‘Descendants’ Director Kenny Ortega Recalls Working With Cameron Boyce

Descendants director Kenny Ortega is remembering actor Cameron Boyce, six years after his death at age 20.

“He was so beloved,” Ortega, 75, told hosts Francesca Mariano and Ria Ciuffo on the Friday, August 1, episode of their “Chicks in the Office” podcast. “When he walked into a room, it’s like the light got brighter. He was our muse.”

Boyce died in 2019 at his home in Los Angeles after suffering an epileptic seizure. He had previously been diagnosed with epilepsy, and his cause of death was determined to be a sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

“He was just the most generous, aspirational young man,” Ortega continued. “He just was hungry to learn, and to participate and serve. He was building wells for impoverished communities and in the mirror with dancers that were having a rough time figuring something out. And just whatever he could do to jump in and help things progress, people progress, ideas progress.”

“He loved workshopping with me,” he added. “At the beginning of all three Descendants [films], rather than jumping right into severe rehearsals, we partied, we played. He loved that part of creation. A real special human being.”

Descendants, a Disney Channel musical fantasy franchise, follows the lives of Disney villains’ children. Ortega directed the first three films, in which Boyce played Carlos de Vil, son of Cruella de Vil. Descendants 3 premiered on August 2, less than one month after Boyce’s death.

Since then, the Cameron Boyce Foundation has been, as Ortega put it, the late actor’s “living legacy,” as it works to raise money for research, education and awareness around epilepsy.

“The foundation accepts funding and it really is serving the science and medical research for trying to end SUDEP,” Ortega explained, adding, “[It’s] supporting foundations that are empowering young people and young people making good choices and having bright futures.”

Boyce was also the subject of a brief tribute in Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2, appearing on a television screen showing his Disney comedy series, Jessie. Sandler, 58, explained the inclusion after the movie’s release.

“Love that kid. He was one of the sweetest persons I’ve ever met — just constantly in a good mood, constantly great energy, loving to everybody,” he explained to The Hollywood Reporter in a story published Tuesday, July 29. “He felt like a family member to us when we were shooting Grown Ups. Of course, we were going to shoot with Cameron on Hubie Halloween, and we were getting ready to have a great time together, and we lost him.”