Carly Rae Jepsen has never followed a career “strategy”.
The 40-year-old pop singer is writing the music and lyrics for a Broadway-bound adaptation of 10 Things I Hate About You, the 1999 teen rom-com, and Carly believes the opportunity wouldn’t have come about had she not appeared in a production of Cinderella in 2014.
The Call Me Maybe hitmaker explained to People: “I don’t think 10 Things would have happened had I not said yes to Cinderella back then.”
Carly has enjoyed a successful and varied career – but she’s never made detailed plans about where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do.
The singer said: “It sounds like I was smart and had a strategy. It wasn’t like that. I just got a phone call and I said yes.”
Carly recalled thinking that the career detour was a “relief”.
She explained: “Sometimes I feel like the best decisions that I’ve made have been ones where I don’t overthink it too much, and I just sort of try it on and feel it and jump.”
Carly jumped at the chance to star in the Cinderella production. And now, she doesn’t have any regrets about her decision.
She said: “I feel really happy that I took that left turn. It’s actually brought so much.”
Meanwhile, Carly recently revealed that she’s relishing her “fresh new chapter” after giving birth to her first child.
The singer welcomed her son Ilya Blue seven months ago, and Carly explained how motherhood has changed her life.
The chart-topping star – who married music star Cole M.G.N in 2025 – told People: “You can see us coming from a mile away. We’re carrying strollers and diaper bags and eight other things.
“We’re figuring it out together, and it’s all so new to us. We’re really enjoying it.”
Carly relished working on new music while she was still pregnant.
The pop singer said: “I’ve had other chapters that have been lonelier, like I was on a journey not knowing where it was leading. It feels like a really fresh new chapter that I’m in now, with a family that I couldn’t be more grateful for.”
