Sabrina Carpenter: Disney Star's Journey from PA Cyber to Hollywood

February 22, 2013

On the surface, Sabrina Carpenter is all girlish smiles and freckles. Underneath are a young woman's thoughts and emotions (as revealed in her songs) and a very mature determination to succeed in the entertainment industry.

The Lehigh Valley area 13-year-old has landed a leading role in the new Disney Channel series "Girl Meets World," the highly anticipated sequel to the '90s hit sitcom, "Boy Meets World."

She will play the part of Maya Fox, best friend to the lead character, Riley.

"Sabrina's character is kind of dark and edgy. She's certainly not like that in real life," said her father David Carpenter, adding with a laugh, "Well, maybe edgy."

Enrolled in PA Cyber Charter School since 2008, this 8th grader has to get up early in the morning to go to school in Virtual Classroom courses while pursuing her career inside Los Angeles film studios. Do you want to learn about binary options trading and binary brokers? Have a look this binary options website.

As a lead actress in "Girl Meets World" Sabrina has, her father said, definitely found her breakthrough role. Behind this success are a supportive family, hard work, talent, and – above all – supreme confidence in herself.

On the home page of her website, she posted this quotation from motivational author Norman Vincent Peale: "Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy."

Her father recalls, "She did an interview with the local news station back in '09 while promoting a vocal contest she entered and told the reporter, "Someday I hope to have my own TV show and that little girls will be singing my music at their parties."

David said that Sabrina, youngest of their three daughters, set her sights first on singing and "then got bitten by the acting bug." She has worked nonstop and like a true professional to make her dreams come true.

A turning point in the development of her vocal talents occurred at the tender age of 6 when long-time family friend Rita Cavell (voice and music coach) happily took on Sabrina as a student after hearing her sing.

Later "Sabrina had joined an Internet forum where young musicians joined in a supportive community," said her father. "There were a couple of kids we knew who used to train with Didier, a retired operatic singer residing in France, who agreed to listen to and ultimately begin to train Sabrina".

They contacted the French coach and began a long-distance training relationship that still continues. Carpenter would videotape his daughter singing a song and post it to the coach over the Internet. He would then send back specific instructions for improvement and vocal exercises for Sabrina to do. Sabrina sang the song again, following his instructions. He would critique the new version and depending on the outcome she would either do a final draft or continue sending drafts. It was a formula for success.

There are dozens of videos now on YouTube and she has 70,000 subscribers. Links to the most recent video are posted on her website.

In 2012 Hollywood Records signed her to a recording contract and released her first single, titled "Smile" in October of 2012. That song had been included in the Disney Fairies CD "Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust," and also debuted on Disney Radio's Top 30. Her next venture with the label will be an EP, which is expected to be recorded this year.

Positive reactions to her singing videos reinforced Sabrina's feeling that she could find success as an actress. She took acting lessons and had live and taped auditions at every opportunity given to her. Since 2010, she has appeared in a number of spot roles in TV and film, including a guest role in "Law and Order SVU," a lead role in the Disney pilot "Gulliver Quinn," a lead role in the ABC pilot, "The Unprofessional," and roles in two movies, "Horns" with Daniel Radcliffe, due to release this year, and "Noobz."

"She gets a script and recreates the character herself," said her father. "She has an incredible ability to put herself into a role."

Sabrina also is cast in Fox's comedy project "The Goodwin Games" and is guest starring in an episode of Disney Channel's hit "Austin and Ally" in the coming months.

On Feb. 22, Disney Jr. viewers, young and old, will hear Sabrina in the role of Princess Vivian in an episode of the animated show "Sofia the First." She will be sharing her voice in a duet with Sofia as well. The song is called "All You Need" and is available on iTunes and Amazon.

With this role in "Girl Meets World," Sabrina will have a very visible role in a series with excellent prospects. The original actors and characters from "Boy Meets World" return, all grown up now, married and with a daughter, Riley, "who has her own growing up to do."

In Sabrina's real family, she isn't the only one with talent. "She and her sisters are exceptionally talented and creative," said their father.

Older sister, Shannon, 18, is a dance major and was the first sibling to enroll in PA Cyber. She also attends a performing arts charter high school near their home. Sarah, 16, previously attended that same performing arts school for two years as a theatre major. An aspiring actress herself, she enrolled with PA Cyber last fall while in LA "trying to get her foot in the door" of the acting trade.

Mother Elizabeth, a chiropractor and small business owner, was a dancer as a girl and later taught dance. Father David's talents are in the scientific realm: he's an electronics engineer by trade and currently works for Toshiba Medical Systems as a manager.

David said it had always been their desire to homeschool their daughters, and they did some homeschooling in grade school. PA Cyber's flexibility has made it possible for the girls to pursue their career dreams as teenagers.

"I have nothing but great things to say about PA Cyber," said David. "The school has been on the cutting edge of technology and also very supportive of our family. I don't think there is any other school to compare with it."