Disney’s Zombies is a beloved MONSTER franchise about the power of friendship, equality, and busting a move to catchy songs! In Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, Zed (Milo Manheim) and Addison (Meg Donnelly) are in their first year of college. They embark on a road trip for their summer break, where a detour leads to the mindboggling discovery of Sunnyside and Shadyside, where the feuding Daywalkers and Vampires live, respectively.

The pair meet Nova (Freya Skye) and Victor (Malachi Barton), a Daywalker and a Vampire who long for a world where their towns can peacefully co-exist. Zed and Addison become camp counsellors to teach these opposing groups a thing or two about working together.

In anticipation of this release, Supanova sat down with Zombies 4 stars Skye and Barton as part of an international roundtable to discuss their exciting introduction into the monstrous world of Zombies.

“I felt like the pressure was really high going into this,” said Skye. “Going into a franchise like this that’s so beloved and, you know, Milo and Meg are just like the most incredible leads; there are big shoes to fill. But even when we were filming in New Zealand last year, the fans were so welcoming to us. It’s so exciting! It’s just an incredible opportunity, and it’s just been so much fun,” she exclaimed! “Yeah, I literally could not agree more,” Barton smiled.

Skye empathised: “I think in real life and on-screen, Meg and Milo guided us. It’s really daunting joining such a beloved franchise like this, and I think they were just so helpful and having them there was just so reassuring and comforting.”

There are plenty of songs in this instalment, some of which were quite challenging to perform, as Skye explained, “I feel like I found My Own Way to be one of the most difficult. I spent the most time thinking about how I wanted to deliver that. Because, obviously, I’m on my own, and I’m kind of walking around, but it’s about how to convey the emotion and the arc of the song, and what she’s feeling at every point of the song. So, that was something that I really was thinking a lot about. And I think Dream Come True as well.”

“Yeah, Dream Come True was hard,” Barton confirmed. “Show the World was such a pain for me. I don’t know why, but it was just something about the way that my body moved for Show the World. It just didn’t make sense to me for the longest time. That was the one dance that I remember Paul [Hoen, Director of Zombies 4] being like, ‘All right, you stand right back there… just a little further back. Yeah… there you go!’ It turned out great, so that’s all that matters,” he concluded.

As a singer, Skye is used to dance choreography; fighting and stunts, however, are an entirely different story. “It was so much fun getting to do the stunts,” she remarked. “I knew that would be a big part of Nova going into it. We had a month of rehearsals before we started shooting, and that whole month, I would be doing a couple of hours a day of stunt training, and I’d never really had any [prior] experience before.

“I honestly felt like the biggest challenge was knowing when to duck because they’re throwing these punches, and sometimes, I’d forget, and then, luckily, they would stop right before my face,” she laughed. “You need to be so coordinated and choreographed with it. So, that was a big thing that I learnt early on.”

The pair reflected on the film’s message of equality and tolerance. “Oh my gosh! I mean it’s very important,” Barton remarked. “It’s a theme in the world that we live in today is the idea of separation and learning to come together, no matter who they are. I think this movie portrays it so well. It’s two different types of people coming together, unifying and learning to love one another.

“I’m very grateful, and I feel like I speak for Freya as well that we’re both very grateful to be able to have the opportunity to teach this message on screen to younger audiences and audiences our age and up,” he emphasised.

“Yeah. I think it’s a message that can mean a lot to a lot of people,” Skye reaffirmed. “I think it’s an incredible message to convey to young people, too; it’s an important message of equality.”

Zombies 4: Dawn Of The Vampires is available now on Disney+!