Sofia Carson’s Star Power Meets Brooklyn: Filming "The Life List" at Broadway Stages
/There is no slowing down Disney Channel star turned Netflix star Sofia Carson. The 32-year-old singer and actress recently scored another big hit with the Netflix original romantic dramedy "The Life List." Based on Lori Nelson Spielman's 2013 novel of the same name, the film debuted on Netflix on March 28 and was an immediate hit for the streaming service. More than 60 million viewers tuned in during its first two weeks of release, and it topped the Netflix English-language film streaming list for several weeks.
Before hitting it big with Netflix viewers, Carson made her professional acting debut in a 2014 episode of the Disney Channel show "Austin & Ally." In the season three episode titled "Princesses & Prizes" Carson played Chelsea, who won a date with Austin as the winning bidder at an auction.
That same year she appeared on two episodes of MTV's high school comedy "Faking It."
In 2015 Carson landed her first big role in the Disney Channel original musical fantasy film "Descendants." She played Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," who is given the chance to leave the isolated island inhabited by villains who were banished from the kingdom decades earlier.
The film was a big success with both critics and viewers, and Disney quickly established a franchise with several sequels, a short-form prequel series, a short-form animated series, and a television special. Carson reprised her role in the spin-offs and sequels and also sang on the hit soundtrack, which launched her music career.
In 2016 she landed a record deal and released her debut single, "Love Is The Name." She has since released 18 more singles, recorded a full album, and contributed to three additional soundtracks. That same year, she starred in two Disney Channel original movies. In "A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits," she played the lead role of Tessa, an aspiring singer and dancer who works for her cruel and controlling stepmother. She also starred in the remake of Chris Columbus's 1987 film "Adventures in Babysitting."
Her next big role was co-starring in the Freeform 2019 series "Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists," a spin-off of the popular series that ran on Freeform for seven seasons from 2010 to 2017. She played the highly intelligent and stylish Ava Jalali, an aspiring fashion designer.
In 2020, she starred in her first Netflix original, a dance film called "Feel the Beat," and the following year she voiced Princess Philomena "Pipp" Petals in Netflix's animated film "My Little Pony: A New Generation." She also sang the song "Glowin' Up" from the film's soundtrack.
Her third Netflix film, 2022's romantic drama "Purple Hearts," was a huge hit for the streaming service. Carson played the struggling singer-songwriter and waitress Cassie who agrees to marry the troubled Marine trainee Luke (Nicholas Galitzine) solely for the military benefits after the two meet in the bar where she works. Their plan is to end the marriage of convenience after one year, but everything changes when Luke and his fellow Marines are deployed to Iraq.
Carson performed several songs in the film, and the soundtrack included eight tracks recorded by Carson, four of which she co-wrote.
In 2024 she starred alongside Taron Egerton in the critically acclaimed action thriller "Carry-On," another Netflix original. She played Nora, the pregnant girlfriend of Egerton's TSA officer Ethan Kopek. A mysterious terrorist threatens to kill Nora if Ethan does not allow a carry-on case to go through security. But Nora is no damsel in distress, as she helps Ethan take on the terrorists once she learns what they're planning.
"Carry-On" held the top spot on Netflix for four consecutive weeks and garnered more than 170 million views, making it Netflix's second most-watched original film ever.
Carson followed the success of "Carry-On" with her fifth Netflix original, "The Life List," which includes scenes filmed at our facilities. Carson stars as Alex Rose, a woman whose mother's death inspires her to complete a bucket list she put together 20 years earlier as a teenager. She soon finds herself reading "Moby Dick" on the subway, learning to play Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune" on the piano, and playing one-on-one basketball with Knicks legend Patrick Ewing.
Connie Britton ("The White Lotus") co-stars as Alex's late mother, while Kyle Allen ("American Horror Story") plays Brad, her late mother's lawyer and a potential love interest for Alex.
The romantic dramedy has a favorable score on Rotten Tomatoes' Popcornmeter, which measures the percentage of viewers who have rated a production positively.
Carson has yet another Netflix film, "My Oxford Year," set for release on August 1. She additionally served as an executive producer for the film, which is an adaptation of the Julia Whelan novel of the same name. She plays Anne de la Vega, an ambitious American student who travels to Oxford to fulfill her dream of studying at the prestigious British university. Corey Mylchreest ("Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story") co-stars as Jamie Davenport. Dougray Scott ("Ever After: A Cinderella Story") and Catherine McCormack ("Braveheart") play his parents.
Carson most recently hosted "Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event," which is the streaming service's annual celebration of fandom and entertainment that took place in Los Angeles on May 31.
We are so happy for Carson and Netflix and hope to continue our professional relationship with more projects in the future. If you haven't watched "The Life List" yet, be sure to check it out.
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