Dove Cameron, 30, Has Thoughts For Those Who Will Always See Her As A Disney ‘Child Star'

Being in the public eye is not easy, especially as a child. There are a lot of former child stars who are still acting today, but the transition has not been smooth for some. A handful of former Nickelodeon and Disney stars have spoken out about making that transition from child to adult star and wanting to break away from that part of their life. Dove Cameron, for instance, can now be seen in Prime Video’s steamy new drama 56 Days, and the 30-year-old has thoughts for those who will always see her as a Disney “child star.”

Cameron's array of projects began when she broke onto the scene in 2013, portraying the titular twins, Liv and Maddie Rooney, in the series Liv and Maddie, which ran for four seasons. She also starred as Maleficent’s daughter, Mal, in the original Descendants trilogy and Kayla Morgan in the snowboarding DCOM Cloud 9. Some people probably still see her as one of her Disney characters, but she’s gone on to do other projects since then, both acting and music, and she knows that, as she told The Hollywood Reporter:

It’s been nine years since Liv and Maddie ended, seven years since Descendants 3 released, and five years since Cameron did her final Disney Channel project, which was the animated special Descendants: The Royal Wedding. A lot has changed since then, and it can be frustrating, which is understandable. Cameron assures that she’s the same person she’s always been, it’s just how the public sees her:

Dove Cameron didn’t waste any time locking down roles after Liv and Maddie ended. She’s done a handful of shows and films in the last several years, as she continues to try to break away from the Disney life. While her fiancé is a big Descendants fan and she’s previously expressed that she’ll always have a love for that part of her life because it’s gotten her to where she is now, it’s understandable that she’d want to fully be herself. She went on to explain how much her music helped her separate from that as she took the next step in her career:

It’s always interesting seeing how a former child star shifts into doing more adult projects as they get older. For Cameron, it’s more about doing what’s right for her rather than how she wants people to perceive her. She’s not just doing that with her acting, she’s also doing that with her music and writing what she wants to write about.

There’s also the fact that people who grew up watching Cameron and other child stars are growing up with them, so not only are these projects right for the actors, but they’re going to be right for the fans who watched them and are continuing to watch them. Change is hard, but growing up is natural. And fans can see how Cameron is doing with her new series, 56 Days, streaming now with an Amazon Prime subscription.