We’re only a few days away from the big premiere of Descendants 2!
We recently chatted with stars Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, and China Anne McClain about their respective characters – Mal, Evie, and Uma.
We asked each lady to give their characters one piece of advice going into the sequel. What did they tell them? Watch below to find out!
And in case you missed it, see what Dove, China, and Sofia had to say about each other!
Descendants 2 airs Friday, July 21 on Disney Channel.
We knew the original cast of Descendants was close, but the D2 additions became part of the family as well.
We recently caught up with Dove Cameron and Sofia Carson to talk about what it was like working with newbies Thomas Doherty, China Anne McClain, and Dylan Playfair.
We also talked to China about coming into the successful franchise!
“It was a little bit overwhelming at times, to be honest. The sets are so massive and unique. You haven’t really seen anything like it. With Uma’s pirate ship, and all of these amazing sets, and Thomas and Dylan were so excited as well,” China told us. “It was great. The first movie was so good, and the whole cast welcomed me. I felt like I was family after the first day.”
“It’s been so special to grow our family,” Sofia said. “And they all feel like long-lost brothers and sisters who were always part of the family. China is amazing. She’s a force to be reckoned with and she did an incredible job bringing Uma to life.”
“We met our first day, but a month before shooting, we do bootcamp where we learn how to sword-fight, we learn choreography, we work with Kenny [Ortega, the director] on our character development,” she continued. “I met China when she was recording ‘What’s My Name?’” I met Dylan and Thomas and everyone in our first day of rehearsal. You bond pretty quickly in those rehearsals because you’re there for hours and hours of the day.”
“Dylan was completely new to me. He’s still one of my favorite people on the planet,” Dove told JJJ. “He’s incredibly intelligent, so if you made that character really intelligent, that would be Dylan. He’s so happy-go-lucky. He’s so sunny.”
“China and I have known each other for quite some time,” she said. “I feel like it’s sort of a written rule that all the Disney girls have to cross paths. We actually met at a bunch of auditions. So I was really excited to be working together.”
As for her real-life boyfriend, Dove told us, “And then Thomas and I are obviously dating [she shows us a cute pic of them as her phone background]. That was the best. It was amazing to be able to work with them.”
And this cast spent a lot of time together off-screen too.
“We were always together. There’s this restaurant, we’d go there every night,” China said. “We went there so much that Thomas noticed when they changed one little thing on the menu. It was super fun. Or we would spend time in someone’s hotel room, and we’d play music, have our guitars, and sing and dance. It was really fun.”
Descendants 2 airs July 21 on Disney Channel.
Lindsey Morgan has high hopes for the upcoming season of The 100.
We recently caught up with the 27-year-old actress and asked her what she wants to see for Raven.
“Raven really hasn’t interacted with the Grounders really,” Lindsey told us. “So I would love to see that. You know, Raven’s so science-based and technology-based, so it would be cool to see that. I don’t know how, but something like that.”
As for advice she’d give Raven?
“Breathe. And don’t stress. You don’t have time to stress,” Lindsey said.
In case you missed it, see what Lindsey told us about Devon Bostick‘s exit from the show.
The cast of Descendants 2 is close, that’s obvious. So when we recently sat down with Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, and China Anne McClain, we asked them about each other!
Which trait would they steal from the other ladies if they could? Their answers are amazing and such #girlpower.
Dove
“Dove has the brightest energy ever. Everywhere she goes, she makes people laugh. Whether it’s with her portable speaker that she carries around on set. When Dove was coming, you knew it because you would hear music from a mile away. Or when she’s cracking jokes. She’s just nice. She’s the nicest person ever, all the time, and I love that about her.” – China
“From Dove, as an actress, she’s really in touch with her emotions. And it’s a really beautiful thing to see how vulnerable she can be when it comes to acting.” – Sofia
Sofia
“Sofia has this presence – and I always say this when she walks into a room – you know when Angelina Jolie walks into a room, how you would feel? It’s like awesome, kind of intimidating a little bit, you’re kind of scared. She has that powerful presence. And not for any sort of reason, she’s just so confident and strong, and you can see that when she enters the room before she even says anything. That is a great trait. Anybody would want to steal that.” – China
“Sofia’s ability to care for herself. She’s in bed by 9. Water, water water, no caffeine. Sleeps every chance she gets. And also her work ethic. She’s very professional.” – Dove
China
“From China, I would say her constant sense of happiness and humor. She’s always happy. She walks into a room and lights it up.” – Sofia
“I think I would take her relationship with her family.” – Dove
Descendants 2 airs July 21 on Disney Channel.
Madelaine Petsch was just as surprised as the rest of us when she found out that – SPOILER ALERT – Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) was shot in the Riverdale finale.
The 22-year-old actress recently talked to us about how she learned about the super-secretive scene.
“That was a secret scene that they added. I though the ending was me burning down the house, so we had no idea,” Madelaine told JJJ. “They added an extra day to film that scene and I was filming all my water stuff while they were doing that. I heard a gunshot and I was like, ‘What was that?’ And then I saw these red pages and I was like ‘Oh! A deleted scene…let’s read.’ No one knew.”
Riverdale is set to return this fall on The CW.
Camila Mendes is giving us a little preview of what’s to come in the second season of Riverdale.
In particular, how will Veronica and Archie’s (KJ Apa) relationship be affected by all crazy events of the season finale?
“There’s going to be some tension in that relationship because obviously Archie’s just gone through a very traumatic experience,” Camila told JJJ, referring to Archie’s dad being shot. “It’s either going to make their relationship stronger or it’s going to make it weaker. Probably a little bit of both (laughs).”
She added, “It’s going to be that constant – Veronica trying to be there for him and Archie pushing her away.”
Riverdale returns this fall on The CW.
Do you have dreams of becoming a novelist? Aspiring Author 101 is a new feature on JustJaredJr.com where we dive into the nitty gritty of writing a novel with some of our favorite, successful YA authors.
Our next writer is the super talented Jenny Han, who recently released her highly-anticipated book Always and Forever, Lara Jean. (Get it now!)
It’s the third book in the popular To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series.
You may also recognize Jenny for her The Summer I Turned Pretty and Burn for Burn trilogies too.
We sat down with her to get the goods on her writing process, her advice for aspiring authors, and more.
Hardcover, paperback or digital copies? I read books on my iPad when it’s not something I necessarily want to keep on my shelf. I like to buy hardcover, but I actually do like having a paperback version of it. If it’s something I love, I really like to have something I can carry around with me.
Favorite place to write? My favorite place to write is usually on a writing retreat. A couple times a year, friends of mine and I will rent a house somewhere beautiful, and write. We always pick a house that has a hot tub (laughs). It’s always nice to take a break and chat. It’s almost in that college mode. It can be a lot of fun. It’s also just that solitary pursuit.
Music or no music? For It’s Not Summer Without You, I was listening a lot to Taylor Swift‘s album…I think it may have been Fearless. There were a couple songs that really tapped into the pain of the story. You know that song ["The Way I Loved You"], I thought a lot about that song with Jeremiah and Belly. For me, it will help me to quickly get to an emotional place that I need to be in with certain songs. I always have playlists for whatever I’m working on.
Endings – happy, sad, or ambiguous? I like endings that leave the door open to other possibilities.
Best advice for someone who wants to write a novel someday? I always have a diary. Getting in the habit of writing in a very honest, truthful way where you don’t hold anything back, it helps you find your voice. That’s really the key thing for any writer. There are only so many stories in the world that exist. All stories are derivative of something else, but only you have had your experiences. Only you can bring that story out from your point of view. So I think it’s honing that.
