Dove Cameron Calls Late Friend and Costar Cameron Boyce the 'Most Alive Person I've Ever Met'

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It's been two years since the tragic death of actor Cameron Boyce at the age of just 20 years old — and one of his closest friends is working hard to keep his memory strong.

"He was the most alive person I'd ever met," Dove Cameron tells PEOPLE, calling her former Descendants costar "my soulmate."

"People who didn't even know him were rocked by his death. He was just someone who should never end, let alone end so early and disturbingly and unjustly," she adds.

Boyce, a child star who rose to fame on Disney hits Bunk'd, Jessie and The Descendants franchise, died in July 2019 after suffering a seizure in his sleep due to epilepsy.

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"It's the only death I've experienced that I can't find a soft place to land around it," says Cameron, who currently stars in Apple TV+'s Schmigadoon!

Dove Cameron Instagram Dove Cameron and Cameron Boyce

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"I speak to [Descendants star] Booboo [Stewart] or [director] Kenny [Ortega] because I can only truly find comfort in the people who knew him in the same way that I did. And I find solace in speaking to his family and our community."

Earlier this year, Cameron got a tattoo in Boyce's honor: a revolver with a bouquet, a nod to Boyce's gun reform foundation, Wielding Peace.

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"The idea is giving young kids an alternative to gun violence," says Cameron. "The organization was very important to him. I hope one day I'll find peace around [Boyce's death]. And I think the best way to have Cameron continue on is to do the work that was important to him."