‘Saturdays’: Jermaine Harris and Tim Johnson Jr. Talk ‘Brotherhood’ on Disney Series (Exclusive)

Saturdays, a new series on the Disney Channel, focuses on three girls looking to be the top roller skaters in Chicago. But two teenage boys on the show have their own dreams as well. PopCulture.com spoke exclusively to Jermaine Harris and Tim Johnson Jr., who play London and Derek on Saturdays, and they talked about what they love about their characters. 

“I love the brotherhood that shows through our characters and throughout the show how consistent it is and the stuff that they go through,” Harris exclusively told PopCulture. ” And another thing that I love about it is seeing their dynamic and how we interact with the characters of the Johnson family and friends, and that’s one of the joys I get to see of it. Also, them being musicians that got to tap into something I never delved into before was just music. I’m not a musician, he’s used to that, not me. But it was cool because I feel like we got to learn something. We actually got to learn a new skill, like learn history about certain things as far as the music in the skate community. And those were some of the few cool blessings that we got to have with these characters.”

London is the older brother to Paris (Danielle Jalade) who is one-third of the roller skating group the We-B-Girlz. Derek, who also goes by “D-Rok,” is London’s best friend, and the two hang out at the roller skating rink Saturdays. London is the DJ, and Derek is his hype man. 

“Yeah, with Derek, he’s an MC, I’m not an MC, so I was tapping into something different with that,” Johnson stated. “And also, like he said, the brotherhood. Derek’s the type of character, he’s going to be over the house being like, ‘Hey, what’s up y’all? Look, what we watching? Oh, your mom made some food? Okay.’ …. So it’s cool to have two brothers that have a dream and similar goal to blow up within their music and just to have each other’s back with everything. So yeah, it was fun.”

Saturdays is led by Marsai Martin who is an executive producer. “It was awesome, knowing that she was so dedicated to making sure that we got the vision right,” Harris said when asked about working with the Black-ish star. “Knowing also the stuff that she is doing outside of the show is also great. And it influenced us to just even work harder. Her entire team has been awesome, completely hands-on with the show and it was a blessing even having them come by. Also in Chicago with us, stopped by and it was super cool.”

For Johnson, he admitted to almost missing meeting Martin because he was asleep. “I was like, bro I was off in dreamland, man,” he said. “Marsai and her family, they’re awesome. Meeting them and just being around them, like he said, the dedication that they have to the show and the energy that they bring, it made things, it solidified things even more.” 

Saturdays premieres on March 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the Disney Channel and will begin streaming on Disney+ the next day.