The Rise of the Red Set

Rita Ora received invaluable advice from Brandy while working on their new Disney+ movie.

The You & I artist shared why the Cinderella (1997) star told her to “stop” apologizing on the set of Descendants: The Rise of Red, now available to stream on Disney+ ahead of its August 9 Disney Channel premiere.

Ora remembered filming an “iconic” scene where her Queen of Hearts character takes Brandy’s Cinderella hostage. “’Off with her head!’ It’s a very iconic quote for Queen of Hearts, and I was trying to find my version of that,” Ora told Entertainment Weekly.

However, Ora found it challenging to pretend to be mean to Brandy, whom she used to imitate as a kid. “Every scene after that, I would be like, ‘I’m so sorry, I don’t mean it,’” she shared. “And Brandy’s like, ‘Can you stop? You are in character, do what you need to do.’ And I was like, ‘But just remember, I love you!’ And then we’d get back into it. It was great.”

Ora said watching Brandy’s Cinderella with Whitney Houston was incredibly inspiring. “It made me believe in myself — like, ‘Oh my goodness, I can do this too.’”

“This was so fun, and she gave me so much advice, and we sang together. I love her,” Ora added with a laugh. “I think I was more fanning out than she was, but it’s fine.”

Descendants: The Rise of Red focuses on the Queen of Heart’s rebellious daughter Red (Kylie Cantrall) teaming up with Cinderella’s perfectionist daughter Chloe (Malia Baker). They travel back in time to attempt to undo the event that led her mother down a villainous path.

The fourth installment in the Descendants franchise reunites Brandy with Paolo Montalban, reprising his role as Prince (now King) Charming from the Wonderful World of Disney’s 1997 remake of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.