1. When the project was first in development, Whitney Houston was supposed to play the role of Cinderella.
2. Ultimately, Whitney hand-picked Brandy to play the role of Cinderella instead.
3. In fact, Whitney personally called Brandy and offered her the role directly — and the rest was history!
4. Brandy was nervous to meet Paolo Montalbán, who played the Prince. They met for the first time at the audition.
5. Brandy also shared that Paolo even brought her flowers and candy after they met, living up to his name of Prince Charming.
6. Brandy didn't fully realize the impact of the film's racially diverse casting, and her portrayal of a Black Cinderella, until she saw the finished product.
7. She also reflected specifically on what it felt like being the first Black princess to wear braids.
8. If you got big Cinderella vibes when you watched Bridgerton, there's a reason: Ellen Mirojnick designed the costumes for both.
9. For her role as Queen Constantina, Whoopi Goldberg reportedly wore $5 million worth of real Harry Winston jewels instead of costume jewelry in the film — accessories truly fit for a queen.
10. Whoopi recently revealed that the iconic moment where she "squeals" in response to the prince was not in the script.
11. Victor Garber had wrapped working on Titanic right before filming Cinderella, but he humbly just said that he had worked on a project in "a giant water tank."
12. Veanne Cox (Calliope) reflected on the first time she met Natalie Desselle Reid (Minerva), and how they bonded instantly.
13. There were four different pairs of the infamous glass slippers on set: three sizes for the various characters, including Cinderella and Stepmother, who wore them, and one pair that was actually made of glass.
14. The Stepmother's song "Falling in Love With Love" was originally from the Rodgers & Hart musical The Boys From Syracuse, but it was added to the movie so that Bernadette Peters would have a musical number.
15. Paolo recently revealed in the cast's Entertainment Weekly reunion interview that he'd actually played the role of the Prince in his high school production of Cinderella — a fact that the cast just learned now, 24 years later.
16. Finally, many fans have been begging for the official movie soundtrack to be released after all these years, and Brandy says...it's possible!
Cinderella is now available to stream on Disney+.
