Why Losing Cameron Boyce Feels Like Losing Family

We hear about celebrity deaths nearly every day, but when we heard the news about Cameron Boyce, it felt different.

Sometimes it’s difficult to look at our favorite celebrities and remember that they’re still human. They may be famous, but they’re just like us. They have good days. They have bad days. They laugh. They cry. But most importantly, they all have an expiration date. Just as every human on Earth, celebrities die too.

But Cameron Boyce was only 20 years old; we lost him way too young. He passed away in his sleep on Saturday morning due to a seizure from an ongoing medical condition for which he was being treated. A spokesperson for his family told ABC News, "The world is now undoubtedly without one of its brightest lights, but his spirit will live on through the kindness and compassion of all who knew and loved him. We are utterly heartbroken and ask for privacy during this immensely difficult time as we grieve the loss of our precious son and brother.”

The reason that Cameron’s death feels so surreal is because so many of us grew up with him. When we were 12, he was 12. When we were watching Disney Channel, he was starring in "Jessie". He’s the first big star of our generation to die. And it’s difficult to move on, realizing that the kid we spent so much time watching as we grew up won’t be able to continue to grow with the rest of us.

Cameron was best known for his roles as Carlos in the Disney Channel franchise Desendants and Luke in the TV series "Jessie". Before his untimely death, he had wrapped production on Descendants 3, which is set to premiere in August. He was also set to appear in HBO’s "Mrs. Fletcher", in the American Satan TV spinoff "Paradise City", and in the upcoming indie film Runt. He made his acting debut at just 9 years old in the horror film Mirrors. He later appeared in the 2010 Adam Sandler film Grown Ups, as one of Sandler’s children. Sandler was torn up when he heard about Cameron’s death, and he memorialized his late co-star with a heartbreaking tribute on Twitter.

We at Young Hollywood were hit especially hard by the news, have been following his career almost from the beginning, from our first interview with him at the Lone Ranger premiere and our visit to the set of his series "Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything", to catching up at the Kids' Choice Awards and hanging out with him in the YH Studio no fewer than 3 times. He was scheduled to visit us yet again next week to chat about Descendants 3 before tragedy struck.

Bob Iger, the chairman and chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Co., also made a tribute to Cameron and his family on Twitter.

From the bottom of our hearts, we love you, Cameron Boyce. R.I.P.