Teen Actor DJ Watts Scores the Goal! The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers & His Acting Journey Thus Far

“He shoots. He scores!” DJ Watts is taking it to the ice in the popular Disney+ series, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. Season two premiered on September 28. It’s the offseason! The team embarks on a challenge like nothing they have ever faced before. They enroll in EPIC (Elite Performance Ice Palace), an elite summer training camp overseen by demanding Coach Colin Cole (Josh Duhamel), a former NHL player. He intends to bring the ‘almighty’ out of the Mighty Ducks with his intensive training regimen. Reclaiming their notable positions as underdogs, they must try to stand out amongst their prestigious hockey counterparts. Luckily, they have Coach Alex Morrow (Lauren Graham) by their side, who, while challenging Coach Cole, continues to instill pride and confidence in the boys. Needless to say, season two aims to carry on the comedic, family-friendly entertainment that many came to appreciate in season one. 

I sat down with DJ for a delightful exchange about the series, his character, and his castmates. A South Carolina native, his refreshing personality not only drove the conversation but it exuded “southern hospitality.”

Mhonaé: Tell me about your character Sam.

Watts: Sam is the daredevil of the team. I am pretty sure everybody sees that. He’s like the newer version of Fulton Reed. So, instead of football, he’s just a kid that likes to skate into anything and everything.

Mhonaé: Do you feel you can relate to your character?

Watts: In a lot of ways. Basically, in every way.

Mhonaé: Dive a little more into some of the ways you feel you can relate to Sam.

Watts: I feel it is the same thing with me. I’ve run into stuff. I’ve skateboarded into things, jumped off the couch, and jumped down the stairs. I fall, get right back up, and keep going. You can ask my mom how many times I’ve fallen down the stairs, got up, went back up the stairs, tripped up the stairs, and just kept doing what I was doing.

Mhonaé: In season two, it’s the off-season for the Mighty Ducks, and you go to an elite summer hockey program. So tell me what that experience was like for your character and the other Mighty Ducks. 

Watts: I definitely know that Sam liked it because of all the extreme training he’s been doing. The intense regimens, waking up early, jogging, and doing the icebreakers. Icebreakers! That was by far my favorite episode. Now, the other ducks hate it, except for Evan. He loves it because that’s his whole schtick; hockey. He likes hockey, and there is no time to focus on anything else.

Mhonaé: How has the experience been working with your castmates, specifically your fellow Mighty Ducks?

Watts: I love working with them. They are awesome. They are amazing. They’re funny. They are really chill people. They are down to earth. I like people like that. So, it’s a good vibe for me.

Mhonaé: What does being a Mighty Duck mean to you?

Watts: To me, it’s like another step into the newer generation because I’m pretty sure not many kids even know about The Mighty Ducks. So being a part of that, like this entire series, is an amazing feeling.

Mhonaé: The Mighty Ducks began its media franchise with a trilogy of films in the 1990s. I’m a 90s baby, so I remember when they first came onto the scene. They had The Mighty Ducks in 1992, D2: The Mighty Ducks in 1994, and D3: The Mighty Ducks in 1996. The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers series debuted its first season in 2021 and is now in its second season. With all that said, how does it feel to be a part of The Mighty Ducks’ return and, ultimately, the film’s legacy?

Watts: I feel amazing! I’m not going to lie to you. For one, stepping into hockey skates!? That’s something I never thought that I would be able to do. I never thought I’d be able to skate at all because I have never tried hockey. To be honest with you, I never even really liked hockey until I started the show. I just felt hockey was more-so about just following a puck you could barely see because it was moving way too fast. When I found out that it was actually for The Mighty Ducks, I got even more excited because I’ve watched all three films and I’ve watched the cartoon. So when I first heard that I got the role, I had to compress all of my excitement down into one little bottle. I was trying so hard not to yell at the top of my lungs, so I was like, “Cool. Cool.”

Mhonaé: I have never ice skated before, not just ice skating, but playing an organized sport on the ice. It looks intimidating to me, to say the least. So, how challenging was the training?

Watts: Our training wasn’t really that tough. All we really did was practice going up and down the ice. We practiced our stops. We practiced stick handling and puck handling. We practiced our shooting. In the first season, I didn’t know how to stop. In the very first episode, I could not stop when it came to skating. I just kept going until I ran into a wall. After we took that four-month break before we came back to finish shooting the rest of the episodes for the first season, I stopped the one way that basically nobody on the show could actually stop. I stopped on the inside of my blade, whereas the traditional hockey stop is on the outside. I’m the only person that stops on the inside of my blade. 

Mr. Watts shared his improvement in his skating ability from season one to two, limiting his falls from at least three times a day during the first season to merely once or twice during the shooting of the second season. He even revealed his secret to conquering his balance by loosening his skate laces to prevent circulation loss. This method was humorously odd to those around him on set who wondered how he managed to move around in such loose skates. Yet, for him, it was the key to successfully staying on his blades. His determination to be the best he could be on the ice was intriguing. 

Mhonaé: How often do you practice?

Watts: Unfortunately, there are not a lot of hockey rinks around here in Atlanta, so I had to find one where they actually practice with an ex-NHL player. So we practiced for a couple of weeks. At the same time, a couple of kids on a mini-NHL team recognized me from the show because I was wearing my “Don’t Bothers” jersey. One kid walked up to me, and he was like, “Are you the real Sam?” I was like, “Yeah.” So the entire team came up and took photos of me. It was a fun experience! I’ve never experienced that before. But back to the question, I did practice a couple of times when we weren’t shooting. Then we came back and had to do another training boot camp for a week and a half before we started filming, but we would be on the ice for like four hours.

Mhonaé: I want to go back to what you mentioned about all of the kids coming up to you and asking you, “Are you the real Sam?” You have this role where many kids look up to you, especially kids of color, young black kids, specifically young black boys. What is it like to be an example for them? Representation matters! So, for them to see you on the screen, how does that feel for you?

Watts: It’s humbling for me. I don’t know if many people know this, but there are twenty-something African American males in NHL right now. So me being another addition to that is pretty spectacular because you wouldn’t expect a young black man to be in a hockey show. Kenan was in the first and second movies. At the same time, being on a tv show!? That is something completely different than what you would imagine. 

While talking about the show, DJ took a journey down memory lane recounting how his career began. 

Mhonaé: Tell me a little about your background.

Watts: I started acting when I was seven. We tried every sport, and none of those worked out, so we ended up going to my church’s drama ministry, and that is how everything sparked. Then, after that, I did background work. Then I got bumped to extra. Then I had my very first feature, like feature role. So after that, it’s been just going up.

Mhonaé: What was it about acting that sparked your interest?

Watts: All the amazing people you can meet and the activities. Acting brings a lot more to the plate than you think it does. It’s not all about getting the “W.” You can have fun with it. It’s not always about competition.

Mhonaé: Exactly! That’s the beautiful thing about the entertainment industry. You get to meet different people from all walks of life. It is so inclusive! I’m sure it’s a fantastic experience to be a part of that industry.

Watts’s acting credits include Black Panther, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, season four of Stranger Things, The Many Saints of Newark, and now seasons one and two of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. He praises the impact that being a part of this series has had on him as an actor and a young man. His encouragement to other young aspiring actors speaks to his drive to seize every opportunity.

Mhonaé: What is your takeaway from this experience?

Watts: Don’t be afraid to try new things. That’s my biggest takeaway from this because I didn’t want to try hockey until I started shooting. Like I said, it was a little different for me. It kind of surprised me because I didn’t even expect it to be this much fun.

Mhonaé: What advice do you have for other young aspiring actors, specifically young black aspiring actors, to get into the business?

Watts: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. If you gotta be at the front of the line, be at the front of the line. Don’t be in the back just moseying around, taking your time. You gotta be there. You gotta let people know that you are serious about what you do. Some people act for fun, and some act like it’s an actual job. It’s up to them. If they want it to be fun, then it can. If they want it to be an actual job, then go ahead.

Photo Credit: DWAYNE BOYD