“Descendants: The Rise of Red” features multiple returning faces, but not all of them are returning from the first “Descendants” films. For Brandy and Paolo Montalban, it’s a return to their 1997 breakout roles from “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” — and Brandy is pretty sure her original fairy godmother Whitney Houston “orchestrated” it.
The two actors play Cinderella and King Charming respectively in this film, now streaming on Disney+, and have a daughter named Chloe, played by Malia Baker. Of course, the “Descendants” universe already has a Fairy Godmother, played once again in “Rise of Red” by Melanie Paxson.
But Whitney Houston played Brandy’s fairy godmother back in 1997, and really was responsible for bringing the young singer onto the project. Houston sadly died back in 2012, but Brandy feels pretty certain that her former mentor worked a little Fairy Godmother magic for her again on “Descendants.”
“I think she orchestrated this,” Brandy told TheWrap confidently. “I think it’s something that she spiritually put together. This is something that she would have wanted, and something that she would be very, very proud of.”
For Montalban and Brandy, reuniting on-screen has been nothing short of “surreal” and “mind-blowing.” Montalban happened to be out grocery shopping when he got the call about reprising his role, and he wasn’t shy about celebrating in public.
“I said, ‘What? Do you want to say that again?’ And I made a bit of a yelp in the supermarket,” he recalled to TheWrap. “But honestly, the best part for me is being able to bring this gift to all the fans of Brandy’s Cinderella. Bring this to them and also introduce a whole new generation to the ‘Descendants’ franchise, and you know, make everyone really, really happy to be here.”
The duo reunited on set just one day before their on-screen daughter arrived, and according to Baker, she definitely didn’t keep her cool about playing their daughter. But, figuring out how to blend their Cinderella and Prince Charming to become Chloe Charming, was “so simple.”
“When you’re reading your lines in your room in general, you feel like you’re going crazy a little bit. And so, you’re looking at yourself in the mirror and you’re like ‘I hate everything that I’m doing right now,'” Baker said. “And then as soon as you get on set you’re like ‘This is — it works.’ The chemistry comes together, and you can tell that the casting director has put you together so perfectly in a way where you just need to trust whatever they say.”
She continued, “So yeah, and you guys like, crafted your character so perfectly that it was easy to kind of fit into. It’s just that perfect family dynamic, which was you know, a dream for every kid.”
You can watch TheWrap’s interview with Brandy, Paolo Montalban and Malia Baker in the video above.
The post Brandy Believes Whitney Houston ‘Orchestrated’ Her Return as Cinderella in ‘Descendants 4’ appeared first on TheWrap.
