China Anne McClain Says ‘Descendants: The Rise Of Red’ “Would’ve Meant A Lot” To Cameron Boyce

Descendants: The Rise of Red star China Anne McClain reflected on her friend and former co-star, the late Cameron Boyce, saying the Disney actor would have been “really excited” about the film franchise’s trajectory.

“I think that he would’ve been really excited to see it and to see how [the movie] turned out because, to be honest, none of us knew how anyone was going to receive [the 2015 original],” McClain told People in a new interview.

The actress, who reprises her role as Uma (now as principal of Auradon Prep), said the making of the fourth installment — released earlier this summer on Disney+ and marking the first film to not feature Boyce — reminded her of shooting the first Descendants.

“[The new cast in The Rise of Red] were so excited and they’re so young. All of them are so young that I looked at them, and I was reminded of when I stepped on set to do Descendants the first time,” she said.

McClain said her and Boyce’s similar background as child Disney stars (A.N.T. Farm and Jessierespectively) would have brought forth a feeling of pride, given that the story continued with a young ensemble.

“And also how I’m sure Cameron felt — because we both were in the Disney system before we stepped into Descendantsand we’ve known each other since we were children — so I think that it would’ve meant a lot to him to see the baton passed on,” she concluded.

Speaking previously to the outlet in May, McClain said she was initially hesitant about returning to the role without Boyce, who died in July 2019 at the age of 20 after an epileptic seizure. “I was apprehensive [about] revisit[ing] the Descendants world at first, because losing Cam was the first heartbreak I’ve ever experienced. But once I saw how excited the new generation of kids were, it reminded me of myself when we created the original films.”

As previously reported by Deadline in an exclusive, The Rise of Red broke a record, becoming the most-viewed Disney Channel original movie premiere ever on the streamer in its first three days of release. The film features a tribute to Boyce’s character Carlos with a framed photograph, in a moment where McClain’s Uma makes a key decision.

Descendants: The Rise of Red follows the story of Red (Kylie Cantrall), the rebellious daughter of the Queen of Hearts, and Chloe (Malia Baker), Cinderella’s perfectionist daughter. When the tyrannical Queen of Hearts incites a coup against Auradon, the two polar opposites Red and Chloe must join forces and travel back in time to undo the traumatic event that set Red’s mother down her villainous path. Brandy Norwood, Rita Ora and Dara Reneé also star.