{"id":33352,"date":"2021-09-01T11:56:18","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T11:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=33352"},"modified":"2022-02-01T21:50:58","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T21:50:58","slug":"camp-counselor-dove-cameron","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/","title":{"rendered":"Camp Counselor: Dove Cameron"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dove
Dove Cameron, photographed by Dennis Leupold styled by Christian Stroble. Brunello Cucinelli blazer, $4,995, pants, $1,995, available at Brunello Cucinelli Soho boutique; KAIMIN bra, $95, kaiminnewyork.com<\/a>; Vintage Saint Laurent necklace, rental price upon request, paumelosangeles.com;<\/a> Givenchy sandals, $650, givenchy.com<\/a>; Shiffon ring, $525, shiffonco.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BY\u00a0<\/span>JOHN RUSSELL<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>
<\/span>PHOTOGRAPHER<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>DENNIS LEUPOL<\/span>D<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>
<\/span>STYLIST CHRISTIAN STROBLE<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>
<\/span>HAIR<\/span>\u00a0CLAYTON HAWKINS\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>
<\/span>MAKEUP<\/span>\u00a0TONYA BREWER<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dove Cameron<\/a> lives for camp.\u00a0Actually, she\u00a0does more than live for it: \u201cI live, eat, sleep, breathe, die for camp!\u201d she gushes. \u201cCamp is my number\u00a0one\u00a0most important ingredient! I think that most things should be done with a camp sensibility. And all my favorite things have huge elements of camp.\u201d (To be clear, we\u2019re talking about the Susan Sontag brand of camp\u2014not your kids\u2019 summer getaway.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She pauses and laughs at herself. \u201cI\u2019ve said \u2018camp\u2019 so many times it\u2019s going to stop sounding like a word!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Valentino top, $690, valentino.com;<\/a> Louis Vuitton pants, $1,650, shoes, $890, louisvuitton.com;<\/a> Shiffon ring, $525, shiffonco.com.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other things that don\u2019t sound like words:\u00a0Schmigadoon<\/a>!<\/i>\u00a0Both a parody of and tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood musicals, the\u00a0Apple\u00a0TV+ comedy concerns a seemingly contented couple, played by Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key, who stumble upon an enchanted village while hiking and find that they\u2019re unable to escape the saturated colors, artificial landscape,\u00a0and incessant singing until they find true love\u2014either with each other or\u00a0with\u00a0someone else.\u00a0The town of\u00a0Schmigadoon\u00a0is populated by over-the-top tropes: the pinched, judgmental minister\u2019s wife (Kristin Chenoweth); the effete mayor (Alan Cumming); the lovable tomcat (Aaron Tveit); the virtuous, independent-minded schoolmarm (Ariana\u00a0DeBose). Cameron plays Betsy, the farmer\u2019s\u00a0buxom\u00a0daughter\u00a0who initially tempts Key\u2019s character. It\u2019s a\u00a0high-camp\u00a0role that she embraced with gusto.<\/p>\n

\u201cI view her not really as a person as much as she is an idea of the projected male fantasy, the collective hivemind spirit of what a woman should have been in that time,\u201d Cameron says of the character. \u201cThat whole idea of innocent as a rose always used to grate me. I remember watching [musicals] at eight years old being like,\u00a0What\u00a0in the f**k is this?\u00a0<\/i>I knew even then that it was a massive injustice to be a woman in musical theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Valentino jacket, $4,800, skort, $1,600, available in Valentino Boutiques; Alexander Wang bra, stylist\u2019s own; Vintage CHANEL earrings, rental price upon request, paumelosangeles.com<\/a>; Kendall Conrad Project Zero<\/a> pendant, $200, kendallconraddesign.com<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Schmigadoon!<\/i>, however, gave her the opportunity to parody the ing\u00e9nue trope. \u201cIt was so fun because things like that hold power when you\u00a0don\u2019t<\/i>\u00a0acknowledge them,\u201d Cameron explains. \u201cClassic tropes like that only hold the shadowy, dark, ugly power when they remain unacknowledged. And when we\u2019re in your face about how ludicrous they are, that\u2019s when they lose their power.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, after all, isn\u2019t that what camp is all about? A devoted fan of RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/i>, Cameron took cues from some of her favorite queens in bringing Betsy to life. \u201cCamp is so beautiful and impactful because it\u2019s an acknowledgment of human nature,\u00a0and also\u00a0the flip\u00a0side of that joy, which is horrible, terrible grief and trauma and loss, you know? Two sides of the same coin, which is why I find that there is such a humility in the surrender to looking stupid and allowing yourself to be so fully unabashed in a character like that, or in your drag persona, or in your expression of your art\u2014in\u00a0all of\u00a0these things. That\u2019s where all the human juices are!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dove
JoosTricot bodysuit, $395, revolve.com;<\/a> Fendi pants, $1,190, fendi.com;<\/a> Vintage CHANEL necklace, rental price upon request, paumelosangeles.com.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cameron\u00a0has experienced her fair share of grief and loss. Born Chloe Celeste Hosterman on Bainbridge Island, Washington, a small island community in the Puget Sound,\u00a0she describes her childhood as a strange mix of high highs and very low lows. To start, the home she and her sister shared with their parents was constantly under construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my sister at a certain age was like,\u00a0I want a ladder in my room and a bubble window!\u00a0<\/i>And my parents were like,\u00a0It\u2019s brilliant!<\/i>\u00a0An indoor bridge? We must have it!<\/i>\u201d she recalls. Money was tight, but her\u00a0parents\u00a0prioritized creativity and joy, and made up for a lack of material possessions with a wealth of experiences. \u201cThey had a company out of India, so my sister and I traveled a lot to India. We went everywhere with them, so I was never really in public school very much. Like, six months in, one year out, three months in, two years out. But then, I had a great close relationship with [my parents]. No structure, no consistency, lots of experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Givenchy top, shop similar at givenchy.com<\/a>; Earrings, her own.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through it all, Cameron\u00a0grew up watching the films her father cared about:\u00a0Lawrence of Arabia<\/i>,\u00a0The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/i>,\u00a0Gone with the Wind<\/i>. As their household became increasingly unstable, film and music became and escape route of sorts for Cameron. \u201cI think I fell in love with the idea of what the world looked like in movies, versus what my world really looked like,\u201d she recalls. Her parents divorced, and her father, who struggled with mental health issues, died by suicide when she was 15. \u201cIt\u2019s not like that comes out of nowhere,\u201d she\u00a0explains. \u201cHis life was always a very emotionally volatile life for him. And so, as his children, we came along on that ride with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as one aspect of her life was falling apart, her career was about to take off. Around this time, Cameron, who was living in Los Angeles with her family, was cast in a pilot that would become The Disney Channel\u2019s tween sitcom Liv and Maddie<\/i>. She played the show\u2019s titular twins for four seasons, winning a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children\u2019s Series, and went on to star in another Disney property, the\u00a0Descendants\u00a0<\/i>franchise, a series of TV movies about the teenage offspring of classic Disney villains.<\/p>\n

\"Dove
David Koma dress, price upon request, davidkoma.com<\/a>; Kendall Conrad Project Zero pendant, $200, kendallconraddesign.com<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fame didn\u2019t come easy for Cameron. She remembers having a panic attack and hiding in a Nordstrom the first time a fan spotted her at The Grove. \u201cI was like, Oh, this is terrible! I\u2019m not made for this<\/i>,\u201d she recalls. \u201cSo, that was scary, you know? I went from being in high school to\u00a0that<\/i>. And you only really know how that\u2019s going to interact with your biology when it happens. Sorry to say, I thought I knew that I was\u00a0gonna\u00a0be\u00a0OK\u00a0with that, and you just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took Cameron years to get used to being recognized in public. Oddly, she credits the past year in relative isolation for recalibrating her sense of self. \u201cI had, like, a year where I was just not witnessed by anybody. And I wasn\u2019t recognized ever and I didn\u2019t go to any events,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd I think when I could let my nervous system go back to an equilibrium that I had before I was ever exposed to the public eye, then I could kind of heal whatever was not reacting well in me. It used to just send me into a state of terror, I guess, and now I feel like I can tackle it, because\u2026 I don\u2019t know. I guess I have a better sense of who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dove
David Koma dress, $4,389, jacket, $3,770, davidkoma.com<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These days, Cameron finds herself in a whole new phase of her life and career. Last year, she came out publicly as bisexual. She\u2019s dating for the first time. (\u201cI\u2019ve only ever rushed into highly romantic and highly public monogamous relationships that last like four years with straight men!\u201d) She\u2019s finally managed to build a community of musicians and songwriters around her in LA, and she\u2019s looking forward to possibly releasing a new EP\u00a0at some point. She wants to continue\u00a0to\u00a0do it all: music, TV, film, theatre. She\u2019s particularly interested in doing more action and sci-fi. \u201cI have this very specific obsession with\u00a0Tron<\/i>, cyberpunk,\u00a0Ex Machina<\/i>,\u201d she says. \u201cIt looks\u00a0so<\/i>\u00a0f**king fun!\u00a0And also, it\u2019s like the world that I want to live in. Like in a video game!\u201d<\/p>\n

That sounds a lot like what she\u2019s getting to do on Powerpuff<\/i>. The CW\u2019s upcoming live-action reboot of the beloved \u201990s cartoon\u00a0The\u00a0Powerpuff\u00a0Girls<\/i>\u00a0has been the subject of much online scrutiny, particularly since it was announced that the network was re-shooting the pilot. Cameron, who plays Bubbles, the sweetest of the superpowered trio, insists that this is entirely normal. Lots of shows get retooled before we ever see them. \u201cBut because\u00a0Powerpuff<\/i>\u00a0is such a beloved piece of intellectual property, I feel like there\u2019s this air of conspiracy. Like something big and bad happened,\u201d Cameron explains. \u201cWe\u2019re just\u00a0gonna\u00a0come back and do it again with some tweaks and maybe a different villain and probably some more expensive shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Fendi sweater, $890, fendi.com<\/a>; Vintage CHANEL necklace, rental price upon request, paumelosangeles.com<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An upgrade, an opportunity for improvement. That sounds a lot like the ongoing Dove Cameron project\u2014at least, as Cameron herself describes it. Throughout our conversation, she\u2019s mentioned the ways her perspective has changed in certain things\u2014her drive to perform, her early taste of success, her father\u2019s death. \u201cI think that everything in life comes back to how you feel about yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cI just feel a lot more autonomous and I love myself. It took me a long time to love myself and even longer to like myself. And now that I feel like I\u2019ve done both to the best of my ability so far\u2014until I redefine what that means again\u2014it\u2019s just changed everything. When you don\u2019t hate yourself anymore, the world opens up.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29097,"featured_media":33362,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[23,16],"yoast_head":"\nCamp Counselor: Dove Cameron - Grazia USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dove Cameron spent the summer in Apple TV+\u2019s over-the-top musical parody, Schmigadoon! What\u2019s next?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Camp Counselor: Dove Cameron\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dove Cameron spent the summer in Apple TV+\u2019s over-the-top musical parody, Schmigadoon! What\u2019s next?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grazia USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-01T21:50:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/08\/DoveC_Featured.jpg?fit=1280%2C720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/\",\"name\":\"Camp Counselor: Dove Cameron - Grazia USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-01T11:56:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-01T21:50:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dove Cameron spent the summer in Apple TV+\u2019s over-the-top musical parody, Schmigadoon! What\u2019s next?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Camp Counselor: Dove Cameron\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\",\"name\":\"Grazia USA\",\"description\":\"Driving tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Camp Counselor: Dove Cameron - Grazia USA","description":"Dove Cameron spent the summer in Apple TV+\u2019s over-the-top musical parody, Schmigadoon! What\u2019s next?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Camp Counselor: Dove Cameron","og_description":"Dove Cameron spent the summer in Apple TV+\u2019s over-the-top musical parody, Schmigadoon! What\u2019s next?","og_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/","og_site_name":"Grazia USA","article_modified_time":"2022-02-01T21:50:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/08\/DoveC_Featured.jpg?fit=1280%2C720","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/","name":"Camp Counselor: Dove Cameron - Grazia USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-09-01T11:56:18+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-01T21:50:58+00:00","description":"Dove Cameron spent the summer in Apple TV+\u2019s over-the-top musical parody, Schmigadoon! What\u2019s next?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/camp-counselor-dove-cameron\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Camp Counselor: Dove Cameron"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/","name":"Grazia USA","description":"Driving tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Grazia USA","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/33352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}