LIFORNIA DREAMIN

Summer's in the air, so roll the windows down for a SoCal road trip with Descendants: The Rise of Red star Ruby Rose Turner taking the wheel. Hop in, bestie! You're on the aux.

- Katherine Hammer

As soon as Ruby Rose Turner gets her driver's license, she's headed to the beach.
"I'm so ready for a girls road trip with my friends," declares the 18-year-old actress at her summer photo shoot, taking a short break in the shade to snuggle her pup Cinnamon (one of her family's five tiny dogs) "I'm getting my Starbucks drink, putting on some Lana Del Rey and driving to the ocean.

Also on Ruby's summer Pinterest board, besides jumping into her car and making memories with her besties? "Bowling, amusement parks and drivein movies," she shares. And, ya know, casually starring in one of the most anticipated movie reboots of the summer (Descendants: The Rise of Red premieres July 12 on Disney+) Joining the cast of the conic series she grew up loving is surreal for Ruby.

"This has pretty much been a dream of mine since I was a kid," she confesses (Srsly, she's a true Descendants fan: The very first song she ever downloaded on her phone was "Evil Like Me" from the OG flick.)

Though Ruby admits she's a teeny bit nervous for the movie to come out ("it's such an honor to be part of it-but definitely overwhelming"), she's manifesting pure positive energy. "I know so much in life is out of my control, so I just try to accept that and stay grateful for where I am and what I'm doing," Ruby says.

So put on your heart-shaped sunglasses, bb! Let's take a ride (maybe even stop in Auradon...) with the queen of our summertime hearts.

ONCE UPON A TIME

It all began in the suburbs of Los Angeles, when a 7-year-old Ruby impressed an agent during an open call audition at her hometown dance studio. Soon, she jetted off to Miami to shoot her first professional TV gig (dancing on the Spanish-language program Sábado Gigante). "I came home and was just like, 'Oh my goodness, I want to do that again," Ruby remembers.