'Galavant' Could Be Mallory Jansen's Launch Pad

With Into the Woods now in theaters, Frozen on every movie channel, and Peter Pan Live! a not-so-distant memory, I can understand if you're a little over musicals at the moment. All that cheeriness — who needs it? But don't give up on the entire genre just yet. Because Galavant, a four-part musical miniseries from two big name creators is about to make your Sunday nights into fully choreographed, perfectly harmonized television event, at least for the next month. The series features a few cameos from famous faces, but most of the show's stars are probably new to you, like Galavant female lead Madelena, played by actress Mallory Jansen. Although you may not recognize her now, Jansen has a big future ahead of her.

As Madalena, Jansen takes on the role of Galavant's ex-girlfriend, with a twist. The series' evil King Richard kidnaps Madalena to make her his bride and she ends up being pretty OK with, because now she gets to be Queen. Yeah, Madalena is kind of a jerk, which allows Jansen to be kind of hilarious.

To boot, Galavant 's original songs are written by Alan Menken (the man behind the music for The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, and Enchanted), the show was created by Dan Fogelman (who wrote Crazy, Stupid, Love. and Cars. Yes, those two scripts are by the same person), and this dynamic duo has created a great character in Madalena: she's mean, sexy, and hilarious. She's kind of perfect for a breakout star.

(Aaaaaand now you'll have the above song stuck in your head for the next three days. You're welcome.)

Clearly, Jansen's star is on the rise and here's why:

She's a Triple Threat

Jansen acts, of course, and for Galavant she has to sing as well (it's a musical, remember?). But before doing either of those things, she also modeled. She was even in the Crest commercial below. (They didn't use her real voice, however. I guess a European accent sounds fancier?)

She's Played Fun Characters Before

Prior to Galavant, Jansen's most recent TV credit was on the ABC Family show Young and Hungry. She played Caroline, the air-headed, self-centered fiancé of the male lead, Josh. Like Madalena, Caroline also ruined her relationship with her boyfriend by getting with another guy. Jeez, what a heart breaker.

She's Australian

Surprise! Jansen fakes a good English accent for her new role, but this girl's an Aussie. That means she's probably super tough and hangs out with koalas all day and stuff. (And that generalization, my friends, is literally all I know about Australian culture.)

And Soon She'll Be a Star

Galavant is gearing up to be a big television event. The miniseries is just four episodes (for now at least), but it's getting a lot of buzz. The songs will probably go viral, and in less than a month everyone will know the name Mallory Jansen. Not bad for an actress who scored her first on-screen part just two years ago.

Images: Nick Ray/ABC; Giphy; YoungHungryGifs, DuncanChannon/Tumblr