‘Cinderella’ Star Carly Rae Jepsen on the Quick Lesson She Learned About Fame

When Carly Rae Jepsen first joined the cast of Broadway’s “Cinderella,” she recalled a conversation with the stage manager about fame.

“He said, ‘The funny thing about being famous is that we all know this about you,’ and he went on to explain something that he thought he knew. And I said, ‘Actually the funny thing about being famous is that everyone thinks that they know things,’ and we kind of figured out the truth of it together. The quick lesson that I learned is that none of the fame part is really real.”

That explains why Jepsen – whose hit single “Call Me Maybe” quickly escalated her singing career – has been able to stay grounded, feel grateful for her fans’ support, and focused on what she loves most: the music. She is currently working on her next album, writing songs she calls very “personal and from the heart,” in between a hectic schedule of eight shows a week as Cinderella opposite Fran Drescher, who plays her wicked stepmother.

Jepsen, 28, returned to her musical theater roots – she performed in various productions during high school – but it was Drescher who gave her a crucial piece of advice on the very first day they worked together, a commercial shoot to promote the show.

“I was all timid and shy, and she said, ‘The one regret I’ve ever had was not giving it my all. If you go out there and give it too much, you’re never going to feel bad, but if you go out there and not give enough you’re going to be forever losing sleep over it.’ So the second time I did it with some guts she said, “That a girl!’”

Jepsen said she is “taking my sweet time” with her next album. So can we expect something a little edgier than the sweetness of her earlier music and her current role?

“There’s a true sort of romantic side of me, a good old-fashioned cheeseball who loves the story of Cinderella, of the kind of fairy tale. And for ‘Call Me Maybe’ it was actually more my coy side coming out so that’s about as bad as I get really,” she laughed.

“I don’t have any desire to do anything that kind of outrageous. It’s not that I don’t have a dark side or a more serious side but I think that comes out in the music that I’m making and I guess you’ll have to wait and see in this new album. I don’t have any desire to rebel and be something totally different from what I am.”

ABC News' David Miller and Arthur Niemynski contributed to this episode.