The original Descendants premiered ten years ago in 2015 and centered on four kids of feared Disney villains who got the chance to study at Auradon Prep, leaving the Isle of the Lost to be among the heroes, princes, and princesses. The late Cameron Boyce portrayed Carlos, the son of Cruella de Vil, and Descendants stars paid tribute to him on the anniversary of his death last month. Now, as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the film, director Kenny Ortega shared the story behind how he got to eventually cast Boyce in this film, even though he wasn't allowed to at first.
At the time Descendants came out, Boyce was starring on the Disney Channel show Jessie as Luke Ross, which premiered in 2011. He was a rising star on the network too, having provided the voice of Jake in Disney Jr.’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates and starred in Disney XD’s Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything, the latter of which premiered in 2015 as well. Ortega, who directed the original Descendants trilogy, told TV Insider that he wanted the rising young actor, but Disney was against it, telling him the following reasons why at the time:
The studio, the wonderful Judy Taylor, who was head of casting for Disney Channel, and Gary Marsh, the President and CCO of the company, had said, ‘Cameron Boyce, we’re saving him for his own movie.’ And I just said, ‘Well, can we just ask him?’ They were like, ‘We’re putting him in as the sort of top character.’ And I was like, ‘But I think he’d love this part, and I think he would love and enjoy this. It’s got dancing, and I know he likes to dance.'
It makes sense why Disney wanted to hold off on letting Ortega cast him in Descendants. Boyce was growing with each new project he did for the company, and it would be hard for him to do two movies at once. Luckily, as fate would have it, the director and actor eventually met not long after, but it wasn’t for the reason the High School Musical director had hoped for, as he said:
One afternoon I walked out of a casting session, and Cameron was sitting in the chair right outside the door. I thought he was there for me, and I got so excited. I went over and I said, ‘I can’t believe you’re here.’ And he was like, ‘Hi, Kenny Ortega.’ And I was like, ‘Cameron Boyce, I so want to work with you.’ And he’s like, ‘I want to work with you, too.’ And then he told me he was there for a different audition.
Despite Disney not wanting Ortega to cast Boyce in Descendants, he knew this would be his one and only chance to get him on board before it was too late.
Ortega revealed what exactly went down during their chance meeting and how he told Disney that Boyce was in, and I can’t imagine how different things would have been had they not met in that moment:
When I started telling him about the project, he was like, ‘I would love to be in that. I would love to do this.’ I walked back in, and I was like, ‘Alright, everybody, Cameron’s in the hallway. He wants to be in Descendants. We’ve gotta make this happen.’ I got my way. I got my chance to work with Cameron, and the rest is history.
Here's my takeaway from this: When this director is sure about something, he truly means it. Considering Kenny Ortega is behind movies like High School Musical, Hocus Pocus, Cheetah Girls 2, and much more, it’s surprising that Disney didn’t take him at his word about Boyce at first. However, he ended up being the perfect choice for Carlos and the Core Four of Descendants, which also included Dove Cameron, Booboo Stewart and Sofia Carson.
It's been over six years since Boyce died from a seizure in his sleep, but his memory lives on thanks to the Descendants films, which are all streaming for those with a Disney+ subscription, as well as other projects he was in. Most recently, Adam Sandler paid tribute to his on-screen son with a subtle reference to him in Happy Gilmore 2, which fans can stream with a Netflix subscription.
While it's deeply tragic that Cameron Boyce is gone, it's wonderful that his legacy lives on in beloved projects like these. So, thank goodness Kenny Ortega didn't back down on casting him in Descendants when Disney initially said no.
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