Better Nate Than Ever 's Rueby Wood Says Role Taught Him to Be 'Unapologetically' Himself

Cindy Ord/Getty Rueby Wood

When in doubt, Rueby Wood is going to continue being himself.

The 15-year-old actor, who previously starred in a national tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, makes his movie debut in Better Nate Than Ever, now streaming on Disney+.

In the family-friendly musical comedy, Wood plays Nate Foster, a teen with larger-than-life Broadway dreams who sneaks away to New York City to audition for a role in a Lilo & Stitch production.

Hijinks ensue, roping in Nate's best friend Libby (Aria Brooks), his brother Anthony (Joshua Bassett) and their estranged Aunt Heidi (Lisa Kudrow), who also has dreams of acting stardom.

Wood tells PEOPLE that the role taught him to always be true to himself.

"Nate really inspired me to just be myself, unapologetically, all the time, no matter what," he says. "It's just an amazing story about finding who you are and finding your light and coming into yourself. I think it's going to inspire so many kids out there."

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The young actor also shares the advice he picked up from Kudrow, 58, Bassett, 21, and director Tim Federle, creator of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

"With Lisa, I learned from watching her because she's such a natural and she's been doing it for a long time," he says. "So just being in a scene with her and watching what she does, I learned a lot from that."

"A really good piece of advice I got from Tim Federle and also Joshua Bassett is that if you go onto set every day and you are just a bubbly ball of joy and you have that infectious happiness, then your mood affects everybody else," shares Wood.

"So if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, you can go onto set and be all moody and grumpy, or you can go and be just really open and happy and willing to do whatever," he adds.

"It goes from person to person to person, and it creates an amazing environment on set," the actor says.

Wood's role as Nate required plenty of singing and dancing, but one aspect that proved to be a stretch for him as an actor came in the classroom scenes, as the Oswego, New York native has been homeschooled all his life.

"It was kind of new to me because I obviously haven't been in a lot of schools, but I have a lot of friends who go to public schools. I kind of know what it's like based on their experiences," he says. "But it was definitely a lot of fun being able to act like I do go to school, even though I actually don't."

Better Nate Than Ever is streaming now on Disney+.