Sophia Grace Brownlee is a schoolgirl from Essex who has landed a Disney film role off the back of a viral YouTube video. Alice Vincent finds out how.
Nearly two years ago, an Essex woman made a video of her nieces and uploaded it onto YouTube. The girls, eight-year-old Sophia Grace Brownlee and her five-year-old cousin Rosie Grace McClelland, were dressed in pink tutus and performing an impressive rendition of Nicki Minaj's rap song, Super Bass.
Fast forward to summer 2013, and Sophia Grace, now 10, has been cast as Little Red Riding Hood in forthcoming Disney musical film, Into The Woods, starring Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp and James Corden. Or so her uncle, Lucas Brownlee, has announced on Twitter – by his own admission "letting the cat out of the bag" a little earlier than he should have.
Because although Sophia Grace is little known in the UK, apart from in her Harlow hometown, she and Rosie are quickly gaining celebrity status in America, with book deals, pop song releases and now a Hollywood role to boot. In her recently released single Girls Just Gotta Have Fun, a bizarre mix of American slang ("mall" and "cribs") and sweet children's party sugar, Sophia raps: "Nicki is my Princess, and Ellen is my Queen, put both together they're my Hollywood dream". One that appears to be coming true.
The timeline of Sophia Grace and Rosie's rise to fame is a little tricky to follow – not least because it exploded very quickly. Less than two weeks after the original video went on to YouTube, to eventually gain nearly 43 million views, producers from California-based The Ellen DeGeneres Show got in touch with the Brownlee family to have them appear on the programme and arrange a surprise meeting with their hero, Nicki Minaj.
Their first appearance, in October 2011, is one of mild confusion, screaming and party dresses. Minaj, usually the peculiar pin-up of sexually gratuitious RnB videos, is every inch the gracious, blue-haired fairy Godmother. The girls' Essex accents ring out endearingly.
A month later, Sophia Grace and Rosie are back on Ellen, as it is known, in multicoloured tutus and tiaras. It's a look they continue to wear and have made their own, and is refreshingly innocent as child stars go – DeGeneres even copied the look that Halloween. Within months the girls are representing Ellen on the red carpets of the American Music Awards, The Grammys and The MTV Awards, intereviewing stars who recognise and are charmed by them. Sophia Grace's wide knowledge of pop stars – including Mary J Blige, who was at her peak some 15 years before Sophia was born – is impressive.
By February 2012, Sophia Grace and Rosie have performed their own song on the show, written with the aid of Mr Brownlee who introduced his daughter to rap music. Later in the month they star in their own segment of Ellen, Sophie Grace and Rosie Do Tea, where stars including Taylor Swift, Hugh Grant and Justin Bieber join the girls in a children's bedroom around a miniature tea table for chatter and, inevitably, a song. By November 2012, the girls are impersonated by Anne Hathaway on Saturday Night Live, and, as DeGeneres puts it: "Everyone knew who they were". Appearances at teen awards shows followed, and on February 1, 2013, the girls published Tea Time with Sophia Grace and Rosie, a picture book.
As the unexpected announcement of Sophia Grace's film role would suggest, the girls' stardom is a family affair. Sophia Grace appears to be managed by her father, Dominic, who in interviews has stressed the support she gains from her cousin – her "hypegirl" who doesn't actually sing – being nearby on stage.
The Red Riding Hood role is yet to be confirmed by Disney, and it could be said there may be more convincing child vocalists in Hollywood. Either way, with the news that DeGeneres will be hosting the 2014 Oscars, it's likely they'll be involved. If all else fails, Sophia Grace has had her back-up plan sorted from her first appearance on Ellen, announcing "I'm the second Nicki Minaj!" Time will tell.
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