‘Zombies 4’ Stars Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly Reflect on 9-Year Friendship ArticlePure

Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly are here for each other — and the changes life brings to their friendship.

The Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires stars recently sat down with PEOPLE to discuss the latest installment in their Disney Channel franchise, and also dished on how they have evolved as people in the near-decade since they first met.

“I think that Meg has grown a lot more confident throughout these years,” Manheim, 24 told PEOPLE.

“I was gonna say your confidence!” Donnelly, 24, agreed.

“We were really trying to fit in, you know, the first movie. And then I think [at] this point, both of us are really kind of setting the vibe [on set]. We’ve taken that responsibility, and I think we’ve set a pretty good vibe on set,” Manheim added.

“We’ve grown so much since then. We met when we were like 16,” Donnelly chimed in, adding, “It’s been almost 10 years, so that’s been like all the crazy milestones of a young person’s life.”

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In addition to starring in the musical horror movies, the pair has taken on a new role in the last film: executive producers.

“I mean, I definitely felt like we had a lot more input in basically every aspect of making this movie,” Manheim said while reflecting on the pre-production and production processes.

“I will say that there wasn’t — for me — too many struggles. I feel like the things that we really hoped for ended up happening. Which was really great,” he added. “The other producers were such a great team, and they know that this [was] kind of like our first go at this, so they were super helpful.” 

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He continued, “I think, truthfully, we really understand this franchise. We know what’s important to be heard and what […] people want to see. So I think that we acted as, like, a really good bridge between the creative team and the production side of things.”

For her part, Donnelly said it was “really cool being a part of the wardrobe and the script […]. Also advocating for the [younger actors] when they wanted to speak up about something.”

She added, “I think the hardest thing for me, though, was the casting probably. Because being on the other side —  it’s really hard. ‘Cuz  everyone who auditioned was so, so good.”

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“It was [also] good as, like, an actor to realize, ‘Oh, everyone is so talented and so deserving.’ It’s just a matter of, like, whose essence works the best in this case [and] scenario,” she reflected.

Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires is currently available for streaming on Disney+.