Disney might be evolving to become the singular owner of every form of onscreen entertainment in Hollywood, attracting suspicious eyes from the skeptics. Yet, there is no denying that it has been one of the industry’s biggest supporters of new talents. From Selena Gomez, Zendaya, and Miley Cyrus to Zac Efron, there is an inexhaustible number of names that have come out of the Disney talent machine. Sofia Carson is another prominent name, who is renowned for her roles in the Descendants film series.
She is also a singer who has a substantially robust discography and has become an inspiration to millions of young people all over the globe. Her journey from her childhood years to her status as a Hollywood star certainly proves she’s meant for the spotlight.
Sofia Carson Became a Professional Songwriter At 19
Her journey began on the 10th of April 1993 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida when she was born to Jose F. Daccarett and Laura Char Carson. Her birth name is Sofia Daccarett Char. She did, however, choose to go with Sofia Carson because of its artistic simplicity. Although she was born in Florida and is an American citizen, Sofia Carson is ethnically Latina, thanks to her parents’ Columbian roots.
Before she began her career as an entertainer full time, Sofia Carson attended St. Hugh School briefly before graduating from the Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart, Miami. While she was in high school, she joined the In Motion Dance Studio, becoming a part of the IMPAC Youth Ensemble Program.
As a member of the program, she traveled around the United States competing in various dance competitions. After graduation and completion of the program, she attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she majored in Communications with a minor in French.
At the age of 19, Sofia signed on to Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) as a singer-songwriter in 2012. While she continued her musical development under BMI, trying to perfect her dance and singing which she had fallen in love with since she was three years old, she gave acting a shot and got cast in her first role in 2014 as Chelsea on Austin & Ally.
Her Disney Enabled Rise to Stardom
Sofia Carson’s first Disney project was Austin & Ally, and she followed it up with a guest role as Soleil on MTV’s Faking It. But her step out of the Disney family was temporary. She returned to Disney with a starring role as Evie in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Descendants.
Since Descendants, the direction has been nothing but up in her acting career. She has secured lead roles in other Disney Channel productions like Adventures in Babysitting, and A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits. She also reprised her role in the Descendants sequels, as well as the animation film, Descendants: Wicked World.
Her Disney-enabled rise didn’t just come via acting alone; she also signed to Hollywood Records, a label under the Disney Music Group in September 2015. The deal expanded into a worldwide record deal with Republic Records in 2016
After taking care of the business side of her music career, she got back to music, releasing her first single in April 2016, titled Love is the Name. The single reached #28 on the US Tropical Songs chart and #36 on the Latin Pop Songs Chart.
She released another single, I’m Gonna Love You, in August 2016. One of her most popular singles till date, Back to Beautiful was released in 2017, and its music video has garnered over 19 million views.
Sofia Carson hasn’t only released music either; she has also performed at the NBC 2015 Thanksgiving Parade, Disney Parks Christmas Celebration, and the 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards. She also performed at the United States Capitol in 2017 in celebration of the US Independence Day.
As a singer, Sofia has released thirteen singles till date, while also featuring in four soundtrack albums for her Disney films.
Post-Disney And Cementing Her Hollywood Fame
Considering her most recent Disney work, Wicked Woods: A Descendants Halloween Story, was in 2019, it might be too early to say Sofia Carson’s Disney life is over. But since 2019, she has been spreading her wings beyond the confines of Disney.
She starred as Ava Jalali in Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists in 2019. Then in 2020, she starred in Netflix’s Feel the Beat as April; she played the lead role in the comedy-drama about a young girl who failed to find success on Broadway and returned to her hometown to train a group of young dancers. Sofia Carson also landed a role opposite KJ Apa as Sara in the movie, Songbird.
Sofia is also the global ambassador of the beauty brand, Revlon. As for her music career, she has become the first global ambassador of the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation.
Sofia Carson Comes From A Prominent Family
Her mother’s family are descendants of the famous Char political family in Columbia. The family famously began with Ricardo Char Zaslawy and Erlinda Abdala, Lebanese immigrants who relocated to the South American country. Aside from their political status, her family is also the owner of Columbia’s second-biggest company, Grupo Empresarial Olimpica.
The conglomerate has its hands in various brands like Olympic Supermarkets, Gold Medal, DKTA Jeans, Olympic Drugstores, Urban Portals and several other businesses. The conglomerate, which has been in existence since 1953, is worth an estimated $5.7 billion.
On a more personal level, Sofia Carson’s parents, Jose Daccarett and Laura Carson, have been big supporters of her career. They were born in Colombia and relocated to Florida before Sofia was born. She is the eldest of the two daughters born to the family. Her younger sister, Paulina Char, recently obtained a second degree from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise.
She Is Not Starting A Family Anytime Soon
Being attractive and talented, Sofia Carson is never short of admirers. But at the moment, none of them gets to call himself her boyfriend, publicly at least. She reportedly once dated Manolo Vergara, the son of another prominent Latino actress, Sofia Vergara, sometime in 2016. Despite a couple of social media posts that alluded to the relationship, nothing has been confirmed.
However, an interview in 2017 suggested the actress has been in at least one serious relationship, one that left her heartbroken. At the moment, a desire to reach the pinnacle of her profession is keeping all of Sofia’s focus on her career