The ‘Power Rangers’ franchise has now been going strong for a quarter of a century. The series, which started out by blending footage from the Japanese ‘Super Sentai’ shows with new American made footage to bring the story of teenagers with attitude saving the planet from evil space aliens to life, has more than earned its place in the pantheon of popular culture over its twenty-five year run, and things for the ‘Power Rangers’ franchise are only getting more exciting as time goes on!
At the heart of the original series, and throughout the first five seasons of the show, was a little robot named ‘Alpha 5’ who would be the Ranger’s go-to guy whenever they needed a push in the right direction. Alpha 5 hung out in the Command Center with the disembodied floating head-in-a-tube Zordon and worked on new ways to boost the Rangers powers with new gear and Zords! We were recently able to sit down with Romy Sharf, one of the actresses who played Alpha 5 on the set of the ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ series to talk about her time as this iconic robotic character while making the show! Check out our full exclusive interview below!
Science Fiction: This year marks the 25th anniversary for the ‘Power Rangers’ franchise! What is it like to have been part of such an iconic piece of pop culture history?
Romy Sharf: It’s rather bizarre! I tell friends or they find out I should say, I don’t really tell anybody, but they find out who I was and what I did and they’re like “wait a minute, you were the robot?!” It just seems so bizarre that it’s still so huge and such an important part of pop culture.
SF: And you were with the show at the very beginning! Did you ever imagine it would become the phenomenon that it did?
RS: No, not at all! At first, it was just an acting job. I went in and I got it and was like “okay cool I have an acting job for a while”! Who knew how long it would last? You just couldn’t tell.
SF: While you were the physical representation of Alpha for almost 100 episodes, Richard Horvitz provided the voice of the character. What was the process like of playing Alpha? Like how did that work on set?
RS: Well, I basically voiced Alpha on set. The weird thing is, the voice that I was doing on set actually sounded a lot like what Richard was doing, so for the longest time, I didn’t even know that they were voicing it over! I thought it was my voice and then I realized later that it was somebody else. It turns out they really wanted to make it a male character, so they had a man voice it over. It sounded very similar though!
SF: What would you say is your favorite Power Rangers Memory? Whether it was from your time spent making the show, or even a moment with a fan that stands out? 
RS: It has to be the Christmas episode!
SF: The Alpha Christmas Special? You had your own episode!
RS: Exactly! It was all about Alpha! But the best part is that they brought all of these young kids on to the set, and when they saw me without my helmet they were all freaking out like “oh my god Alpha is a girl?!” And they would all crowd around me. Every time right before we started shooting I would have someone help me turn on all my lights, which is done using this little switch on the side of my suit. And they would all be begging “oh pick me! Pick me! I want to do it!” So I would get to pick a kid for each take and they were just adorable. It was wonderful and was a really fun time.
SF: One of our readers wanted to ask if you ended up taking home any souvenirs from your time on the show like neat props or wardrobe?
RS: No! I wish I had.
SF: Did you see the new Power Rangers film from last year? If so, what are your thoughts on Bill Hader’s take on Alpha Five?
RS: I have to admit, I haven’t seen it yet. But I should! I love Bill Hader and think he’s hilarious and amazing. When I first saw the picture of the new Alpha though? It was a little weird. Alpha used to be cute and healthy looking! Now he’s looking kind of drugged out and scary, so it was odd.
SF: Are there any other projects you have coming up you can tell us about?
RS: No projects right now, I’m just kind of doing my thing!
SF: If you had one message to tell your fans, what would it be?
RS: Keep watching the old school ‘Power Rangers’ because it’s good fun entertainment! And keep coming out to the conventions, I love meeting everybody!
Unfortunately, Romy Sharf isn’t readily available through social media networks, so beyond meeting her at an upcoming convention, this interview will have to satisfy your needs for an update on her and her work! Be sure to check out some of our other ‘Power Rangers’ cast interviews here!
