Dove Cameron is mixing her television work with films this year we a whole host of projects in the pipeline.
We caught up with her to chat about new Disney TV movie Cloud 9, as well as her upcoming big screen film Barely Lethal.
- Cloud 9 is the latest Disney Channel Original Movie, so can you tell me a little bit about it?
Cloud 9 is an action/romantic comedy that focuses on the competitive world of snowboarding. We have glamorised it to so that all the players are on the cover of magazines, have all the interviews, and be on the television: so it is very high stakes.
It is a very entertaining movie, it’s really really funny and very action packed. It has a three sixty appeal for both boys and girls. I think it is probably the most romantic film that Disney has done. I was very happy to be a part of it.
- You take on the role of Kayla in the film, what was it about the character and the script that initially drew you to this project?
I think Kayla is a very interesting character. She is the first lead character in a long time where when she is introduced she is not really very relatable or appealing. You watch her journey go from someone very unrelatable to someone who is everybody’s girl.
She has one of the most dramatic character arcs of almost any character that I have some across; in the first fifteen minutes or so she is completely unrelatable.
She is more someone who you would expect to be the ‘mean girl’ or be able to stereotype into something undesirable. You watch her go to this beautiful character arc, where she becomes everyone’s girl, and you really grow to love her.
That was a difficult enough challenge for me, which I really wanted to take on the role and make a one-dimensional character relatable and loveable.
- That does lead me into my next question. Kayla has a very fascinating character arc as you say, so how did you find getting your teeth into that as an actress?
As an actor, you are either emulating someone else, or some version of yourself. In the beginning as Kayla, I was emulating someone else and I was playing whoever else came into my life who I viewed through the role of Kayla.
Over that arc, I transitioned into something that was a little bit more I could find inside myself. I found that to be very useful: to turn it from an external style of acting to an internal style of acting. I think that effects energy, facial expression, and everything else.
- This is a snowboarding movie, so did you learn to snowboard? How much was that something that you enjoyed?
I have been snowboarding since I was seven years old. I thought that would help me get the role, but you can maybe see me snowboarding in Cloud 9 for three seconds if you slow it down and go frame by frame (laughs).
The rest was all done by very well trained, experienced, and very skilled body doubles. Therefore, it was wonderful for me to not die during filming (laughs).
- It has also been announced that Liv and Maddie will be back for a second season. How did you originally get involved with the show?
Liv and Maddie actually started out as a different show called Bits and Pieces, and it was a completely different plot: although it was the same cast.
I played just one character called Alana, and there were no twins involved; she was also neither Liv nor Maddie. It was a very different experience. When that went into testing, it transformed into what is now Liv and Maddie.
Therefore, I never auditioned for Liv and Maddie or either character; it was just something that the Disney Channel gave to me. I feel very grateful that they trusted me with such a huge challenge.
It was definitely something that I worked very hard on to make sure that I didn’t let them down. I am very grateful to be a part of it.
- The first season has done really well but how have you been finding the reaction?
I tend to stay off social media (laughs) because I know that I can sometimes become obsessive, and I am very sensitive to that kind of thing. I tend to stay away from that. From what I have heard from fans and from fan mail, I know that it has been received very well, and that make me really happy.
Definitely, there is always room for improvement and changes, and I really love the interaction with the fan base. I really love how interactive the fan base is. I think it has been received very well, and as long as it is being received, well we will keep putting it out there.
- We are also going to be seeing you on the big screen in Barely Lethal later this year, so can you tell me a bit about that project?
Barely Lethal is a non-Disney project, and is with Samuel L. Jackson, Hailee Steinfeld and Jessica Alba. It is a really really phenomenal film. I play a very different character then any character than I have ever played before; her name is Liz Larson.
She is seventeen who is about to go off to college, who has got a chip on her shoulder after her father left her at a very young age. She does have a dark storyline. However, it is a very funny movie.
The only way that I can describe it is like Skyfall meets Mean Girls; it sounds like it wouldn’t work, but it is so well written and so well done. I am incredibly proud of it, and I can’t wait for people to see it.
- Kyle Newman is in the director's chair, so how did you find working with him? What kind of director is he?
Kyle is incredible. Kyle was like one of the kids. It was a cast of many kids - aside from Samuel and Jessica - and Kyle really was one of the kids. He actually took us laser-tagging. He is a pretty hands-off director; which is something that I really appreciated.
He would let us do it the way that we interpreted it, and then he would only step in if anything needed changing; which I thought was brilliant. He is incredibly kind and incredibly funny, and we still stay in contact.
- You have mentioned this great cast already with Hailee Steinfeld, Samuel L. Jackson and Jessica Alba, how did find working alongside them?
I love them. It has always been my experience that the best people are at the top, so it was really lovely to have that be affirmed for me. They were very kind to me and I got to spend a good chunk of time with them. I have nothing but good things to say.
- The movie fill mark your big screen debut, so how did you find the transition away from TV?
I think I am still in it. I would never call it a transition because Liv and Maddie is my one true love and my main project right now. I have Barely Lethal and I am about to do Descendants, so I am straggling film and television at the moment.
It is a different style of acting, but it is fun to be able to work on your craft like that and to be able to work on the differences between different projects. It has been really great for me to have such wonderful opportunities so early in my career, I am very grateful for it.
- Finally, what is next for you?
Well, I am about to start filming Liv and Maddie season two. And then I go into Disney’s Descendants, which is a film. This year I will be finishing and putting out my album. Music and acting are equal passions for me.
I actually starting out in in musical theatre, so music and acting go hand in hand for me. It has been great for me to work for a company that does both so excellently.
I have about five songs that I have co-written and written alone, and I am looking to do six or seven more. It is has a singer/songwriter, folky, kind of thing. So we are going to see where that goes. I am excited about that.
Cloud 9 airs this Friday at 5:30pm on Disney Channel.
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