How Filipino-Chinese actress Cathy Ang scored the lead role on ‘Over the Moon’

A new animated musical adventure, “Over the Moon,” is coming to Netflix this October, and the voice behind the film’s heroine, Fei Fei, is a young Chinese-Filipina named Cathy Ang.

The US-based singer-actress shared the amazing story of how she got the part during a virtual roundtable with the Philippine press on Oct. 8.

Cathy was actually hired as a day player to record a temporary demo for one of the songs, “Rocket to the Moon,” for an early screening, but she ended up nailing the first rendition of the song.

“I was so anxious, but I just closed my eyes and just imagined that I was Fei Fei, and I connected with the music in a way that I never have before and, afterwards, everyone was so happy,” she said.

Glen Keane, the Oscar-winning animator and director who worked on many beloved films, including “Tarzan,” “Pocahontas,” and “Tangled,” also shared how he and his producers Gennie Rim “found Fei Fei” in Cathy.

“If you meet Cathy Ang, this is a woman who exudes warmth, her heart, her sincerity. You can’t help but love her,” Keane told GMA News Online.

“Glen came up and talked to me and basically was like, so thankful... I was astounded, you know? I didn’t know if they were gonna like it, but he felt like he and I both found Fei Fei that day,” said Cathy.

“Over the Moon” premieres Oct. 23 on Netflix.

The story follows a passionate and science-loving young girl named Fei Fei who builds a rocket ship to the moon to prove the existence of the legendary Moon Goddess Chung’e, and discovers a whimsical land of fantastical creatures.

Cathy Ang joins an All-Asian star-studded cast, which includes “Hamilton” star Philippa Soo who voices the goddess Chung’e, Ken Jeong, John Cho, Ruthie Ann Miles, Sandra Oh, Robert G. Chiu, Margaret Cho, and Kimiko Glenn.

The Filipino-Chinese singer-actress lends her voice to many of the film’s original songs, including one of the biggest musical numbers, “Rocket to the Moon.”

You can listen to the entire song here, or check out this behind the scenes video below. – RC, GMA News