. graced our screens with late '90s and early '00s films like "She's All That," "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Scooby-Doo," but he's been happily out of the Hollywood spotlight and raising two children with wife Sarah Michelle Gellar.

So, what convinced him to come back to acting for Peacock's "Punky Brewster" reboot? Well, in addition to reuniting with Cherie Johnson (more on that later), you can thank actor Brian Austin Green for introducing Freddie to "Punky's" Soleil Moon Frye.

"It was just random," Freddie says. "I wasn't going to work anymore. I was real happy and doing my thing and feeling good, and then Brian Austin Green called me and said, 'Hey, they're remaking Punky Brewster, I've known Soleil forever, they want you to do the show, so just don't argue with me and do it.'"

"And I said, 'Well why don't you do it?' And he goes, 'Well I booked a job so that's why I'm calling you,'" Freddie laughs. "I said, OK!"

"We got the opportunity to do this on Peacock, they're crazy supportive about the entire process. I'd never been on a show or a set where it was that nurturing," Freddie continues. "A lot of that probably has to do with Soleil, because her energy — like my buddy Brian said, he's like, 'Dude just meet her, you'll do the show.' And he was right. She just has this aura about her, it's like a sun and you're a planet and you just start orbiting her and everybody feels good."

"I hope people love it so that we can do 10 seasons of it and I can keep making it and watching these kids grow up," Freddie adds. "You guys are going to see some stars."

Cherie Johnson, from the original "Punky Brewster," is also back for the reboot. And fun fact, the very first acting job Freddie ever had was on "Family Matters" with Cherie!

"When her and I saw each other — we shot the [Punky Brewster reboot] pilot before Covid — we literally just ran towards each other," Freddie says. "So it was all love every day on that set."