'Andi Mack' Creator Terri Minsky Knew Peyton Elizabeth Lee Was The Perfect Andi Immediately

Peyton Elizabeth Lee may have nailed her Andi Mack audition, but she still had to go through many callbacks!

The 15-year-old actress had only two guest star appearances on her resume when she tried out for the Disney Channel show, but was so natural at portraying the character.

Even though creator Terri Minsky felt that Peyton was definitely Andi Mack, she still had to go through the whole casting process with Disney because she had such little experience.

“Out of nowhere, there was Peyton Elizabeth Lee. She didn’t have a reel; she had only been acting professionally for a few months with two guest spots on her résumé,” Terri told Backstage. “When Peyton read my dialogue, it didn’t just sound natural, it sounded so real that I felt like I was meeting my own character.”

“But before Disney would hire her, they had to rule everyone else out, which meant Peyton had to audition again and again and again, each time competing with a new crop of candidates,” she continued. “The final time, the network executives asked her to do a cold reading of the scene where Andi finds out her sister is actually her mother. They gave her a half hour to prepare. She came back in five minutes and killed it. She was only 11 years old.”

“I once asked Peyton how long she could see herself playing Andi. She looked at me like I was crazy: ‘Forever,’ she said, as if it was obvious she was the one,” Terri added.

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