Misty Copeland is on a mission to bring ballet to mass audiences with Disney's 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms'

For Misty Copeland, life has come full circle. At 13, the prima ballerina danced in her first full-length ballet, a San Pedro production of "The Nutcracker." Her second "Nutcracker" was a Debbie Allen production, "The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker," in Los Angeles. As a company member and later principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, she's performed the classic ballet around the country.

And now, Copeland is making her feature film debut in Disney's epic fantasy "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms."

"This is not something I ever saw in my future," Copeland said last week, shortly before the film's premiere in Hollywood. "It's just incredible to be able to be representing ballet at this level in a movie that's going to reach so many people for so many