Idina Menzel wants to move away from the “evil stepmother” archetype as she steps into the classic villain role for director Kay Cannon’s Cinderella. The actress opened up to PopCulture.com about her new take on the character and working with Camila Cabello as the film’s titular role ahead of Cinderella‘s Sept. 3 premiere on Amazon Prime Video, revealing it was “exciting” to embody such a well-known persona in a way that felt her own.
“I was given a lot of freedom to explore sort of a different take on the character and to kind of move away from the archetype of the evil stepmother and give some more layers,” the Broadway star explained. “We had a lot of fun with that. She’s funny. She shows some vulnerability. She’s not so nice sometimes. And she sings. She sings some great songs.”
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Taking in her character, Menzel said she hopes viewers will eventually come to root for her in some way. “Those are the characters that I gravitate to, the characters that are perceived as not good or misunderstood in some way,” she shared. “And then we learn more about them and their journey in life and start to understand why they might be coming at things the way they are.”
Working with her co-stars in the star-studded film also featuring actors Billy Porter, Minnie Driver and Pierce Brosnan, Menzel said she especially “connected” with Cabello. “I really was in awe of her,” the Tony-winner told PopCulture. “She’s a great actress. She was a super professional. She was really open and willing to be vulnerable, and she’s funny and she just brought a really lovely atmosphere to the set.”
“We just had fun. She was really willing to play and throw the ball back and forth if you will,” Menzel continued. The artist also has her own original song on the soundtrack, which she teased gives people “a voice and an opportunity to express their frustration with society” when people are not “hearing you or seeing you or supporting your aspirations and your dreams.”
In Menzel’s own life, she was “really lucky” to have supportive parents from the start who helped her cultivate her singing voice early on, which is why she was thrilled to partner with Rice Krispies Treats in giving back to parents during an especially stressful back-to-school season with their limited-edition 365 Days of Love and Support Kit. The kit is packed with a year’s supply of Rice Krispies Treats as well as a pen and journal with inspirational parenting prompts, and Menzel pointed out the wrapper with space to write a note to your child was her favorite part because she already does that with her son.
“I was lucky to have family that believed in me and told me to not settle and to always do what I love to do in the world,” she said. “That was the most important thing was to do what you love. And so I’m excited about being able to kind of connect with a product that’s saying the same thing.” Find out more about Rice Krispies Treats 365 Days of Love and Support Kit here. Cinderella premieres Sept. 3 on Amazon Prime Video.
