Kylie Cantrall Currently Seen in Descendants: The Rise of Red

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At just nineteen years old, Kylie Cantrall is one of the leading talents of her generation. An American actress, singer-songwriter and social media personality, Cantrall continues to electrify the stage.

Recently, she starred in the 2024 Disney+ musical teen fantasy, Descendants: The Rise of Red, as Red—the rebellious daughter of the Queen of Hearts, portrayed by Rita Ora. But, Cantrall is also recognized as the voice of Savannah from Ron's Gone Wrong (2021), and for playing Dani from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019) and Gabby from Gabby Duran & the Unsittables (2019).

With over 7 million followers on TikTok and 1 million followers on Instagram, Cantrall leads her Gen Z audience with fiery compassion. Whether she’s turning heads in the fashion space or working alongside other established actors, Cantrall’s vibrant presence doesn't go unnoticed. Yes, Cantrall has many exciting plans ahead—and we can’t wait.

What kickstarted your acting career and what advice would you give to young aspiring actors?
I grew up in a very artistic household. My dad is in music production and my mom is a dancer and choreographer. So, I naturally gravitated to the arts because it felt very natural and my parents totally supported me in it. The second I turned two, I got potty trained and then the next day I was in dance class. So, right away I started young. But, I really think dance has been the foundation of my career and I started doing commercial auditions for dance jobs—as a background dancer—then I started landing some acting roles. You kind of work your way up. I did some guest star roles on Disney and then I landed my own show when I was 12. And flash forward, now I’m here. I really do thank my parents so much for supporting my dream and pushing me to stick with it, even though that was never an issue because I was obsessed with it from the beginning. So, I'm fully living my dream.

Kylie, you’re an actress, social media persona, singer and songwriter—how do you balance all of these roles in your everyday life?
It’s nice because they work in cohesion. I feel like they kind of lend themselves to one another. I consider myself a performer, so I feel like all across the board that just kind of translates into all those different aspects. Whether it's acting or singing and dancing, it all stems from the same place. And social media, I mean I'm so happy I started on social media so young—like with my youtube channel when I was eight because I learned how to talk to the camera, how to balance the negative hate comments and just started building that muscle at such a young age—I feel like now it's helping me so much in what I'm doing.

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You star as the lead character Red in the musical fantasy film “Descendants: The Rise of Red” on Disney+. Can you tell us about this character and what makes her unique in the Descendants universe?
So, I play Red, the daughter of the queen of hearts, which is a new character introduced in the Descendants Universe. That was super exciting for me to play a character that essentially has never been imagined before in this way—there hasn't been a daughter of the queen of hearts up until this point. So, that was both exciting and challenging because I had nothing to bounce off of. I was just kind of interpreting the character completely in my own way and I had creative liberty to imagine her however I saw it would fit. What I love about Red is that she is not a typical Disney princess at all. She's tough and a bit hard edged. But, I think that's what makes her story really interesting is just the arc and the journey that she goes on and seeing her relationship with Chloe—we see a different side of Red and it makes her more well-rounded by the end of the film.

What was your experience working with Rita Ora—your on-screen mother who plays the Queen of Hearts?
So fun working with Rita. I had never met her before, so of course I was nervous. And, someone like The Queen of Hearts character where they're coming in to play your mom, you have to have chemistry...you have to have a vibe together or else it's not gonna give—it's not going to translate. The minute that we met we hopped on a Zoom for the first time and we read through our scenes together, I was like “hi mom!” and she was like “hi daughter!” and right away we just had a great vibe and chemistry. She's just really open to ideas, she's collaborative, she's funny, she doesn't take herself too seriously. It was a breeze working with her.

The Descendants franchise is recognized for its catchy original songs and themes of redemption and identity. Do you resonate with any of the songs or themes from “The Rise of Red”?
I love the Red song, of course, I'm biased. But, I love that song and I really like the message of it. I mean, it's so transparent. The opening line is “I'm a rebel, I'm a menace, I'm a one-girl riot.” So, Red is just coming out of the gate telling you who she is and making it known that she is here, she is her own person. It feels like a cool and tough song, but there is a lot of depth to what Red’s saying...you can tell that there's so much more going on under the surface with Red. Even though she puts on that tough front, she still just wants to be loved and wants her mom's approval and wants all those basic things that she's not getting. So, I think the Red song definitely gives her that depth and I think it's a really good song...I think it gives you a sense of who she is and what she's going through.

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“The Rise of Red” is family-friendly. What do you hope young audiences will gain from watching this film?
I see it as such an opportunity for families to get together and to watch it as a family—talk about these themes after, hopefully start that conversation and there are so many important messages to be had that I think are shown in this film. Like, themes of diversity, inclusion and accepting others that are different from you, finding yourself, figuring out your own identity aside from what your parents want you to be and mother-daughter relationships. There's so many messages that are important and I think we should be sharing these stories with young kids and starting those conversations. Also, it's just fun. I hope that it just can bring friends together at a sleepover to play with the dolls while they're watching the movies and learn the dances, sing the songs—but, yeah also find those messages in it as well.

In 2023, you were recognized by PEOPLE Magazine as one of the “Talented Emerging Artists Making their Mark this Winter.” What was your initial reaction to such positive recognition?
Oh my gosh, that was so cool—such a pleasant surprise. It was just so sweet and I've been reading these PEOPLE articles forever. So, definitely a “pinch me” moment. It's cool, I feel like I've had a long career even though it feels like the beginning. Some people are now just seeing me for the first time and getting to know me. I feel like I've been doing this for a long time, so having that kind of acknowledgement is really cool and it definitely just makes me feel excited—like all the hard work is worth it, so it was really cool to see that.

Last year, you starred in the 4th season of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” on Disney+. How did you prepare for your role as social media star Dani?
I definitely pulled a lot of inspiration for Dani because she's such a specific type of character—like that, you know, super theater kid sharpay-esque, mean girl. So, I feel like that's such a specific archetype that we've seen before that I had to pull those inspirations. Sharpay was my number one...even a little bit of a Regina George vibe.

She’s kind of a mean girl. I had to become this character, which was unlike any other character I had played before. But, it was so fun and I really worked on my physicality for the role. I think that is such a big part of what made Dani who she was—how she would always have her hand on her hip, she always had her chin up, and the hair flips and the walking—that was a part of who she was and it was fun to figure that out.

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Kylie, you have over 7 million followers on TikTok. How has social media influenced your career and how do you deal with the pressures that come with having a large fanbase?
I see social media as an extension of my job. Even though it's a part of my job, I still find joy in it. Any time that social media starts to get overwhelming for me, or if it feels like too much of a job, I just try to remember that it really is such an amazing tool for finding my fans from all over the world, getting to connect with them, getting to see their edits, their comments and all the incredible love that we're getting from this film. I think it's so special that I get to see that every day on Instagram, TikTok and I get to interact with them—it's so special. I think that outweighs the negative aspects that come with social media, so I always just try to focus on that.

On TikTok, you’re recognized for writing songs in ten minutes. What is your creative approach and how do TikTok users react to this type of content?
That series was really interesting in particular because I feel like it goes against everything that people will tell you to post on social media. Like you know, “quick clips” and “don't make people bored,” and that's what I thought initially. I didn’t know if this was going to be boring...these are long-ish videos for TikTok—because the videos were like two minutes of me showing this process, but I was just like, “whatever, let's see what happens.” I love writing songs, I think it'd be so cool for people to see my process and to challenge myself. So, I was super shocked at the positive response that I got. I definitely wasn't expecting that, but it was so lovely to see that people were excited to comment their three words and see if I used it the next week and saying that they also were inspired to write their own songs. And that’s what it's for—that's what social media should be for—to inspire people to share art and yeah, I have had a blast seeing the reaction to it.