How One Audition at 14 Helped Dove Cameron Land ‘56 Days’

For Dove Cameron, Prime Video’s latest series, 56 Days, has been nearly 16 years in the making. Well, sort of.

“I had one of those magical, very old Hollywood experiences,” Cameron tells The Hollywood Reporter on a recent Zoom about her journey to landing the lead role in the new soapy thriller. At the age of 14, Cameron, who eventually rose to fame on Disney Channel, tested for a Fox series about a child spy. The now-30-year-old recalls getting “really close” in the process, but ultimately didn’t land the part.

Flash forward to May 2024, and Cameron eventually learns that child spy series and the project she’s just been brought, 56 Days, have one major thing in common: creator and executive producer Karyn Usher. “When they called me about the show almost two years ago, it was Karyn being like, ‘I remember you from when you were 14,’ which is so crazy,” Cameron recalls. The actress says that Usher told her that the writer never forgot about her and had wanted to work together.

“It’s true. If I go back, it didn’t end up going my way for reasons that were out of her control. She sent me my mom flowers. She kept in touch, all this stuff. It was super sweet,” Cameron adds. “It was this really magical, authentic thing that she just randomly thought of me for this role.”

Below, Cameron digs into why 56 Days was the perfect next acting project for her, what it was like growing up on Disney Channel, the transition from child actor and when fans can expect new music.

What drew you in about playing Ciara on 56 Days?

I read the script and [Usher] was like, “Be warned. There’s nudity.” I felt like I was in a place in my life where I was not so scared of doing that anymore. The script was so phenomenal and so strong and the character was something I had always wanted to do. Someone that I felt very attracted to. I always feel like the difference between a role that you could play and a role that you want to play really badly — which all work is good work if you always want to play the character to some degree, and if you don’t, then you shouldn’t do it — is if you read the script and you feel like you know this person.

I really felt like I knew [my character]. We had a Zoom meeting where I just talked, essentially, about my understanding of the character. We were all very aligned. Whatever I had said was what they also were picturing for the character, so we were on the same page. “Let’s do it.” I didn’t know who else was going to be in it because I think they were casting Ciara first. It was just this really organic, kismet, lovely, lovely thing. I hadn’t acted in a while, and it was just the right thing.

I’m wondering if reconnecting with Karyn brought up any reflection on the parallel path you could’ve been on had you booked that role. Obviously, Disney Channel shaped your career for a long time. Did that ever come up for you?

Honestly, I was so happy on Disney Channel. It was not a happy time in my life personally, but at work I was always very happy. I was one of those young actors who didn’t want to go home. I didn’t really think much about what could have been or what would’ve been. There were other big projects that I got really close on that either I just didn’t look right for or I didn’t look related to the other person that was cast first. That’s how casting is, especially when you’re a kid.

Of course, over the years you do that crazy exercise, it’s like, whoa, wouldn’t everything be so different? But it’s the same thing as wouldn’t it be different if I had dated that person or not dated that person or moved to the city or not move to the city, not in a better or worse way, just in a that would’ve been crazy, neutral way. Honestly, I would never look back on my Disney days and say that I didn’t have so much fun. We were not aware of it being anything other than play every day. We were so close, we had so much fun.

That sounds like it was fun. Hearing you say that you were warned about nudity, and obviously, this is an adult show. When you begin as a child actor, people tend to hold you in this [age] limbo for a long time. How do you feel you broke out of that? Was it through a role, or maybe your music?

I think there’s always going to be a large number of people who hear my name and think of me when I was 19, platinum blonde and smiling at the camera. “She changed so much.” I think it would be so bizarre if I was still behaving like an 18, 19-year-old as a 30-year-old woman. Sometimes I see these TikToks of like, “Dove Cameron when she was on Disney, she had this spark.” It’s like, guys, please, literally the difference is some hair dye, and now I’m 30. That’s it. I’m exactly the same person. There’s always going to be a large number of people who see me as a child star for sure. I’m not fully aware of my general public perception, if I’m honest, but I do recognize that career-wise, within the industry, I am not where I was. To your point, I think the way that I broke out was actually by not trying to break out.

In what way?

I never really had a big moment where I was like, now I’m going to show people that I’m an adult. I never did that. I just didn’t have that instinct and that energy. I just didn’t really care. I knew people saw me as that because, logically, if that’s the only thing I’ve done. But I just figured if I continue to work in some capacity, and follow my instincts for what I want to do now naturally as I get older, my work’s going to get older. I guess my music did play a big part in that because I do think some people view that as a huge page turn. Whereas to me, I was no longer representing a children’s company, so I was just writing the music that I wanted to write.

All of the music that I released with Disney, I didn’t write it. I was just singing for them. I was in the studio for them. Once my contract was up with Disney, I started wondering what I wanted to do. It was never really stark. It was never zero to a hundred. I also think doing some stage work [helped]. I did some theater. I did Schmigadoon!, which is not Disney, but it’s not so far off the path. It’s campy, it’s musical, but it was with older actors, and I was the baby. I think that some of these things were just little sideways stones to now, I’m 30, and my work has changed. You just wake up one day and the world has shifted with you in this line of work.

I’m about the same age and can’t imagine being compared to my 18-year-old self. For some reason, we put this on child actors. People tend to remember you at whatever age they came across you. Is that just something you learn to deal with?

I don’t think [of it as] unfortunate. It’s just their reality. I don’t really need anyone to get on the same page as me, to have me feel good. I understood that people’s perception of me had nothing to do with the person that I am a really long time ago. It doesn’t always feel like that, but for the most part, their version of me in their head is from their childhood, that’s this beautiful memory. If they have that, it’s for them. They can have that. Whatever I’m doing now, I don’t have to do that thing forever to make them happy. But we can both appreciate it. I loved that time, they loved that time. I love what I’m doing now. Other people will hopefully love what I’m doing now, but it doesn’t have to be a fight. I have that same thing. I have my favorite actors from when I was growing up that I can’t reconcile the difference. Your comfort shows and movies are personal to you, so I think it’s beautiful.

In general, how are you feeling these days? What’s bringing you joy and inspiring you?

I’m feeling really good these days. It feels like a really beautiful era because I think so much of my 20s was about growing into the clothes that I owned. Metaphorically. I was trying to feel like I had earned the right to live as the person that I wanted to live as, which is just someone who trusts themselves, lets themself enjoy things, has community, feels good in their body and feels confident with their ability. I had such crazy imposter syndrome. For a lot of my 20s, I was really quite lost [and] very confused. Everyone always said, it’s supposed to be the best time in your life. I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Now that I know who I am, I know what I stand for, I know what I’m good at, I know what I need to work on. I feel good about being me, and I feel like I am me. It took me literally until the last two years to get here, which is just a little hopecore for anyone else out there. My 20s sucked, so if you’re not having a good time, that’s OK. I [turned] 30. I’m engaged to the love of my life, which also happened so crazy fast. I had no idea how beautiful life was going to become. The show, the album, everything. It’s still real life. Nothing’s ever fully perfect. But I do think that this is the closest it’s been in a long time.

That’s really lovely to hear. I actually feel similarly. People who say that their 20s were the best. I’m like, what 20s were you living? None of my friends feel that way.

I’m so happy you say that. People always ask, “How do you feel about turning 30?” So fucking good, what? Thirty is the best.

Can fans expect new music soon?

I’m writing the latest version of the album that I’ve been trying to get released for a very long time. I finally, finally, last week, got the green light to release my album this year.

Incredible.

I’m working on what that looks like with my label, but I’m feeling good about it. I’m feeling hopeful. I think this feels different and new. I think it’s finally going to be the year. I have rewritten this album, I think, three times now. The album that I finished in 2024, so much of it was cannibalized to become singles, which, for me, I was very against. It was what they had wanted, and it’s what we did. I was very big about not promoting singles with no project backing it. We need a project, otherwise there’s no trust between the fans. Finally, we got to a good place with that.

It’s coming soon then?

The album where it stands now is pretty much done. I want it to be cohesive. I want it to be world-building. I’ve been in the studio constantly over the course of these last two years. This new version is really, really different for me. It’s really honest. I’ve always been honest in my music, but it’s more vulnerable. Before I was vulnerable in my description of how I was feeling. This is more… I’m not writing with another person’s gaze on it, which is, to me, different as someone who’s always been a performer my whole life. It feels much more intimate than my other stuff. It’s much more organic-sounding than my other stuff too, which is something I could not have anticipated. I hope that people receive it as exactly as it is. I hope that they feel connected to it. I feel connected to it. That’s the only reason to make music is so that people can get to know themselves better through it.