MUST WATCH
D
isney Channel’s Descendants
films were always destined for
greatness, thanks to their unique
twist of focusing on the offspring
of the heritage fairytale villains we all grew
up with. But few could have anticipated
that the franchise would become such
a pop culture phenomenon.
More than 12 million viewers tuned in to
watch the first film, while that figure swelled
to 22 million for movie number two.
As for the third instalment – which hits
screens this month – the level of interest
is on par with that of Game of Thrones!
Indeed, security on the set had to be
stepped up to deal with overzealous
photographers eager to get a scoop.
“It’s crazy how much interest there is in
this movie,” director and choreographer
Kenny Ortega says. “We found a paparazzi
in the woods in camouflaged fatigues,
shooting pictures with a telephoto lens.
And there were drones overhead taking
pictures! How do you deal with drones?!”
With anticipation of Descendants 3 at
an all-time high, Foxtel magazine sits down
with Booboo Stewart, who returns as Jay,
and Cheyenne Jackson, whose Hades is
this film’s latest villain, to find out exactly
what we can expect.
THERE’S A NEW BADDIE IN TOWN
“Hades, I mean he’s just your average
lord of the underworld: a blue-haired rock
god with a bit of a chip on his shoulder
- perhaps the biggest chip you’ve ever
seen in your life!” a laughing Jackson
reveals of his character, who he teases
is much more than meets the eye.
“What’s interesting is that it’s not so
cut and dried. People that you think
are good are possibly bad, and people
who you think are maybe the villains
are maybe not.”
For his part, Stewart was thrilled to see
Jackson join the cast.
“Hades is wonderful and Cheyenne is
such an amazing actor and person,” he
says. “I was really itching for more adult
characters – in the first film, we introduced
our parents, but then in the second one
we didn’t really have any adult heritage
characters. So to have Hades in this film
was very, very exciting.
“He’s bad!” he adds with a chuckle.
“Hades is the all-powerful god of the
underworld – it doesn’t get badder than
that! He plays an interesting part. It’s pretty
fun, what we get to get up to with him.”
A DEADLY SLEEPING CURSE
IS UNLEASHED
When we first return to Auradon, everyone’s
favourite VKs (villain kids) – Jay, Mal
(Dove Cameron), Carlos (Cameron Boyce)
and Evie (Sofia Carson) – are doing their
own thing. But when a dark force engulfs
the city, they band together, waging an
epic war to save the day.
“There is a sleeping curse that sweeps
Auradon,” Stewart explains. “We’re trying to
battle it before we get hit, trying to save the
day before there isn’t anyone left to save.”
IT’S BIGGER THAN THE FIRST
TWO MOVIES COMBINED
“I feel like the last two films were more
straightforward, whereas Descendants 3
has a bit more twisting and turning,” says
Stewart. “I think it’ll be a lot of fun for the
audience to watch.”
Adds Jackson: “I think – well I know –
it is bigger than both of the first two films
probably put together, in terms of scope,
in terms of money. It’s pretty remarkable
how much these kids have all grown
and changed. They’re all so talented, but
they’ve all become so much better. I’m
excited for hardcore fans of Descendants,
I think they are going to be so happy.”
THE SONG AND DANCE NUMBERS
ARE NEXT-LEVEL AWESOME
The cast will all readily attest to just how
challenging the choreography can be on
the Descendants films. This time, Ortega
was joined by Jamal Sims to oversee the
many dance routines that are central to
these movies. As Stewart reveals, the
ante was upped like never before.
“Good to Be Bad was probably the
hardest choreography we’ve done in
all the Descendants films. It was so
hard!” he admits.
Despite that, he and co-star Boyce
begged to be included in the clip’s “cool”
dance break: “They didn’t think it was going
to work... but then Kenny came up with the
idea of having us leap off the balcony into
the dancers’ arms. It was really, really cool
how it all came together. When I saw the
music video, I called Cameron and I was
like, ‘This is amazing! What the heck!’”
DESCENDANTS 3
Stream* or watch from Friday August 16
at 5.30pm on Disney Channel [707]
available in the KIDS pack
Dove Cameron
as the all-singing,
all-dancing MalBooboo Stewart’s
Jay really finds
himself in this
third film