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New Disney film asks ‘What if Prince Harry was a superhero?’ and star Peyton Elizabeth Lee says it’s 'empowering' (exclusive)

What if Prince Harry was really a superhero? A new Disney film has taken that premise and star Peyton Elizabeth Lee thinks that it’s “crazy” no one has ever done it before.

Lee stars as Sam in Disney+ original movie Secret Society of Second Born Royals, a rebellious princess in the kingdom of Illyria, who would rather be out of the streets protesting for the end of the monarchy than making changes from the inside.

But just as her frustration reaches an all-time high, she is shocked to learn being the spare to the heir actually means she had superpowers and belongs to a secret society with a longstanding tradition of keeping the peace.

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The 16-year-old grew up in a coastal suburb of Los Angeles so it's no surprise she had no idea of the “heir and the spare,” which, she tells Yahoo “is one of the reasons why I thought this is such a great idea”.

“It's crazy it hasn’t been done before,” she shares in our video interview above.

The society convene in a still from Disney's <i>Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.</i> (Disney+)
The society convene in a still from Disney's Secret Society of Second-Born Royals. (Disney+)

“Every Disney film has a prince and a princess, but they are always going to be the queen or king, so to see those side characters in the main character role and see them take control of their lives, it’s super empowering, and all round fun to watch.”

In the film, Lee’s character learns that she has super senses, offering her magnified vision and hearing.

Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Elodie Yung in a still from Disney's <i>Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.</i> (Disney+)
Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Elodie Yung in a still from Disney's Secret Society of Second-Born Royals. (Disney+)

Her new friends, other “spares”, have powers including the ability to control the environment and turn invisible – powers which correlate to a lot of the pressures teens face today.

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“Our personalities lended [themselves] to the powers,” revealed Peyton when asked if the cast had any input into how the powers played out on screen, “and when we filmed, figuring out how to make that power come to life on screen.”

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 09: Peyton Elizabeth Lee attends Disney's "Mulan" World Premiere - Red Carpet - Fan Pen at Dolby Theatre on March 09, 2020 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for SHEIN)
Peyton Elizabeth Lee attends Disney's "Mulan" World Premiere on March 09, 2020. (Presley Ann/Getty Images for SHEIN)

“Especially my power, super senses is not super visual, it's not like a big action-y thing, so figuring out how to take that internal power and make it so you're displaying it for people - those decisions we definitely had some input in, and that was really fun to flesh that out with our amazing director and the team.”

The conclusion of the film is a classic Disney set up for a potential sequel, and although Peyton admits that she doesn’t want to “jinx anything” by discussing a second film, she knows where she’d like it to go.

Watch the Secret Society of Second-Born Royals trailer below...

“In the first film we set up these great relationships between Sam and her best friend Mike, Sam and the rest of the team, Sam and teacher James, and I would like to see those relationships explored further, challenged maybe,” she revealed.

“Maybe we can put some strains on them, and just dive deeper - there are so many opportunities and so much more fun to be had.”

Secret Society of Second Born Royals is available to stream on DIsney+ from 25 September.