Photo: @bella.iannelli.babybellz/ Instagram
Isabella Iannelli’s love of dance started at the age of 3 in baby ballet. She realized she wanted to be a professional dancer at five years old when her teacher caught her practicing salsa in the hallway. Her schedule consisted of jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop. Then, she was accepted into Broadway Dance Center’s Kids and Teens Summer Program, a studio where dancers from around the world visit to train in Times Square, New York City.
“I learned a lot there like stage performance and how to take notes. It was very next level, a really fun experience too and a lot of great people. That’s where everything started,” she said.
Isabella's first movie audition was for Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights written by Quiara Alegria Hudes. It was also the first major motion picture she booked. For her, the story of In the Heights has a connection to home. She grew up visiting her grandparents' bodega in Washington Heights, before they owned a supermarket.
She was a little overwhelmed when she saw the amount of dancers in the first audition and was shocked to see only 14 dancers during the callback. Having been a fan of Disney’s Teen Beach movies, she couldn’t believe she would be working with the films’ choreographer Christopher Scott.
The most challenging day on set for her was filming the “Carnaval Del Barrio” musical number because it also happened to be the hottest day of the year. Although they had put fake sweat on the dancers at the beginning of the shoot, by the end it was very much real according to Iannelli.
Still when the cameras weren’t rolling or the crew was fixing lenses, Isabella and her friend Hailey Jade Panchame took the time to meet and learn from everyone on set.
Bella backstage while filming In the Heights. Photo: @bella.iannelli.babybellz/ Instagram
“I really loved that because there was a very big connection for that (Carnaval) scene. We all connected, there was so much chemistry. It was very memorable and meaningful,” she said.
Another instance where she was learning from the cast was during rehearsals. She and Hailey had been teaching other dancers to properly turn and practice backbends when all of a sudden Corey Hawkins who plays Benny walked in and asked to see their practice.
“He takes off his shoes. He did like ten turns in a row in his socks and we were sitting there like what did you just do! Like ok go off! It was so much fun,” she said.
It turned out that Hawkins was also a trained dancer and attended Julliard for college. As for cast member Leslie Grace, Isabella really looks up to her as a role model.
She shared a tutor on set with Greg Diaz who plays Sonny and given the circumstances of attending set school, lessons, and homework there weren't as many chances to talk. So when it came to filming “Carnaval Del Barrio” and “96,000,” where Sonny has a rap section in both, Bella was excited to see Greg embody Sonny and completely nail the scenes.
Bella and Hailey with Lin Manuel Miranda and Leslie Grace. Photo: @bella.iannelli.babybellz/ Instagram
Along with progressing in latin dance styles and footwork, Iannelli will take away a lesson she learned from Lin Manuel Miranda to all future sets she works on:
“To be respectful to anybody I see and to have a good work ethic. Lin was respectful to everybody on set if they were cast, crew, or handing out waters. Be very professional. If you have a dream, go big or go home,” she said.
Before she booked the Netflix Special John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch, Isabella remembers attending callback after callback for the role, acting out dialogue, and singing. As fate would have it, she became friends with Gloria at the audition, another girl who would be cast. The kids’ cast had two weeks of rehearsal and filmed in a studio in Brooklyn for two additional weeks. Isabella also recorded her verses in the songs of the cast album in two days. The most challenging part for her was juggling all of her projects.
Photo: @bella.iannelli.babybellz/ Instagram
“That’s the time that I was doing the most. I had just gotten off In the Heights and I was about to go on a Broadway show. I was kind of jumbled but was like ‘I got this.’ I was very new to this kind of thing,” she said.
During her time on set, Iannelli was able to observe and apply all of that into her acting. It also definitely helped that the cast of 14 kids clicked from the beginning, laughing during mess-ups and starting a group chat.
On working with John Mulaney, she says:
“He is so funny. He would make the best jokes. He was very good with kids. I just had a great time getting to work with him. I was very honored.”
Bella with John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch cast. Photo: @bella.iannelli.babybellz/ Instagram
Ask her to choose between filming the musical scenes with Andre De Shields and Jake Gyllenhall or doing skits, and she can’t pick. She loved the musical numbers because she got to sing and dance, but also enjoyed the dialogue and the behind the scenes laughs that followed.
In fact, at only 11 years old she received her first Emmy nomination for the Sack Lunch Bunch special.
“At first I was in shock. Then I realized we had an Emmy nomination and started crying happy tears. My cousins were screaming. I was screaming. I started running around her house, jumping for joy,” she said.
One thing is for sure, she can’t wait to be back on set to film the next two Netflix specials with John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch.
Prior to filming for Netflix, she was cast in the Rose Tattoo Broadway show based on a play by Tennessee Williams. It follows an Italian woman living in the South, Arizona to be exact, portrayed by actress Marisa Tomei who is devastated by the passing of her husband and is raising her daughter. Isabella's role was Vivi, one of the neighborhood kids, who she describes as “very nosy. She wants to know what’s going on.”
Rehearsals lasted three weeks with Isabella learning all the staging, blocking, and even how to speak Italian. During show previews, she treated those performances as if it was the actual show day. Previews is the time for actors to test out the show on audiences and see their reactions to the performance. She recalls the scenes went by really well. There were a lot of jokes and laughs going on. If something went wrong the audience would laugh with the actors on stage.
For her, opening night was definitely one of the most memorable moments.
“When I was little I’d always be like I want to do that when I’m older and I didn’t think it would be that soon. It’s like omg I'm actually doing this,” she said.
Although they performed 8 shows each week for 11 weeks, Isabella and her castmates found time to bond. From hair and makeup, getting acai bowls, to making up dances during tech rehearsal, and backstage fun with her costars, Alex and Jacob, she enjoyed the entire experience.
“I met Marisa Tomei, she was like a mom to me on set. Andrea Burns was also super kind. I talked to her about my role in In the Heights. I just wanted to know how it was like for her to perform the show on Broadway. I told her my experience and it was pretty similar. That’s what I really loved. We had a lot of things in common,” she said.
Andrea originated the role of Daniela in the Broadway production of In the Heights. Isabella even mentioned if she were to play a role in the stage version of In the Heights it would be one of the salon ladies because of their humor, Vanessa for her strength, or Nina because she could relate to her the most. As for her absolute dream role on Broadway, she doesn’t even have to think twice: Jasmine from Aladdin.
“I would love to play her. I’ve been wanting to play her since I was five, hopefully one day fingers crossed,” she said.
Iannelli also appeared on Strahan and Sarah’s Halloween episode and got to pay homage to her favorite Stranger Things character, Eleven on Good Morning America.
“That was very fun. There was smoke on the ground and we were dancing. We had a whole bunch of makeup on and we were wearing zombie costumes. It was very freaky,” she said.
She draws inspiration from Lady Gaga because she’s an artist who writes, produces and sings her own music.
“Another inspiration is my mom because she’s the one that takes me everywhere. She taught me to be early to things and helped me with my auditions,” she said.
She recently played young Gloria Estefan in the stage production of “On Your Feet” at the MUNY ( St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre) this summer.
Isabella Iannelli performing as Young Gloria Estefan in On Your Feet production at the MUNY. Photo: @bella.iannelli.babybellz/ Instagram.
“It was in St. Louis and I was super excited to do that. When I was younger I really wanted to play Young Gloria Estefan ever since I saw the show and I never thought I would actually play her. Now that I am, I’m super thrilled,” she said.