Interview: "Descendants" Wicked Wonderland" Cast on Sisterhood, Legacy, and a Trip Down the Rabbit Hole

In Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, Red and Chloe are back in the present, sorting through the fallout of the mess they created when they altered the past in The Rise of Red. Now, the line between hero and villain isn't just blurred for the daughters of the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella, but also all of Auradon and Wonderland. I had the chance to speak to the stars of the newest entry in the DCOM franchise about the film’s themes, new characters, and the special effects wizardry behind the dazzling installment.

"The lines are definitely blurred at the moment," said Kylie Cantrall, who returns as Red. "Red is somewhere in between and trying to figure out what this version of her looks like. That's the core theme of this film; you live in that gray area, and you can redefine expectations and be your own person despite what your parents expect you to be, or what the world expects you to be." For Cantrall, that meant evolving Red into "slightly more elevated, slightly more of a leader and a princess," while never quite letting her settle into either label.

Malia Baker's Chloe is on a parallel journey, tipping out of her Hero Kid comfort zone for the first time in the adventure. "It's really fascinating to see these iconic Disney characters find their way in that light and find their own aspects of what being good and what being bad means," Baker said. "Chloe has found her heart of hearts in her HK status, but she dips her toes in the VK, and it's been fun to play with.”

For Liamani Segura, who plays Red's newly introduced sister, Pink, the franchise isn't just a job, it's a full-circle moment. "Growing up, I idolized every person that was in the OG ones; Cameron Boyce, Dove Cameron, Sophia Carson, Booboo Stewart, every single one of them," she said. "I saw myself in Evie so much growing up, and now that I am a Descendant, it just means so much. It's so surreal and full circle, and I'm just so honored." 

Kiara Romero, who joins the cast as Hazel Hook, came to the franchise from a different angle entirely: "I actually didn't grow up watching Descendants; I watched it for the first time when I got the audition. But I grew up watching Disney Channel, all the movies, High School Musical, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place. So to be part of a Disney Channel Original Movie still is very surreal."

Building a new generation of legacy characters meant doing some homework. Segura found Pink's blueprint in her onscreen mother's own origin story: "I feel like I pulled a lot of inspiration from young Bridget; she definitely played a big part of Pink, because I feel like they are so alike. Young Bridget was very bubbly and happy, just frolicking everywhere, and I feel like Pink is so alike to her young mom." She credits Red with the other half of the equation, too: "that rebel boldness [comes] from her big sister."

Romero, meanwhile, went straight to the source for Hazel Hook via the Captain’s other offspring. "I pulled so much inspiration from Harry Hook, who is played by Thomas Doherty in the OG Descendants. He's so incredible and steals every scene. I also watched the Hook movie for the first time, with Dustin Hoffman. But I owned my own spin on it, and I was the first female Hook you see in this universe. That gave me a lot of freedom to put my own sassy little spin on it and be super sarcastic." 

Alexandro Byrd, who plays Luis Madrigal, found his own touchstone closer to home. "I've watched Encanto so many times and listened to 'Surface Pressure' thousands more," he said. "I wish Luisa was in the movie more, but I got to twist that into a positive; it gave me a lot more liberty to bring myself into the character and come up with some incredible choices."

That freedom came in handy once the cast landed in Wonderland itself, a world built on a scale none of them had experienced before. "There's not many things that are on this scale," Romero said. "The mazes, the chessboard, the castle, all of it is so magical and grand, and it was really cool to see in person." Byrd pointed out how much of it existed well beyond a green screen: "There's a lot of special effects and CGI, but there's also a lot of practical things. Filming in the forest and turning 100 yards into Wonderland, the chessboard. Of course, they add a little stuff, but it's real." 

For Segura, the illusion gave way to a very real adrenaline spike. "I remember one day we were prepping to go down the rabbit hole, and they had me harnessed up on a crane so high in the air. That was the first moment I was like, 'Holy cow, what are we getting ourselves into?'"

If there's one thread tying the whole film together, though, it's sisterhood, both the blood kind Red is discovering with Pink, and the chosen kind Cantrall and Baker have been building since the first film. Between two movies and the Worlds Collide concert tour, the two actors have logged plenty of real-life mileage alongside their characters. "We've learned a lot throughout the whole process, and art imitates life in a lot of ways," Cantrall said. "Figuring out who you are outside of your friendships, and knowing where you lie with someone, if you can trust them, I think that's a key message throughout the film, and in life. It was cool to explore relationships Red's never dealt with before, having a sister, having someone she's romantically involved with. That was a whole new world for her to navigate."

Baker sees the same honesty playing out in Chloe and Red's friendship, rough patches included. "Sisterhood is something that kind of prevails through it all. You see a lot of highs and lows throughout this whole movie. It's been interesting to see the raw and authentic lens that any friendship can go through: the rough bits, the call-out moments that are so integral to a friendship, being honest and direct and defending each other. You see Chloe defend Red, and Red has her moments with Chloe too, when they're not even in the room." Looking back at where the two started, Baker calls it an evolution that "will forever be captured in those wigs."

Don’t miss the premiere of Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, kicking off Thursday, July 16th, at 8/7c on Disney Channel, and streaming Friday, July 17th, on Disney+.