Zombies, aliens and werewolves may have distinct personality traits. But what about daywalkers and vampires?
In the world of 鈥淶ombies,鈥 they鈥檙e given specific quirks, too.
鈥淚t was very clear from the very beginning,鈥 says Freya Skye, one of the stars of the new Disney+ film, 鈥淶ombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires.鈥 Casting directors gave her instructions about the daywalker she would be playing and what differentiated her kind from other monsters. 鈥淚t was helpful, too, because you wanted to do something different from the others.鈥
In "Zombies 4," Malachi Barton, far left, and Freya Skye, far right, join Meg Donnelly and Milo Manheim at summer camp.聽
Malachi Barton, who plays a vampire in the film, says he had to learn new tricks to pull off a Disney version of a vampire.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e normally portrayed as the scary, blood-sucking horror creatures that are out to get people and turn them into vampires,鈥 he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 scary, but I鈥檓 not gonna give kids nightmares. Normal vampires are straight up biting people. But here, it鈥檚 blood fruit 鈥 which I think was an amazing play on sucking blood. It鈥檚 a perfect little family friendly way of saying, 鈥楬ey, I鈥檓 sucking blood but I鈥檓 doing it with fruit.鈥欌
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The two new 鈥渢eams鈥 come into play when Zed and Addison (played by Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly) get jobs as camp counselors and must figure out a way to unite the rival daywalkers and vampires.
Naturally: Dance-off.
Dancing in sand is more difficult than you think, says Malachi Barton, front.聽
The two sides, however, square off in the sand, which isn鈥檛 easy.
鈥淲e all underestimated how difficult it would be,鈥 says Skye. 鈥淚 struggled to walk on the beach and run into the ocean.鈥
Barton, meanwhile, had to content with wind. 鈥淵our hair is flying around, so that means a lot of hairspray and there鈥檚 a lot of slicking your hair back,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just wild. But when you鈥檝e got all the elements coming at you, it鈥檚 harder.鈥
Freya Skye, left, and Malachi Barton are new to the "Zombies" franchise.聽
The key, Skye adds, is to just go full out 鈥渁nd give everything more momentum than you would usually.鈥
The two聽鈥 newcomers to the franchise 鈥 get to fly, too, and that鈥檚 also difficult. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all hard,鈥 Barton says.
Sometimes, the 15-year-old Skye says, she鈥檇 have to decide character traits for a daywalker on the spot. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not a preconceived perception in pop culture like there is with zombies and vampires and werewolves. But I could go into it with a fresh slate and play how it felt right to me, so that was fun.鈥
Daywalkers have their own quirks, says Freya Skye, center, in "Zombies 4."聽
Barton, a veteran of such shows as 鈥淪tuck in the Middle鈥 and 鈥淭he Villains of Valley View,鈥 just had to tone down the darker side of someone with a little bite. In the fourth film, both get plenty of opportunity to sing, dance and act.
This summer, the two will also headline an arena tour designed to give them and the film more exposure.
鈥淥n and off the set we hung out constantly,鈥 the 18-year-old Barton says of the cast. 鈥淚 got so close with the dancers and my other fellow vampires it felt like we were all kind of a tight-knit family. By the time we got on set, it was like everyday life and we were already friends.鈥
鈥淶ombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires鈥 will air July 10 on the Disney Channel, then stream on Disney+.
