Sofia Carson

Sofia Carson, a former Disney star, expands into executive producing and writing songs for her new project, Netflix's 'Purple Hearts.'

“Getting to craft original songs with her and some of my Facet Publishing team that held up mirrors to the emotions of this movie was an honor.” With Cassie’s voice unlocked, Carson and Tranter would go on to complete three more original songs for the soundtrack within a week, including “Come Back Home” which is first introduced in a pivotal moment of the movie and was released earlier this month to tease the project. “I was so lucky that I got to live with Cassie, with their love story, with the script for four years.” Having had the experience of executive producing, she doesn’t want to go back. Carson says that the idea of writing songs for a soundtrack, especially from someone else’s view and a story not her own, was daunting. It was a combination of rage, frustration, and deep passion. “I was most definitely writing from Cassie’s point of view,” Carson says. And it kind of guided us for the rest of the soundtrack.” songs that came from my heart, not someone else’s,” she says. While Cassie and Luke’s “Will they/Won’t they?” storyline is not new, these characters face a much more complicated journey. “It’s more than just director and actor, but partners.” “I remember it vividly,” Carson, 29, says.

Sofia Carson talks to PEOPLE about her role in Netflix's new film Purple Hearts, which is available to stream now.

"I was also very lucky that I was older when everything changed, and I was an adult. Much like their characters in the film, Carson says she and Nicholas Galitzine, who plays Luke, had to get to know each other pretty quickly. "But when a tragedy sends him home earlier than expected, Cassie and Luke are unprepared to feign a marriage face-to-face, in front of family and friends," the synopsis adds. "And this one in particular went kind of a step further, because I've always been in love with storytelling, and to be a part of storytelling from every aspect, from behind the scenes as producer to physical storytelling as an actress to storytelling through song, was incredibly fulfilling." The day after, he got deployed to Iraq. And then the next day was the love scene in the motel. "For a while, their secret plan works and they start to develop a semblance of a friendship.