Zombies 4 Stars On Navigating Fame From a Young Age, Possible Sequel (Exclusive)

While speaking with TooFab at the movie's virtual junket, Manheim and Donnelly reflected on their years-long journey with the franchise, and shared how they navigated fame from a young age.

The first Zombies film came out in 2018, catapulting Manheim and Donnelly to fame. The two went on to star in two sequels, Zombies 2 (2020) and Zombies 3 (2022). Now, both at 24, Manheim and Donnelly are reprising their roles of Zed and Addison for the fourth installment, Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, in which they also serve as executive producers.

"For me, I get more and more confused with the relationship to fame as it goes on," Manheim told TooFab. "But also, I will say, yeah, it did happen pretty fast at a young age, but also I felt like it was slow enough to be able to learn as we went. I have friends that have really skyrocketed within a matter of months, and I feel like it's a lot harder to learn how to adjust to that."

"I feel like both of us … we're always like reading self-help books and trying to make sense of this weird universe. But, we can't forget about why this is, which is because we bring a lot of joy to people, and we care deeply about this franchise," he added of himself and Donnelly, "so it spreads a good message, and I'm very grateful to be in this position. ... It is interesting trying to navigate that sometimes."

Similarly, Donnelly agreed that being a young star can be "confusing," and noted that she's "grateful" to be on the ride with Manheim.

"When Zombies first came out and all of this stuff was happening, I feel like I went live every day and I was like, 'Oh this is so cool!'" she recalled. "I was DMing everybody. ... It's still exciting and it's amazing, but I think just with any age, even when you’re not even in the industry, you just learn from what’s happening and you just adjust to your circumstances, and I feel like we just keep doing that."

"I'm really grateful to have Milo as well, who is literally in the same exact boat as I'm in," she shared. "So, it was really cool to navigate that with Milo as well, but yeah, it is a lot of adjusting, and the industry is hard for anybody, but especially young kids. It's very confusing, for sure."

Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires follows Zed and Allison after their summer road trip with their pals Eliza (Kylee Russell) and Willa (Chandler Kinney) goes off the rails, with the group finding themselves in the worlds of Sunnyside and Shadyside, the lands of enemies Daywalkers and Vampires, respectively. Zed, Allison, and the gang take it upon themselves to unite the two opposing supernatural enemies as they face an even bigger threat.

Freya Skye and Malachi Barton join the Zombies cast as Nova, a daywalker, and Victor, a vampire.

While Zombies 4 marks Skye's Disney debut, Barton has been a staple on the channel for years, appearing in several projects, including Stuck in the Middle, Bunk'd, and Just Roll with It.

Like Manheim and Donnelly, 18-year-old Barton opened up about finding success in the industry as a child actor.

"Honestly, it was really wild. Doing this from such a young age, it's kind of what I’ve grown up with so, it's kind of all I’ve known," said Barton, who graduated from high school in May. "I think that when I was younger, it was a little more like 'Oh, woah. People know who I am. This is so cool,' that type of a thing."

"As you get older, it gradually becomes more of a thing where that's like, 'OK, this is life. This is my job. I'm trying to live a life outside of this,'" he added. "Sometimes it could get a little much when you're getting bombarded when you walk into the mall, but also, I love it. It's part of the job. It's what you sign up for, and I love getting to interact with fans and say 'Hi' and all that type of stuff. You feel the energy, it’s great."

As for Skye, a 15-year-old singer from the UK, she expressed her excitement over her acting debut, sharing that she's "so excited" for Zombies 4 to arrive.

"I feel like it's been a long time coming, and I just can't wait for people to finally meet Nova and just get to live with the movie and see it because it's been a work in progress for, like, over a year now," she told TooFab. "So, it feels like it's been a long time coming, but I'm very excited."

In Zombies 4, Zed and Addison become mentors to Nova and Victor -- something Skye confirmed also happened off-screen.

When asked if she and Barton felt like Donnelly and Manheim slid into those mentor roles, Skye said, "100%. I feel like that was a 100% parallel from the movie and in real life. They really did. I feel like they know this franchise so well, so getting to watch them act as Zed and Addison, and also see how they act off set when they’re not filming, was really great. And they just guided us through everything when it came to filming and off-set life."

Meanwhile, Zombies 4 ends on a cliffhanger, teasing another supernatural threat on the horizon.

Manheim and Donnelly, along with Skye and Barton, share their thoughts on a possible sequel -- and if they'd want to reprise their roles.

"I will say I think there’s a lot more Zombies franchise story to be told. I think that me and Meg will absolutely be involved, at least behind the camera, moving forward and being a part of the Zombies universe," Manheim teased, to which Donnelly agreed. "And who knows if Zeddison is seen again or not. If we’re seen again, great. If not, we had a perfect 'goodbye.' But we'll have to see where the world takes us. We'll have to see what happens."

Skye, who was paired alongside Barton, said the cliffhanger is "alluding to something more happening in the next movie with a new creature or something."

"But honestly, we would love to come back and do another one. This one was so much fun to do. But really, it's in the hands of Mickey Mouse," she added, to which Barton agreed that he'd be "excited" to return as Victor.

"If we were to come back for another one, I think there's a lot more to learn about Victor and Nova, and I'm really excited to learn more and get to, I guess, elaborate on their characters a little bit more," he told TooFab. "So yeah, I'm stoked. I would love to come back. So like she said, we'll have to have a meeting with Mickey and see what we can do."

Check out the full interviews, above, to see more from the cast, including Manheim and Donnelly opening up about executive producing the film, and Skye and Barton revealing which musical numbers were their favorites to film.

Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires premieres on July 10 on Disney Channel and the next day on Disney+.