How Alessia Cara Landed Her First Acting Role In Netflix's The Willoughbys

Netflix's newest animated film The Willoughbys has a lot of heart. And who better help to bring the movie to life than one pop star who habitually packs an emotional punch into her music: Alessia Cara.


Cara voices the vivacious, magenta-haired Jane in this hilarious nevertheless heartfelt production, which is headed to Netflix near the end of the month. In this exclusive behind-the-scenes clip from the making of the film, Cara breaks down her new original song "I Choose", and also because the process in back of coming on board as Jane.


"I got an email from Bron Studios, and so they had seen this interview that I did with Jimmy Fallon," she recounts. "They mentioned, 'what are your wishes for the future?' And I mentioned I wanted to be in an animated film." Right now it looks like she finally got her wish.


"The character felt like me," Cara adds, saying she started "freaking out" about being planned the role. As a singer, she says, the role felt natural  for her. "A lot of elements of her felt similar to parts of who I am, so I was like 'I'm in! I'm doing this 100 percent. I mentioned yes immediately, and that's just sort of how it happened." This is Cara's first-ever onscreen role, plus it was her first time writing an original song for a character as a substitute opposed to basing music on events pulled from her life.


Originally, the Grammy winner was given an eas melody to write her song around, a process that's mirrored during the movie with aspiring artist Jane.


The Willoughbys follows a crowd of four siblings who determine to send their parents on an extended vacation soon after coming to the conclusion that they should just raise themselves. Any time this half-baked plan goes south, they wind up with the Department of Child Services on their tail, however just be realizing the true meaning of family member along the way.


A star-studded cast joins Cara to bring the family member to life. Will Forte takes on the role of eldest sibling Tim Willoughby, while Martin Short and Jane Krakowski tackle Mother and Father Willoughby. Terry Crews is even on board as Commander Melanoff, with Ricky Gervais narrating story because the Cat."


The Willoughbys is headed to Netflix on April 22. In the meantime, you could habitually check out the source material: Lois Lowry's book of the same name.