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"Growing up on Disney, first of all, it's every kid's dream. Hannah Montana, Raven, those were who I watched. It doesn't feel reachable," Cameron Boyce explains. But in 2011, his dreams were about to become a reality. "When I booked Jessie, I thought, Holy moly, I'm one of those kids. There are things that come with being a Disney kid. It can be overwhelming having everyone all of a sudden know who you are. There is this stigma. I've never been told so many times to make good choices and not to make bad choices." Today, Cameron is recognized as one of Disney Channel's (one of the largest platforms on television!) up-and-coming stars. Sitting at a cool 4.2 million followers on Instagram and 1.2 million on Twitter, the actor has definitely started to make a name for himself. As seen with stars like Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez…, growing up onscreen has positives and negatives. "There are a lot of people who want to tell you what to do with your life. While I am grateful, my situation is totally unique. There are so many variables that don't come up in other peoples' lives. For me, the whole experience is less about Disney and more about having a group of people that I constantly enjoy working with," says the 18-year-old. Cameron has taken on numerous guest roles on a list of Disney Channel shows, including Good Luck Charlie, Austin & Ally, Shake it Up, and Liv and Maddie, films like Eagle Eye, Mirrors, and the Grown Ups movies, and music videos. Recently, Cameron reprised his role as Carlos De Vil, son of Cruella De Vil, in the Descendants films directed by Kenny Ortega (whose name might ring a bell for all of those who were obsessed with the High School Musical franchise). Cameron almost missed his chance to play Carlos —but fate intervened while he was auditioning for another role. "Honestly, my casting process was the weirdest thing ever," he laughs. "I got the audition in my email and the only thing that I saw at first was: a kid that's terrified of a 15-pound dog, so I didn't go in to read for it." Cameron paints a picture of the day of the audition, and describes his run-in with Kenny, who thought he was there to audition for his film. "Kenny saw me and told me that he was glad I was there. And I guess I found it a little strange that he wasn't in the room during my audition." At this point, he and I are both laughing as he continues. With some encouragement from Kenny, Cameron left with a full script to read over the next day. "It was obvious that I really needed to be a part of this. You can't always get the full grasp of the movie by reading only a small part of the email. You can turn down things that can be really awesome for you." Cameron was only 14 years old when he landed the role in the first Descendants film. "I've worked on so many projects that were amazing for different reasons, but the first Descendants was so cool. Working with Kenny is the coolest thing ever. He's the most gifted person I've ever worked with. When the guy who toured with Michael Jackson wants to get to know you —that will always have an impact on you. He's changed more lives than anyone I know." Descendants 2 is slated for release on July 21. "It's exciting for us that so many people are excited to see it. You get to return to witness what happens with these characters. The singing and dancing is bigger and better this time." Descendants 2 is set in a present-day kingdom, where the teenage son of King Adam and Queen Belle offers a shot a redemption for the troublemaking offspring of Disney's classic villains including Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, the Evil Queen, and Jafar. "We made it a little edgy and brought this New Age adolescence presence, which makes it really relatable for our demographic. There's a little less pressure, because Carlos has never been played before. Our parents have already been established." There was just one other question I had to ask: Are you actually afraid of dogs like Carlos? "No, I actually have an Anatolian Shepherd named Cienna. It's crazy because the dog we worked with for the film is literally 15 pounds!" he laughs.