Who Plays Ella In Cinderella? Where You Know The Singer From
Camila Cabello stars as dressmaker Ella in the new Amazon original Cinderella, which marks the first major acting role for the singer-songwriter. The British-American movie musical is a live adaptation of the original Cinderella fairytale from Charles Perrault, this time incorporating upbeat modern music into the classic princess's story. With this more modern twist, the adaptation presents a retelling that keeps the Disney magic while adding an updated sense of humor.
Directed by Kay Cannon, Cinderella follows the titular Ella, whose dream is to establish herself as a fashion designer through her shop "Dresses by Ella." Like in the classic story, Ella fends off jealous step-sisters (played by Charlotte Spencer and Maddie Baillio) and a cruel step-mother (Frozen's Idina Menzel), and she finally manages to attend the Prince's (Nicholas Galitzine) ball with the help of her Fabulous Godmother (Pose's Billie Porter). The film is peppered with sparkly pop numbers and dance-heavy rock beats, showcasing Cinderella's singer-heavy cast's musical talent.
Cinderella shows off Cabello's abilities as an actress, but the singer-songwriter already has a widely known musical career as both a solo artist and a previous member of the girl group Fifth Harmony. The group rose to prominence after finishing third on the 2012 season of The X Factor and became one of the biggest modern musical groups up until 2018. Cabello had left the group in late 2016, moving on to continue a Latin music-influenced solo career for which she received a Billboard Women in Music Breakthrough Artist award.
Though this is Camila Cabello's first appearance onscreen, she is credited for a role in a 2020 Daniel Hernández Delgadillo-directed short titled Huir. Her most notable acting role previous to Cinderella, though, was for the 2012 series Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, where she lent her voice to the Netflix-exclusive episode "Sisters' Fun Day!" as a Barbie doll version of herself alongside Fifth Harmony band members Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, and Lauren Jauregui.
Cabello boasts a highly decorated musical career, with two Latin Grammy awards, five American music awards (including New Artist of the Year and two Collaboration of the Year awards), a Billboard Top Collaboration award for her "Señorita" collaboration with Shawn Mendes, and a number of iHeart Radio Music and Music Video awards. Having moved away from Fifth Harmony, the Cuban singer has gone back to her Latin roots, incorporating elements of reggaeton, dancehall, and hip hop into her R&B-inspired pop. The evolution of her solo music has catapulted the musician into an even bigger and more lucrative career than her stint in Fifth Harmony, proving that Cabello has the stage presence and vocal chops to carry a major role in a movie musical like Cinderella, despite its negative reviews. It's yet to be seen whether Cabello will have any further appearances in any feature films, so for now, fans will have to anticipate what the singer's next onscreen appearance may be.