Dove Cameron recalls days of being bullied while on Disney’s ‘Descendants’ set

By Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Actress Dove Cameron says playing the daughter of evil sorceress Maleficent in the new Disney movie “Descendants” reminded her of the bullies who picked on her as a kid — bullies she now has empathy for.

Premiering Friday on Family Channel (at 8 p.m. ET/PT), the live-action adventure-comedy is a contemporary look at the children of Disney villains, including Maleficent, Cruella de Vil and Jafar.

Cameron says her character Mal is particularly powerful, with a super power and sarcastic attitude that make her feared and followed by many of her schoolmates.

But she also has a vulnerable quality that Cameron says she worked “really hard” to inject her with in order to give her depth.

“I was bullied in school and I firmly believe that the only people that want to cause other people harm are the ones that have been so incredibly harmed in their lives that they don’t know what else to do,” says the 19-year-old star of the TV series “Liv and Maddie.”

“So kids of villains and bullies and people who lash out are really the most fragile ones, and they’re the ones who are living in the most fear.”

Filmed in and around Vancouver, the story is set in the kingdom of Auradon, where the teenage son of Beast and Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” offers the villains’ children a chance at redemption.

Emmy Award winner Kenny Ortega directed and choreographed. Canadian-born Paul Becker co-choreographed.

Cameron says they were able to create their own backstories to their characters. With Mal, she decided that her persona is partly a result of not knowing her father.

“The only example she has is the most evil woman in the world. What kid wouldn’t turn out to be a little messed up with a mother like Maleficent?” she says.

“So she has a hard time finding her way, and she’s also dealing with adolescence and peers and school and all of these other normal-kid things, which I think is a really appealing part about our movie — is that they’re so normal and they’re some of the most mythical characters to ever live.”

Other cast members include Cameron Boyce as Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil from “101 Dalmatians”; Sofia Carson as Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen from “Snow White”; and Booboo Stewart as Jay, son of Jafar from “Aladdin.”

Tony Award-winning stage and screen star Kristin Chenoweth plays Maleficent.

Cameron says Chenoweth has been her “hero” since she was seven, noting she often listened to her songs because they’re both coloratura sopranos.

“It’s not even in that way where I liked her when I was little and now that she’s playing the role I’m saying she’s my hero,” says Cameron. “Like, she was my HERO.”

It just so happened that Maleficent was also Cameron’s favourite Disney villain growing up.

“I remember when I was little and there were auditions for a local kids production of ‘The Nutcracker,’ somebody told me I should audition for Clara and I said I only wanted to be the Rat King, because I wanted to be the more interesting character, I wanted to be the one that nobody liked,” says Cameron.

“I thought it was easier to be likable and friendly and smile and make everybody feel for you than it was to make an evil character relatable.

“I’ve always wanted to take the more challenging roles and this was definitely one of those.”

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