Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”

Reggaeton star Adassa, who made her acting debut starring as Dolores in “Encanto,” says she’s “not surprised” that Disney didn’t submit the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” for Oscar consideration because “Dos Oruguitas,” which is up for best song, is the “heart and soul of the film.” She adds, “Did we know ‘Bruno’ was going to become what it is? No!” Even though it isn’t nominated, Adassa is hoping she will get to perform it at the Oscars: “Hand me the mic. I’m ready for the stage!”

Adassa auditioned for Dolores with a performance of Céline Dion’s “All by Myself.” But then she got COVID. “I was almost dying,” she recalls. “I told doctors I wanted to go home and die with my kids [she and husband Gabriel Candiani have seven children]. So I came home and wrote my will and I held my kids as best I could.”

When she was offered “Encanto,” Candiani advised her to turn it down because she was so ill. “I said, ‘I’m taking this. You can call them back and tell [them] I’m not taking it only if I’m dead,’” Adassa says. She had three weeks to recover before the production began: “It was like a miracle. It was like I was training like Rocky for a fight. Every day it was like, ‘I’m going to walk from the bedroom to the kitchen.’ Then it was, ‘I’m going to walk from the bedroom to the kitchen to the living room.’ It was baby steps until I was in the studio recording. I had a great recovery.”

In addition to the best song nomination, “Encanto” also picked up Oscar noms for best animated feature film and original score. Inspired by Colombian culture and storytelling, Adassa hopes “Encanto” is the start of new Disney franchise. “I knew this was going to change lives, but I never could predict the full impact it was going to have,” she says. “Seeing people on TikTok and doing ‘Encanto’ cosplay? People writing to me and saying, ‘My daughter finally feels like she sees herself on screen’ or ‘My son finally feels heard,’ it’s really changing people’s lives.”