Besides slaying both twin roles on her Disney Channel series Liv and Maddie, Dove Cameron is best known for bringing Mal — the daughter of an iconic Disney villain who has awesome purple hair — to life in Disney Channel’s Descendants movies.

Dove really is the best choice for Mal and it’s legit impossible to picture anyone else bringing all the sass and yet perfectly play up that vulnerability and soft side we all know Mal has deep in her heart. She’s strong, willing to go against what her mother Maleficent wants for her, since she’s in the midst of figuring out what she truly wants for herself. Plus, Dove’s vocals are amazing so you know, hearing her sing these catchy tunes is always welcome But there was a time when Dove admits she legit thought she was going to be fired from this lead role, all because IRL, she doesn’t really have the fanciest of foot work and the movies’ director Kenny Ortega is such a famed choreographer.

“I never thought I’d get to work with someone like Kenny Ortega. He is responsible for the High School Musical movies and he’s also the director of Descendants – but I’m not a dancer at all. When I heard that he was attached to this movie, I said, ‘Wait, what? Kenny Ortega is attached to Descendants? You guys know I can’t dance, right?,'” Dove explained. “I was really scared because I thought he was going to say, ‘Send Dove home. She cannot dance. She cannot be my lead.’ But he was absolutely wonderful. One of Kenny’s favorite things to do is turn someone who’s not a dancer into a dancer. I worked with him intensively to make sure that I was up to par with the rest of the cast. It was a really big education for me, but I loved every minute of it.”

And the proof is in the movies! Just look at her go during the first movie’s opening number of “Rotten to the Core.”

dove cameron mal descendants dancing

She totally slays and you would truly have no idea that dancing doesn’t come natural to her. Dove did admit on Instagram in honor of her BFF and co-star Cameron Boyce‘s birthday, that he actually helps her out when it comes to remembering her steps.

dove cameron cameron boyce

“Thank you for always taking care of me when i cry for no reason/hiding my phone in your costume while we film & for whispering the moves in my ear when i don’t know what i’m doing. cheeEESE. ? i love you forever,” she wrote along with these adorable pics of the pair she shared.

Hey, whatever she’s doing is working and that’s all that matters!

Watch the Descendants Characters Transform From the First Movie to the Second:

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