Camila Cabello is making her acting debut as Cinderella in the modern retelling of the fairytale Cinderella. The ‘Havana’ hitmaker’s first foray into acting was influenced by Kay Cannon, the movie’s director, who wanted her to play the iconic fairytale character.

Sony told Cannon she could direct the film if she could get Cabello to agree to make the film her first acting project. Determined to get Cabello on board, Cannon flew to Miami with a glass slipper she had bought on Etsy.

In an interview with Variety, Cannon shared her producers had advised her against the idea of bringing the slipper, as it would be weird, but her method worked. Cabello agreed to star in the movie, but they were met with another obstacle not long after.

The filming for Cinderella started in England in February 2020, but they had to stop because of the COVID-19 situation. Cannon revealed the movie was made to be a great theatrical experience, and though theaters have opened, it’s not getting a wide release in theaters.

Nevertheless, the director is happy that people can experience Cinderella in the comfort of their homes, thanks to Amazon picking it up. The movie will be available on Amazon Prime Video on September 3, 2021.

Cabello on Playing Cinderella

The new Cinderella movie sees Cabello as the titular character. The movie revolves around her dream of being a dressmaker. It has many elements similar to the classic fairytale, such as the evil stepmom and stepsisters. 

However, the movie also adds a unique spin to the well-known story. Cabello spoke about her experience playing the role during a virtual appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

I was in this kind of new badass version of this kind of classic fairytale but it’s told in a totally different way. And Cinderella is just like a badass in this one. You know, she’s not waiting for a prince to save her, she’s saving herself. And I feel like those fairytale values need to be rewritten.

Cabello further added that Cannon wrote the script as it is because she wanted to change those values for young people of today.

Billy Porter as the Fairy Godmother

The movie also went a different route with other things. One in particular that stands out is Pose star Billy Porter playing the role of Fairy Godmother. When talking to Variety, Cannon shared she wanted the fairy godmother to be a man since so many women had already played that role. 

She also spoke about how she and Porter decided on his character to be a non-binary character.

We talked about it. In having many conversations with Billy, I was like, ‘I think the answer needs to come from you.’ He has said ‘they/them,’ and ‘magic has no gender.’ Non-binary for sure.

Cannon had also created the character with Porter in mind. Because of that, she says the character came easy as she had written it with his voice.