Chosen Jacobs and Lexi Underwood Talk Big Sneaker Dreams In Sneakerella
Lace up and dream!
Set in the sneaker culture capital that is New York City, Sneakerella is a contemporary musical and genderbending take on the story of Cinderella. El (Chosen Jacobs) is an aspiring sneaker designer who is under-appreciated by his step family, while Kira King (Lexi Underwood) is the daughter of legendary basketball star and sneaker tycoon Darius King. Sparks fly over their mutual love of sneakers and El is encouraged to pursue his dreams. I spoke with Chosen Jacobs and Lexi Underwood at the junket for Sneakerella about the modern retelling, music, and the true spirit of Cinderella.
From Brandy to Keke Palmer to Camila Cabello, Chosen Jacobs is in great company when it comes to people of color breaking down barriers to play the iconic Cinderella. “To find out that I was going to be playing Cinderella, I mean, that’s something I never could have even dreamed of. This movie has really been a dream come true for me,” Jacobs shared with me about his Cinderfella role as El. “The beauty of this story is that I feel like my Cinderella — and all Cinderellas in general — it's not a look. Cinderella's not a look. It’s a spirit, it's a mindset of taking the cards you're dealt and flipping it in. To be able to take on such an iconic role like this and put my flare on it […] and my perspective, I just feel so blessed.”
Lexi Underwood found it empowering to take on the Prince Charming role of Kira King. “[I love] the fact that Kira [is] not just your average princess. She is not the damsel-in-distress waiting for a man to rescue her,” she told me. “She's smart, she's driven, and she's creating her own lane for herself outside of whatever anybody has to say. That imagery is really cool to see.”
The duo also got to tap into their song-and-dance skills with R&B and hip-hop-inspired musical numbers. “My favorite number […] is ‘A Dream Is A Wish.’ When it comes to dance, I started off with hip-hop and ballet, so it was really cool because I got to tap back into my ballet roots,” said Underwood, while Jacobs shared that “Kicks” was his favorite song as it really set the stage for who El is. “‘Kicks’ is the call to the dance floor. It's the start of the movie. He wants to soar, he wants to fly, he wants to be limitless, but then he still comes back to reality within that.”
Jacobs continued: “The struggle of the film is battling with who you think you can be, but then waking up with who you are at the moment. I just feel like that's such a relatable experience. We all have dreams and hopes and wishes and I think that's why we'll all relate to El in one way or another because he is just a dreamer.”
And outside of sweet kicks and magical realism infused musical numbers, the message to dream big comes through strong. “I really hope that people take away to continue to follow your dreams, to not let anyone stop you, to not let your circumstances define you, to not wait for permission from anyone to speak up about what you're passionate about or to go after the life that you want, but to create your own destiny,” said Underwood. “A thing that's really big in the story is that sense of community and i feel like that's also another important message. Love the people around you [and] be a good person in every space that you're in.”
Sneakerella is currently streaming on Disney+.
