and I play Dorothea Williams in "Soul."

And today I'm going to tell you a story.

[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]

You know, I just woke up.

It was an ordinary day, you know?

You got up, you have your breakfast,

you have your smoothie, you say bye to your kids

as they go about to go to school,

and then you get a phone call and they

say, "Hey, Pixar's calling.

Wanna know if you wanna come and play

with us on this movie, "Soul"?"

"Soul."

Well, you know, I grew up as a young kid enjoying soul music.

I remember the long console stereo that my mom had,

and she had lots of albums and would love to play

and put on some of the greats.

The Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Soul Brother--

you know, it was the '60s, James Brown,

you know the pick, the Afro, the pick in the back of the Afro

with the fist on it.

Years later, moving to L.A. and going to the jazz clubs there,

seeing Betty Carter on stage, and she's not only

performing and singing, giving us this great gift that she has

to share, but also as she's mentoring and teaching

and bringing up these young musicians in her band.

Or with Miss Dorothy Donegan, who

was a phenomenal piano player.

When you listened to her play, you

could hear strains of a nursery rhyme, of some classical music,

along with some jazz improv.

It was mind-blowing.

So it's like, hmm, "Soul," animated movie?

Working with Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey?

Ah.

Kemp and Pete?

Wow.

So I show up at the studio, I'm just

meeting Pete and Kemp for the first time,

never met them before.

They show me a picture of my character, Dorothea.

She's a saxophone player.

Oh my gosh, I get to headline a band?

Oh my gosh, Mom, all those guitar lessons

I took when I was a kid--

well, those five guitar lessons because we weren't

able to afford it-- but look how far those five lessons took me.

Not only am I not playing guitar,

I've gone on to saxophone, I have my own quartet.

It was great.

I hope that people come away from "Soul" knowing that they

are unique and precious and wonderful individuals,

and their particular brand of "Soul," the world needs.

I hope that they find their spark in life,

no matter when you find it.

If you're lucky enough to find it early, great,

but if you find it and then you put it on the shelf,

you can always go back and get it.

Check out Disney and Pixar's "Soul,"

now streaming on Disney+.