Of all the celebrities in Hollywood, it could be argued that Idina Menzel is the most unique. After all, virtually everyone is familiar with her work but a lot of people would never be able to identify her by name. In fact, despite everything that Menzel has accomplished, some people know her best as the woman whose name John Travolta butchered at the Oscars.
Even though Idina Menzel is far from a household name, she has led an incredible life, to say the very least. For example, there aren’t too many people who can boast that they voice one of Disney’s most popular characters, Elsa. On top of that, a song that Menzel performed in character as Elsa became a big enough hit to be played on the radio. That is amazing since it has been decades since another Disney song pulled became a crossover hit like that.
While there is no doubt that playing Elsa in Frozen is Idina Menzel’s greatest claim to fame, anyone who thinks that her career is defined by that one role is sorely mistaken. After all, Menzel was extremely accomplished before she first voiced Elsa and she has done an awful lot since then as well.
Rise To Elsa
When most actors are trying to make it in the business, they spend a long time in pursuit of tiny roles that will help to pad out their resume. However, when you are as supremely talented as Idina Menzel is, none of that is necessary. For proof of that fact, all you have to do is look at the fact that Menzel made her acting debut after auditioning for and landing one of the lead roles in “Rent”. Of course, that is amazing at first blush but it is even more impressive when you learn that she starred in the play when it debuted on Broadway.
After making her first Broadway debut, Idina Menzel would go on to land a slew of on-camera roles. On the television front, Menzel showed up in series like Rescue Me, Private Practice, and Glee. In a perfect series of events, Menzel also starred in the film adaptation of Rent and other movies like Enchanted.
By the year 2013, Idina Menzel’s career was already going strong. Even still, things went to a whole new level for her when she starred in 2013’s Frozen. Widely considered to be among the best Disney animated movies of all-time, the film has come to mean the world to millions of people, including some celebrities. Considering that Menzel voiced the film’s main character, it is very safe to say that she had a massive role in Frozen’s success.
Continued Career Success
Since Frozen was released in 2013, Idina Menzel has remained one of the most in-demand actors in the world. For example, Menzel has spent a lot of time treading the boards as she starred in stagings of “If/Then” and “Skintight”. In addition to Menzel’s recent theatre credits, she appeared in the film Uncut Gems and several television programs including a live staging of Rent.
Of course, Idina Menzel has also portrayed Elsa several times since fans were first introduced to the character. For example, Menzel notably starred in Frozen II, a movie that nearly made $1.5 billion at the box office. Menzel also portrayed Elsa in Ralph Breaks the Internet and in the short films Frozen Fever and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.
Idina Menzel has also starred in a pair of films that haven’t come out as of the time of this writing. First off, Menzel will portray the Stepmother in a musical romantic comedy adaptation of the original Cinderella story that is set to feature Camila Cabello in the titular role. In a surprise twist, Menzel has also starred in American Murderer, an upcoming thriller that almost certainly will be very different than the typical projects she stars in.
Spreading Joy
Of course, it should go without saying that all human beings are complicated. That said, when you look at Idina Menzel’s personal life from the outside looking in, it seems like she was born to bring joy into the world. After all, in recent years she has spent a lot of time helping a slew of charities including the Alzheimer's Association, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. In addition to Menzel supporting those charities, she created one of her own alongside her ex-husband Taye Diggs. Created in 2010, “A BroaderWay Foundation is dedicated to offering girls from urban communities an outlet for self-expression and creativity through arts-centered programs”. While her charity was created before she starred in Frozen, Menzel has continued to run it ever since.
Now that the world has undergone a huge change due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Idina Menzel has spent some of her time trying to bring a little fun into people’s lives. For example, Menzel is one of a slew of actors who’ve agreed to take part in a series of free, surprise performances that will take place in existing New York landscapes. Menzel has also launched Idina’s Treehouse, a YouTube channel where she posts videos for kids in which she sings and reads books.
When Idina Menzel isn’t busy helping people out, she goes home to her family. The mother of a son who was born in 2013, the same year Frozen came out, Menzel went on to marry her husband Aaron Lohr in late-2017.