The Christmas movie sensation of 2024 is not "Red", nor is it any of the other non-Christmas holiday releases like Wicked, Gladiator II or Moana 2. ok, it could be "Hot Cold". But if it is no "Hot Frosty", it must be Jaume Collet-Serra crackerjack action thriller Carry-On. Currently streaming on Netflix, Carry-On is a no-nonsense B-movie — a Collette-Serra specialty dating back to developers like House of Wax and Orphan — that harkens back to the era of the '80s and '90s. at a steady pace. and engineered action films such as Die Hard, Under Siege, and Speed. These films weren't mega-budget blockbusters, but they had studio-level production value. There were no cutting corners and no dodgy CGI; you always had the feeling that you were watching a great film made with professional pride. And best of all, you didn't have to dive into a series of books to familiarize yourself with the larger mythology of the movies.

This is why so many people watch a meat and potatoes thriller. It's a stand-alone work - something that shouldn't be a rarity, but is unfortunately due to studios' and streamers' obsession with the franchise of every original movie they make. And one of the reasons it works so well is that it's cast to perfection, from the hero and villain (Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman, respectively) to the supporting cast (we're always thrilled to see the likes of Daniel Deadweiler, Dean Norris, and Theo Rossi) .

One actor getting some attention is Sofia Carson, who plays Egerton's pregnant girlfriend Nora Parisi. She really pops here and leaves you wondering where you might have seen her before. Here's why she rings a bell or two for you.

Before starring in Carry-On, Carson was probably best known for her portrayal of Evie, the teenage daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in the Disney Channel animated musical Descendants (which earned Carson a single on Billboard Hot 100 in "Rotten to the Core"). She also voiced the character in the animated spinoff series Descendants: The Wicked World. Before that, she guest-starred on Disney's popular Austin and Ally.

If you're not a Disney person, you may have come across Carson in the 2020 sci-fi thriller Songbird, where she stars alongside Riverdale's KJ Appa. If you skipped that movie because it had a disturbing 9% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoesyou may have seen her in the better-reviewed dance comedy Feel the Beat (also on Netflix). Chances are, you were a fan of her work on the popular Netflix romance Purple Hearts, which briefly topped the streamer's 2022 watch charts and earned Carson an MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Musical Moment .

Carson has clearly become one of Netflix's biggest stars, and the streamer has no interest in letting her get away with it. In 2025, she will star in the drama The Life List and showcase her romantic comedy My Oxford Year alongside Corey Milechrist. No one will ask "Who is that?" for Carson for a long time!