Washington [US], April 8: Singer and actress Dove Cameron has candidly reflected on how her sudden rise to fame as a Disney star impacted her mental health, during a heartfelt conversation on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast.
Cameron, best known for her dual roles in Disney Channel’s Liv and Maddie (2013–2017) and as the lead in the Descendants franchise (2015–2021), described her early years in the spotlight as overwhelming. Speaking about the “overnight fandom” she experienced, she admitted, “I couldn’t have prepared.”
The actress revealed that her introverted nature made it difficult to handle public attention. “You truly don’t know until you’re put into that situation. And then you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m very introverted,’” she said. This unexpected pressure led to full-blown panic attacks, which she struggled to manage for years.
Adding to the emotional burden, Cameron’s father died by suicide shortly before she began working on Liv and Maddie. She opened up about the traumatic experience, saying, “When you’re 15 and that happens, it changes the course of your life.”
“There was no way for me to wrap my head around it… A couple months later, I was at The Grove with people asking me to sign glossies. I didn’t know how to really reconcile with that,” she shared.
Cameron admitted that early fame didn’t truly register with her at the time because she was “shrouded by this heavy cloud” of grief. As her career progressed, she found herself pushing through emotional turmoil under the illusion that she was managing her mental health well.
“I tricked myself into thinking I never needed to stop and take breaks,” she said. “I thought, ‘I know how to deal with myself, so I can continue doing whatever I want professionally at the rate I want to do it.’”
Eventually, her body and mind signaled the need for a pause. “There’s no other way around this other than to stop and take action,” she reflected.
Now in a healthier place, Cameron emphasized the importance of prioritizing mental well-being. “Taking that time for myself is the best thing I’ve done,” she said. “It’s the only reason why I’m so good and relatively functional now.”