Sofia Lauren Daccarett Char (born April 10, 1993), known professionally as Sofia Carson, is an American actress and singer. Her first appearance on television was as a guest star on the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
series ''
Austin & Ally
''Austin & Ally'' is an American comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel from December 2, 2011 to January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez, and Cal ...
'' (2014). In 2015, she received recognition as Evie, the daughter of the
Evil Queen, in the Disney musical fantasy film ''
Descendants'', and later reprised her role in
its sequels. She has since starred in the
Disney Channel Original Movie ''
Adventures in Babysitting'', ''
A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits'' (both 2016), the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
romantic drama film ''
Purple Hearts'' (2022) and thriller film ''
Carry-On'' (2024).
Carson made her musical debut in 2015 with the
soundtrack album for ''Descendants'', and in the same year released the single "
Rotten to the Core". In 2016, she signed to
Hollywood Records and released her debut solo single, "
Love Is the Name". In 2022, she released her
eponymous debut studio album, and released the
Diane Warren-penned song "Applause" for the film ''
Tell It Like a Woman''.
Early life and education
Carson was born Sofia Lauren Daccarett Char on April 10, 1993
in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...
,
to José F. Daccarett and Laura Char Carson, who both moved to Florida from
Barranquilla
Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...
,
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
.
Sofia chose the artistic name "Carson" after her American maternal grandmother, Lauraine Carson.
She attended St. Hugh Catholic School and graduated from Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. She attended In Motion Dance Studio, where she was part of the IMPAC Youth Ensemble program, competing across the United States. She subsequently attended UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
, majoring in communications with a minor in French.
Career
Music
Carson said she is mainly influenced by pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
and admires artists who "tell stories through their music", cited 20th-century acts like The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
and modern acts like Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
and Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
as influences. In 2013, Carson participated in a BMI Latina musical artist showcase. She performed as part of the cast on the 2015 '' Descendants'' soundtrack, which reached number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, including her single version of " Rotten to the Core". She was also featured on the ''Descendants 2'' and ''Descendants 3'' soundtracks, which reached numbers 6 and 7, respectively, on the ''Billboard'' 200.
In an August 2015 interview Carson stated she was working on her first album. In March 2016, Hollywood Records and Republic Records
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...
officially announced that Carson had signed a joint worldwide record deal with both companies. Her debut single was " Love Is the Name", an interpolation of Opus' " Live Is Life", and was released on April 8, 2016. "Love is the Name" had an alternate version featuring J. Balvin, and a music video with Carson and Balvin was released for that version. Carson released her second single on August 26, 2016, entitled " I'm Gonna Love You". Carson has performed in NBC's 2015 Thanksgiving Parade, ABC's Disney Parks Christmas Celebration, Univision's Feliz 2016 (New Year's Eve Special), and the 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards, and she was a presenter on ABC's Disneyland 60th Anniversary Special. She performed "The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...
" accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra at the 2017 '' A Capitol Fourth'', an annual concert at the United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...
in celebration of Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...
.
On January 27, 2017, she released her single "Back to Beautiful" featuring Alan Walker, and on February 15, 2017, she released the official music video on YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. "Back to Beautiful" was written by Julia Michaels
Julia Carin Michaels (''Birth name, née'' Cavazos; born November 13, 1993) is an American singer and songwriter. She has received six Grammy Award nominations, including twice for Grammy Award for Song of the Year, Song of the Year and Grammy A ...
, who also wrote Carson's next single, "Ins and Outs". In 2018, Carson was featured on three EDM songs: R3hab's "Rumors", Alan Walker's "Different World" and Galantis's "San Francisco". Following the success of "Rumors", Carson collaborated again with R3hab in her next singles "I Luv U" and "Miss U More Than U Know".
On March 26, 2021, Carson released the single "Fool's Gold", produced by Stargate
''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...
and Jeff Jones. It reached number 38 on the Mainstream Top 40. The song was remixed by Tiësto; his remix, "Fool's Gold (24 Karat Gold Edition)" was released on April 30, 2021. On May 2, 2021, Carson performed "A Whole New World
"A Whole New World" is the signature song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 1992 animated feature film Aladdin (1992 Disney film), ''Aladdin'', with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Tim Rice. A duet originally recorded by singers B ...
" (from the 1992 film '' Aladdin'') on ''American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'' with the show's nine finalists. On September 2, 2021, Carson released "Glowin' Up" as a single as a part of the '' My Little Pony: A New Generation'' soundtrack, prior to the film's release on September 24. In March 2022, she released her debut studio album, ''Sofia Carson''. Carson and Diane Warren performed their ballad "Applause" from the film '' Tell It Like a Woman'' at the 2023 Academy Awards, where it was nominated for Best Original Song. The performance also featured a string section and a full choir.
Television and film
Carson's acting career launched in 2014 when she guest-starred as Chelsea on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
series ''Austin & Ally
''Austin & Ally'' is an American comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel from December 2, 2011 to January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez, and Cal ...
''. A few months later, Carson was cast as recurring character Soleil on MTV's series ''Faking It''. In 2014, she was cast in a starring role in the Disney Channel Original Movie ''Descendants'', in which she plays Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen from '' Snow White''.
On January 9, 2015, Carson was cast in the co-lead role in the Disney Channel Original Movie '' Adventures in Babysitting''. Filming began in spring 2015, for an early 2016 television premiere. In March 2016, ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' announced that Carson landed the leading role in the fourth installment of the '' A Cinderella Story'' series, '' A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits'', directed by Michelle Johnston and produced by Dylan Sellers, which was released direct-to-video.
Carson reprised her role as Evie in the 2017 sequel '' Descendants 2'', for which she was nominated for an Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress. Carson played Sloane Silver in the second season of Freeform's ''Famous in Love
Famous may refer to:
Companies
* Famous Brands, a South African restaurant franchisor
* Famous Footwear, an American retail store chain
* Famous Music, the music publishing division of Paramount Pictures
* Famous Studios, the animation division ...
'' in 2018. In January 2018, it was announced that Carson would be starring in the television series '' Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists'', in the role of Ava Jalali; it was picked up to series by Freeform in May 2018 and premiered in March 2019. For her performance, she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Choice Drama TV Actress. She once again played Evie for '' Descendants 3'', the third installment of the franchise, which premiered on August 2, 2019. In July 2019, it was announced that Carson would play April in the Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
dance film ''Feel the Beat'', which was released in 2020.
In 2020, Carson joined the cast of the thriller film ''Songbird'', in which she played the main role of Sara. Later that year, it was announced that she had been cast in the romance film '' Purple Hearts'' as Cassie. Carson is also an executive producer for the movie and wrote and performed on the film's soundtrack. Her song " Come Back Home" from the film won Best Musical Moment at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards. She voiced Pipp Petals in '' My Little Pony: A New Generation'', which was released on September 24, 2021. In July 2022, ''Purple Hearts'' was released by Netflix, reaching the number-one position worldwide. Carson starred in the Amblin Entertainment film '' Carry-On'' alongside Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman. On May 10, 2023, it was announced that Carson would serve as guest mentor on ''American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'' on its Disney Night themed episode, mentoring the top 5 contestants.
Other ventures
In August 2019, Carson was designated as the first Global Ambassador of the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation. Her role includes advocating, promoting, and increasing awareness of the foundation's mission and educational programs. Since its establishment five years ago, the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation has donated more than US$5 million in scholarships, grants, musical instrument donations, and educational events in the United States and Ibero-America.
In January 2020, Carson was named the new global ambassador of beauty brand Revlon. In June 2020, Revlon released Carson's own collection, the Revlon x Sofia Carson collection, which includes lipsticks and nail polishes. In October 2020, she was named a UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
Ambassador. On February 28, 2021, she hosted the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Golden Globes Red Carpet Pre-Show. In April 2021, Revlon released a new fragrance for Carson, called One Heart. In 2022, she partnered with the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation to announce the Sofia Carson Scholarship which will fund a bachelor's degree at Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...
. For her philanthropic efforts, in 2023 she was named Global Advocate of the Year by the United Nations Correspondent Association and received the award from Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Discography
* '' Sofia Carson'' (2022)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Sofia
1993 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
American people of Colombian descent
American performers of Latin music
American television actresses
American film actresses
American child actresses
American women pop singers
American dance musicians
Hispanic and Latino American actresses
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Hispanic and Latino American women singers
Hollywood Records artists
Republic Records artists
Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...