Dove’s 2019 Interview With Seventeen

If you’re not paying close attention
Dove Cameron might convince you that she
Can be in two places at once
In the past six years, the 23-year-old
Actress has taken on three starring roles
Simultaneously in Liv & Maddie and
The Descendants franchise
Dipped away from set
To star in Broadway musicals
And hopped back into the studio to
Voice animated superheroes and record her
First solo album when Cameron isn’t
Bringing your favorite characters to
Life on screens, stages and soundtracks
She’s peeling
Back the curtain on her personal life
Allowing her 25
Million fans to get a glimpse into her world
Whether she’s slaying red carpets
In jewel-studded gowns
Posting goofy behind-the-scenes
Moments from her life on set
Or snapping seriously adorable
Selfies with her boyfriend and
Descendants co-star, Thomas Doherty
Cameron appears to be living
A real-life fairy tale
But she’ll be the first to tell you
Not everything is as it seems

Coach  1941 dress and shoes, Jenny Bird ring
France Luxe headband at  the age of eight
Cameron decided she was destined
For the stage
After scoring leading roles as Young
Cosette in Les Miserables and
Mary in The Secret garden in her hometown of
Bainbridge Island, Washington
She auditioned for the movie True
Grit and became a frontrunner
For the role before it
Went to Hailee Steinfeld

Her family moved to Los Angeles
When she was 14 and
Cameron joined Burbank High School’s show
Choir team she adored her time on stage
But dreaded the moments she spent off
Of it cameron didn’t make a lot of friends
And she found herself face-to-face with her
School’s mean girls one group
Locked her in a janitor’s closet
While another threw shaving
Razors at her and told her
To kill herself being
Herself in high school was
A challenge for Cameron
So she relished the opportunity
To play someone else

In 2013, when Cameron was just 17
She was cast as not one
But two characters on the hit
Disney Channel show Liv & Maddie
If you thought playing
One iconic teen star sounds like hard work
Try playing two "I was
So tired I could hardly function
" Cameron recalls of the time she played
Twins with polar opposite
Personalities "But I
Figured out how to manage the
Twin thing pretty quickly
Doing everything twice, with the
Energy of two humans
And at the decibel of a
Disney show is no joke!"

While  some stars have been quick to
Move beyond their nascent Disney days
Cameron embraces the 4 years
She starred on the
Show "There will never be a day when
I don’t miss that show it is home
To me and I am so grateful
That I got my start there with
All of those true angel humans
" she says of the Liv & Maddie cast
While  starring on the show
Cameron also took on the
Role of Mal, Maleficent’s daughter
In the Descendants franchise
Which premiered in 2015 and will
Be releasing it's third and final
Film on August 2, 2019 but Mal
Isn’t your stereotypical Disney
Character despite
Her mother’s penchant for evil
Mal wants more for her life and yearns
To make others happy cameron loved
The opportunity to truly shape her character
Over the past three movies

"So much of me is in Mal because she
Wasn't complete when I got to her i
Got to really craft her, " she says
"She's incredibly self-possessed, very
Strong, very persistent
And resilient" These trait's are not
Unfamiliar to Cameron herself

On  July 6, 2019
Cameron and the rest of the
Descendants cast learned that co-star
Cameron Boyce, 20
Had died after complications with
Epilepsy boyce played Carlos De Vil
The son of Cruella De Vil in
The Disney Channel Original Movies

Cameron met Boyce right after they
Both signed on to Descendants
And reveals she had always wanted
To meet him after watching him on Jessie "I
Had always thought, ‘damn
What a charismatic
Bright and brilliant kid’" After seeing him
On the lot where they
Both filmed their respective shows
Cameron recalls jumping out of the car
And hugging him, saying, "This is
Going to sound so weird
But we’re about to do
This new thing together, and I’m
Going to hug you, because I
Can promise you now
We are going to be friends"

And they were "From that first day onward
Cameron was my
Friend and he treated me, like
He treated everyone else
Like they were the most important person in
The room i loved him like a brother
And I learned from him every
Day, how to be joyful, how to
Be resilient, how to be patient
No matter the circumstances i couldn’t begin
To quantify the wisdom and generosity
That this kid had i still
Learn from him every day"

Since  finding out about his death
Cameron says
The cast has kept in close contact
Helping each other through
This difficult time

This isn’t the first time Cameron has dealt
With loss at the age of 15
Right before landing her first TV role
On Showtime’s hit show Shameless
She lost her father to suicide
While Cameron has remained private
About her family life
She has been very open about her
Own journey with mental health

"I would call myself incredibly anxious, and
I have dealt with depression
" she shares "And I do
Have episodes of absolutely what
Feels like mania or something that
Is like I'm all of a sudden in the pit's
Of despair i can't get
Myself out i'm on the floor and I'm crying"

While Cameron’s social media
Presence features it's fair share of glam
Red carpet moments and exotic
Vacations around the world
She is also not afraid to share
This side of her story though
Her vulnerability hasn’t always been easy to
Come by "I was scared
When I was younger to talk about
Certain topics because there are
A lot of people in this
Industry that tell you not
To speak about a lot of things
" she says "Then
As you get older you're kind
Of like, wait, no
Maybe I know better maybe I don't
Care about what you think
Maybe the risk is much less
Important than the gain and
I think so much normalcy would come
From demystifying a lot in
Our own personal lives for younger
People to look at"

While filming the first Descendants movie
Cameron also broke off her
Engagement to former Liv &
Maddie co-star Ryan McCarten
Who she started seeing
Around August 2013 the couple was well-known
For being picture-perfect on social
Media, and while the split was
Especially hard on her
She tried not to let it show online

"It was my first ever real relationship
And it was on-screen and off-screen
" she says "A lot of what I went through in
That first relationship, the very low-lows
I did not make
Public i was under the impression that I had
To make everything look perfect all the time
And my partner definitely put that in my
Ear people thought I was sharing loads
But I hardly shared anything"
But before she had time to
Dwell on the split, cameron was off
To the set again she started
Filming the second Descendants movie, jumped
In to star as Amber Von Tussle
In NBC’s live production of
Hairspray, and tried her hand at
Voice acting as Marvel’s Spider-Gwen
While also taking on a live-action
Role in Agents of SHIELD

As work picked up, so did Cameron’s love
Life she fell for Thomas Doherty
Who plays Harry Hook in the
Descendants series "My relationship
With Thomas has been different
Than anything I’ve ever
Experienced with another human right
From the very start
" she says "I know this is
Cheesy, but honestly
Right from the moment we
Met, it felt like the earth moved
For both of us"

Two weeks after meeting on set
They ended up getting matching
Tattoos and if that sounds
Like a whirlwind romance
Then you need to hear about the first time
He said ‘I love you’ "He told me
He loved me within a week
Of meeting me, and has never taken
A step back from that statement
" she gushes

Speaking of cute, on
Their second anniversary
Cameron took receipts from special
Moments in their lives, including the
Paper receipts for their tats
And printed them onto pillows as
A gift for Doherty

"He’s a pure soul a well-intended, completely
Innocent source of care and generosity
Humility and never-ending patience i’ve
Never experienced an equality like we have
A real admission of who and what we
Are together and the guttural knowing
That this is right, " she says

The Disney star has been leaning on her
Bf a lot recently as she grapples
With the loss of Boyce "Thomas has been
My rock every thought or feeling
I have, no matter how strange
Or dark or heavy, he is a safe space
For me, a never-ending well of patience
And generosity he is my world, " she says

Cameron says her relationship with
Thomas has taught her
A lot about love while she has
A better sense of her boundaries and needs
When it comes to another person
She also says she’s learned to
Take care of herself more

Image "For years
I abused my body with eating disorders
And going on as little as
2 or 3 hours of sleep, "
She says "About 2 years ago
I was completely burnt out"

Now, she focuses on her own needs
And understands the importance of self-care
Especially when it comes to her mental heath
"I’m incredibly sensitive and
Have learned that
I have many, many triggers that
I have to manage, " she says "But
As long as you are your own
Mother, healer, and best friend
You will always know what
You need sometimes it
Just takes a while to become yourself"

Even though she’s been more open and
Authentic on social media in recent
Years, like many young stars who
Grow up in the spotlight
Cameron often feels like
People’s perceptions of
Her don’t always match reality

Image rEDValentino jacket, top, and skirt
Dolls Kill boots, france Luxe headband

Finding yourself can be difficult
When you’re playing
Other characters for the majority of
The day but Cameron seems right at
Home in her skin these days
Which she credit's to getting
Older and taking
The time to show up for herself
"It's an unfortunate truth that
Nobody can do for
You what you can do for you, " she says

Even with the end of
The Descendants film series, cameron
Already has a number of
Opportunities lined up
Including reprising her role as Clara in
Los Angeles Opera’s The Light in
The Piazza as well as some
New movie and television projects

Even though she’s really come into her
Own over the past few years
Cameron acknowledges it wasn’t easy getting
To where she is today

When asked what she would
Tell her 17-year-old self
Cameron says: "I would tell my
Younger self to love
Herself being 17 was the worst i wish
I could go back and nurture the broken baby
Bird I was when I was 17"

But Cameron is also grateful
For where her struggles
Have gotten her "I really love who I
Am now, and I couldn’t be this woman without
Being that very lost little girl so, i
Don't know that I would give her any hints
No cheat codes i’d just maybe tell her
That she’s killing it, and to take no shit
And that I'm really proud of her, every day"