The mystery is SOLVED! After YEARS of speculation, the woman behind Disneyland’s most viral character meet-and-greet has finally come forward – and she’s got stories to tell!
Sabrina Von B., 27, sat down with PEOPLE for an explosive tell-all about her eight years portraying the Evil Queen at Disneyland, and honestly? The behind-the-scenes details are WILD.
@sabrinavonb no makeup, all natural, holyyy airballll 🤭 #holyairball #lareina #itwasme
SHE WAS ONLY 18 WHEN IT STARTED!
Von B. was barely out of high school when she landed the gig that would eventually make her a TikTok sensation. For nearly a decade, she served LOOKS, SHADE, and iconic one-liners that had millions of people wondering: “WHO IS SHE?!”
You know the videos. The “all natural” beauty comments. The “La Reina” correction. The eyebrow raises that could end careers. Von B. OWNED that role, turning a character nobody really cared about into THE must-see experience at Disneyland.
“It was a dream getting to do my own spin on a character that really wasn’t popular or viral or well-known before videos of me really started going around,” she told PEOPLE. Translation? She literally MADE the Evil Queen relevant again. Period.
THE VIRAL EXPLOSION (HAPPENED TWICE!)
Here’s how it went down: In 2019, some YouTuber posted footage of an interaction with Von B.’s Evil Queen. The internet LOST IT. Videos started circulating everywhere – TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, you name it. Then in 2021? It happened AGAIN when old videos resurfaced and went even MORE viral.
“I read a lot of comments about people saying they would’ve never loved this character, but now it is their favorite character,” she revealed. “That really was an honor to be able to bring a Disney villain to life.”
But here’s where it gets MESSY…
DISNEY’S STRICT “MAGIC” RULES KEPT HER IDENTITY SECRET
While Von B. was racking up MILLIONS of views and becoming internet famous, Disney’s rules meant she couldn’t even acknowledge it was HER. Like, imagine being that viral and not being able to tell anyone? The comments were FLOODED with people trying to figure out her identity, and she just had to… sit there. Silently.
“With Disney, it is a bit scary because they want to protect the magic, and in the comments, people were trying to get my identity,” she spilled to PEOPLE. “It is scary because Disney wants to protect the magic, and I’ll say that I protected the magic all the way until the end.”
THEN DISNEY LET HER GO – AND SHE FINALLY SPOKE OUT!
“I never came out publicly and said like, ‘This is me,’ or anything until they ultimately let me go,” Von B. revealed. “That’s when I spoke out publicly on it.”
Once she was OUT? She posted a TikTok confirming her identity that got over 6.5 MILLION VIEWS. The people were READY for this reveal!
THE PHYSICAL TOLL WAS REAL
Von B. got real about what it actually took to deliver those iconic performances. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t easy!
“You have to wear a costume, and a lot of the time in California, it gets really hot,” she explained. “Preparing mentally, hydrating for the job, making sure your skin is up to par, making sure you sleep, eating enough the night before to have energy to do such a demanding role. Flipping that cape day in and day out was not easy.”
Her pre-show routine? Basically a whole transformation ritual: “Lift the eyebrows, cackle, put on the makeup, do some exercises to get the body and face ready, and then put on the costume. That’s when the real transformation starts.”
And once she stepped through that door? FULL COMMITMENT. “I would walk up to the set, take a few seconds behind the door, let my face drop into the Evil Queen and just open the door and not look back. The character takes over.”
SHE PLAYED OTHER CHARACTERS TOO (BUT EVIL QUEEN WAS HER STAR ROLE)
Over eight years, Von B. also portrayed Maleficent, Agatha Harkness, and Lady Tremaine. But let’s be honest – the Evil Queen was HER moment. That’s the character that went viral, that’s the one everyone wanted to see.
“Sometimes I would surprise myself with witty comebacks that I would come up with, and then I would try it on guests,” she shared. “I would be like, ‘Oh, I can keep that in my arsenal.’ I really open that door on stage, and I don’t look back, and the Queen takes over.”
THE MOST HEARTWARMING STORIES
Despite playing a VILLAIN, Von B. created some seriously emotional moments for guests. One woman literally SAVED MONEY and traveled all the way from Japan to meet her. Another mother-daughter duo came back year after year.
“Over the span of my eight years, I got to see this mother and daughter almost every year,” Von B. recalled. “I got to watch the little girl grow from literally a baby in her mom’s arms to an 8-year-old little girl in a little Evil Queen dress.”
Can you even?! 😭
“I don’t take it lightly that these experiences that I created for people are stories and things that they will take with them, for years to come, and hopefully make them like villains more and get on the side of villains and not just be scared of them,” she told PEOPLE.
PLOT TWIST: SHE’S ACTUALLY SHY IRL!
Here’s the TEA: Von B. is NOTHING like the confident, scene-stealing Evil Queen in real life.
“Being so viral has helped me as a person just to be confident. As a person, I am not really like the Queen at all. I am definitely not half as confident as her,” she admitted. “I’m more on the shy end, surprisingly.”
But playing such a confident character changed her: “Getting to just create that character who is so confident, and all the characters I got to play are very confident…it’s so lovely to be such a confident character for little girls and little boys to look up to. It also helps and helps me as a person really grow, and that spark that the Queen has in her, it lives in me.”
Character development! We love to see it! 🙌
SO WHAT’S NEXT?
Von B. is NOT sitting around crying about Disney – she’s got PLANS.
“Now I’m learning how to live outside of the mouse, and I am super excited for what is next in my career,” she told PEOPLE. She’s got projects dropping in the next few months and is aiming for Broadway or a national tour.
“I’m so happy that people wanna see not just the Queen, but they want to see from me as well, which I’m very lucky to have that platform now from those videos. I’m very fortunate and grateful to have that.”
Sabrina Von B. spent eight years creating ICONIC Disney magic while staying completely anonymous. She turned a forgotten villain into a viral sensation. She dealt with the physical and mental demands of performing in the California heat. She maintained Disney’s strict secrecy rules even as millions of people tried to figure out who she was.
And now? She’s FREE to be herself, pursue her dreams, and finally get the recognition she deserves.
We’re HERE for her next chapter!
What do YOU think? Did you ever meet Sabrina’s Evil Queen at Disneyland? Drop your stories in the comments below!
