You simply can’t escape Sabrina Carpenter these days. The voice behind “Espresso,” the quintessential song of 2024, Carpenter’s rise to prominence as a pop culture icon should genuinely be studied. From back-to-back chart-worthy pop bops, a high-profile relationship with a certain Batman actor, and tons of memes surrounding her, Carpenter has dominated 2024 as a true superstar. What’s interesting, however, is that most don’t know that she has a pretty weighty filmography. A multi-hyphenate talent, casual fans might not even know that Carpenter has appeared in dozens of films and television shows. They also might not be aware that Carpenter is related to a “Simpsons” star. 

Even hardcore fans of the singer-actor may have forgotten some of the talent’s more obscure and weird movies and TV shows. Yes, the average fan of the “Please Please Please” artist knows that she had a starring role on Disney Channel’s “Girl Meets World.” Arguably the star’s big break, the series served as a launch pad for the actor and helped her enter the Disney-verse. Thanks to her supporting role on the show, Carpenter became a prominent Disney Channel personality, lending her talents to projects like the remake of “Adventures in Babysitting” and the animated series “Milo Murphy’s Law.” 

Disney is so integral to Carpenter’s career that the company’s Hollywood Records helped launch her music career. She may be a Disney star (and musician), but some of Carpenter’s most surprising and forgotten roles come from outside of the House of Mouse. Funnily enough, the role that Carpenter is most known for is actually one that doesn’t even exist.

Wait, was Sabrina Carpenter in Harry Potter? Nope. For some strange reason, people think that the “Girl Meets World” star was in the billion-dollar fantasy franchise. While appearing on an episode of the “Autocomplete Interview” series on Wired, Carpenter answered a search query asking who she played in Harry Potter. She jokingly said that she portrayed Ron (Rupert Grint) and that she loved growing up on the franchise’s set. The singer-songwriter, of course, hasn’t done anything with the property. After all, Carpenter was born in 1999, two years before the first Harry Potter film hit cinemas. 

While there’s no way that Carpenter could have had a starring role in the Harry Potter movies, there’s a reason why people might think she’s in them. The singer bears a resemblance to Evanna Lynch, the actor who stars as Luna Lovegood. Notably, both Carpenter and Lovegood have blond hair. It’s quite hilarious to know that people believe that Carpenter is in Harry Potter considering that the starlet isn’t even British. With the cinematic franchise now over, all eyes are on the Harry Potter reboot that’s set to hit HBO. 

Unfortunately, Carpenter likely won’t have a role on the series since that production intends on casting British and Irish personalities. Beyond that, Carpenter has triumphed as a songstress, so it’s hard to imagine her returning to the world of film or television anytime soon. Though she may not be in Harry Potter, the singer admitted in her Wired chat that she’s a huge fan of the franchise. 

Surprisingly, Sabrina Carpenter does have a working relationship with Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe. Back in 2013, as Radcliffe was trying to shed his family-friendly image and association with the Wizarding World franchise, he starred in the gritty horror-comedy “Horns.” Directed by Alexandre Aja and based on the novel by Joe Hill, “Horns” follows Ig (Radcliffe), a man who wakes up with two horns on his head after his girlfriend, Merrin (Juno Temple), is found dead. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 42% and a poor showing at the box office, “Horns” has sort of faded into the background, which is probably why Carpenter fans haven’t heard of it. 

In the pic, Carpenter plays young Merrin during flashback sequences. She doesn’t have much screen time, but her scenes are key to the film’s emotional core. The movie, which began production in 2012, was one of Carpenter’s earliest roles. “Horns” was her second film role, coming in just after the obscure comedy “Noobz.” At that point in Carpenter’s career, the horror-comedy served as her most prominent project thanks to its prominent talent. While “Horns” pretty much went under the radar, it proved that she had serious dramatic chops and could be molded into a star. 

Just a year after “Horns” debuted, Carpenter received the supporting role in “Girl Meets World,” cementing her status as a major player for Disney. While she had a number of high-profile gigs for the family-friendly House of Mouse, one of Carpenter’s most forgotten roles is on a TV show that’s definitely not suitable for kids.

Back in 2013, everyone was obsessed with “Orange Is the New Black,” one of Netflix’s first major serialized breakthroughs. “Orange Is the New Black” might have gotten a lot wrong about prison, but the series would go on to become a major player for the streaming giant, helping Netflix become the go-to service for mature, crowd-pleasing dramas. The 1st season earned 12 Emmy nominations. As cool as that is, the show also featured a snarky performance from Sabrina Carpenter. On Season 1, Episode 9, titled “F**ksgiving,” Carpenter makes a brief appearance in a flashback aimed at breaking down Alex Vause’s (Laura Prepon) childhood.

The episode starts with Alex being mocked by a fellow inmate for coming from a wealthy socioeconomic background. We then cut to a flashback, where a young teenage Vause is mocked by Carpenter’s Jessica Wedge for wearing fake Adidas shoes. While Carpenter’s role is small, she comes through with the sass, snark, and attitude — something that’s prevalent in her music today. 

Though she doesn’t spew any swear words, it’s pretty funny to think that Carpenter starred in one of the most raunchy and mature shows on television before booking her “Girl Meets World” gig in 2014. And because “Orange Is the New Black” is already so star-studded, it makes sense that most fans of Carpenter don’t even remember that she was on the show. 

By the time Sabrina Carpenter joined the so-called “Disney-verse,” she was pretty much a favorite for the House of Mouse. In addition to her supporting role on “Girl Meets World,” Carpenter was given an album deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records and an animated show in the form of “Milo Murphy’s Law.” While it’s fair to say that her relationship with Disney blew up in 2014 with “Girl Meets World,” Carpenter actually had a brief role on another Disney production before she got that career-changing gig. In 2012, she had a voice role on the immensely popular animated series “Phineas and Ferb.” 

“[It] was just a small guest role,” Carpenter said in a chat with Wired, adding, “I went in for the day, and it was one of my first voiceover jobs where they just had me do a bunch of random voices.” She appears on the Season 3 episodes “Ferb TV” and “What a Croc!” Unfortunately, she doesn’t have many lines, and she’s simply credited as “Girl.” In her convo with Wired, Carpenter admitted that she couldn’t even remember which characters she voiced, revealing that the lines were mostly impersonal and stock-like.

Funnily enough, “Milo Murphy’s Law” would serve as a spinoff of “Phineas and Ferb,” making Carpenter’s relationship with the animated series a bit more interesting. “Milo Murphy’s Law” wrapped up in 2019, the same year Carpenter joined Netflix’s Tall Girl franchise. A “Phineas and Ferb” reboot is in the works, so it’s possible that Carpenter could return to the show, even as a guest star. 

When fans think of Sabrina Carpenter’s cinematic career, they usually think of two eras: Disney and post-Disney. Once the songstress started shedding away from Disney, she found herself in some more mature roles, lending her talents to projects like “The Short History of the Long Road” and the thriller “Emergency.” While these projects aren’t as successful as Carpenter’s Tall Girl flicks, they’re still part of her growth. However, fans might not know that Carpenter starred in what’s now become a cult classic for teens. 

In 2018, just a year after “Girl Meets World” wrapped up, Carpenter played Hailey Grant in the teen coming-of-age social issue drama “The Hate U Give,” based on the book of the same name. The pic follows Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), a student who goes to a prep school. After a party, she and her friend Khalil (Algee Smith) are detained by the cops, with Khalil getting shot. “The Hate U Give” focuses on Carter’s trauma from the incident and how she decides to make things right. The film features Carpenter as Hailey, one of Starr’s “friends” in high school. 

Carpenter doesn’t have the biggest role in the pic, but her character is key and integral to Carter’s understanding of the world around her. In an interview with Hero, the talent revealed she was a fan of the book before it received the cinematic treatment. She also added that she was drawn to the character of Hailey because of how realistic she was. “For my character specifically, the reason that this character exists — who is ignorant and doesn’t recognise her privilege — she exists because there are people in the world like her,” she said.