If you were a Disney kid, you might remember her from “Austin & Ally” or as Evie from “The Descendants,” or maybe from time on “Pretty Little Liars.” Sofia Carson is movie away from Disney and surging into new territories as an actress, singer and activist.
I had the pleasure of being part of a press conference with Carson to talk about her new ventures: her new music video featuring her song “Loud,” the upcoming release of “Purple Hearts” — her new Netflix film in which she starred and did the music for — and her humanitarian efforts as the newest U.S. ambassador for UNICEF, as well as becoming the first female global ambassador for the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation. Wearing the most fabulous blue outfit and answering everyone’s questions with kindness and poised, Carson discussed her passion for her craft and for the advocacy of women.
Her latest single, “Loud,” is dedicated to women and all the loud voices of change — or “a marriage between who I am as a person and as an artist,” Carson said. The impact this song has had on social media and the response from other celebrities make Carson feel like “Loud” is “not mine but ours,” she said.
Carson has been singing since she was 11.
“I don’t remember a moment in my life when I wasn’t completely in love with music,” Carson said. “It was always so much more than what I did. It was who I was. It’s something that runs through my blood and is the beating of my heart.”
In the new music video for “Loud,” she undergoes this transformation from a cocoon into a butterfly, which to her signifies “the metaphor of the silenced voices of generations which are finally breaking free.” It amplifies their own voices and the voices of others, she said.
One of the loudest women that inspired this song is Carson’s mother who taught her that the most important thing to do in life is to give. She lives by that now, working her passions into her activism and humanitarian work. Growing up, Carson said she was inspired by women like Cher, Gloria Estefan, Barbara Streisand and, especially, Audrey Hepburn. In fact, she says Hepburn’s work with UNICEF inspired her to become a U.S. ambassador. As an ambassador at UNICEF, she’s had the opportunity to write an op-ed to Congress advocating for the Keeping Girls in School Act, spoke at the U.N. on behalf of UNICEF and so much more.
She worked on it alongside Alita and Paris Carney, and actually worked on it over Zoom and recorded it during the pandemic.
She’s cosponsoring a four scholarship to allow a young Latin musician to attend Berkley College of Music. Their mission is “changing lives through the power of music education.”
“I had the same dream that so many people around the world have, and they don’t have access to the education that I was lucky to have,” Carson said. “Doing our part to close the gender gap that exists in the industry, and we hope that with this scholarship, it will inspire young women.”
To young artists and aspiring musicians, Carson advises, “Believe in your voice and fight for it endlessly, always stay true to who you are and the stories you want to tell and enjoy every moment of the ride.”
Carson uses her platform as an artist and actress to support and amplify Latin art. Carson was raised bi-culturally, listening to both Latin and American music. Influences from the rhythms of Latin music can be seen in her music, like her new single “Loud.”
Carson has been transitioning from acting to more singing roles in recent years; “the roles that [she] plays like the songs that I write or the music that [she] sing[s] are a reflection of who [she is] in [her] heart.”
She admires the female roles she “been lucky enough to play.” In her most recent film, “Purple Hearts,” she executive produced it, starred in it and helped create the music for the film.
Carson says, “Now it’s so thrilling to be trusted to be a part of the storytelling aspect of the film.”
With everything that’s going on, shifting between all these roles, Carson discussed how she keeps a balance and still manages to have a space to be creative. There are things she has to do to stay creative, as part of the creative process. While she’s in the studio, she keeps her phone off or away to “disconnect from the world” and “live freely in the moment.” When she’s shooting, she leaves her phone in her trailer, and when she’s acting for a role, she stays focused on that role, just concentrating on the next day.
Because her time on “The Descendants” and on Disney Channel has surely made her a formative part of so many childhoods, Carson said it’s her honor to have influenced so many young people. She said she “keeps them in mind” when doing future projects. With this upcoming year, Carson is most excited about the new music she has coming out, the release of her new movie “Purple Hearts” on Netflix “and taking every day as it comes.”