In July, 20-year-old Descendants and Jessie star Cameron Boyce died due to complications related to epilepsy. Boyce’s Hollywood peers, such as his Grown Ups co-star Adam Sandler and Descendants friend Dove Cameron, shared their grief about Boyce's death on social media. Now, just after the premiere of Boyce’s film Descendants 3 on Friday, August 2, Disney Channel is paying special tribute to the late star.
Disney Channel's Descendants franchise is a series of movie musicals about the children of Disney's most famous movie villains. Boyce portrayed Carlos, the son of Cruella de Vil, (Wendy Raquel Robinson) since the first film hit Disney Channel in 2015.
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"Going back to the first movie, it was very much we have labels and we have designated places for these people that we have placed labels on," Boyce said in his final interview with Disney Channel. "And very quickly learn that once you take a label off of someone and just let them thrive in whatever environment that they’re in, you can see the best come out of someone."
Descendants 3 canceled its red carpet, which would have been held in July, following Boyce's death. Disney Channel made a donation to the Thirst Project, an organization Boyce supported that is dedicated to building fresh water wells in communities that need safe, clean drinking water. The telecast of Descendants 3 will now be dedicated to the actor.
In an emotional Instagram video, Boyce's friend and Descendants co-star Cameron shared how special the actor was.
"Everyone keeps talking about how talented he was, and he was undoubtedly the most talented person most of us will ever know. But what was special about Cameron was who he was in the small moments," she said . "The moments in between the big ones when he didn’t have to be good or kind, Cameron was always good and kind."
The tribute video Disney Channel will air immediately following Descendants 3 features heartwarming moments of Boyce. The video reveals clips from from Boyce's early days as a child actor on Disney Channel sitcom Jessie to his time on the Descendants films. In the tribute video, Boyce can be seen cracking up with his co-stars while on set, dancing, and even making Michelle Obama laugh during her guest appearance on Jessie.
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"None of us put together could ever have as much swag as Cameron has," Descendants star Sofia Carson says in the video.
Watch the tribute to Boyce below.
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