Disney's Chandler Kinney Was 'Just Sobbing' After Recording Hit Zombies Songs: 'Convinced That I Could Not Sing'

Chandler Kinney’s breakout role was a singing werewolf in the Disney franchise Zombies — but the actress said she struggled with imposter syndrome while filming the musical.

Kinney shared that she’d never had any singing roles before playing werewolf pack leader Willa in the 2020 installment of the supernatural musical Zombies series — and was “terrified,” as she told Taylor Lautner and Taylor “Tay” Lauter on the Nov. 6 episode of their podcast The Squeeze.

“I was convinced that I could not sing, that I could not hold a tune, that I was, like, tone deaf,” Kinney, 24, said. “I should never open my mouth.”

Kinney, who is currently competing in season 33 of Dancing with the Stars, shared that after she recorded “Flesh & Bone,” her first song, “I remember …  going into the studio bathroom and just sobbing. I locked myself in the stall and just, like, let it all out. I thought it was horrible. I thought I was gonna get fired.”

“That really just speaks to the insecurities in our heads and how they can grow and spin out of control.” she said, adding that conquering her fear of singing was “actually part of the reason why I wanted to do the Zombies movies.”

“The whole singing element was a big mental block for me,” she shared. “I knew that I wanted to run towards that fear and not away from it. 

“I got over that mental hurdle, but it was really hard,” Kinney said — adding that it’s “insane to me now” because the video "Flesh & Bone" “has so many views” — specifically, 256 million views — on YouTube. 

“It's insane,” Kinney said. “It's crazy. The kiddos love the music.”

“Do you feel better about it, or do you still kinda feel like a imposter syndrome with it?” Tay asked. 

“Definitely a little bit of imposter syndrome that I'm still overcoming, and that's just in everything,” Kinney shared. “But I do feel a little bit more comfortable. You know, I think, just even being in the space of a studio and being behind a mic and listening to my voice back, those are all baby steps that I've learned to acknowledge and then also, let those be victories.”

Still, she added, “Now when I go into the studio ... if I can block out the negative voice, I'm like, okay. That was a win. You know? It really is a process, but it's been three movies now and a whole animated series [and] it’s still something that I feel a little bit in my body when I walk in.”

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