No one makes the most of a day off quite like Hudson Stone.

“First of all, I’m not going to sleep in super late, because I want to enjoy every second,” the 14-year-old says of his highly specific agenda.

After an 8:30 a.m. alarm, he’ll put on his wet suit, hitch a ride in his family’s ’66 Oldsmobile convertible, blast his summer playlist (feat. The Strokes) and head to the beach for hours of surfing and soaking up the sun. Then, he’s finishing off the evening with seafood pasta (whipped up by his famous chef dad, Curtis Stone) and a movie.

When you take stock of the whirlwind year Hudson is having, you understand why he would have his precious free time planned to the minute (and you’re honestly impressed he didn’t just want to take a huge nap). Because the sched that comes with starring in a hit DCOM, playing festivals with your band and releasing your first single? It’s no joke.

“The average studio session is, like, seven hours. So even after a full school day, I’m usually in there until 10 p.m.,” he says, pausing as if he’s realizing for the first time just how insane that sounds. “It’s actually nuts.” But in a good way, he assures us.

For a guy who now seems to be literally fused with his six-string (you’d be hard-pressed to find an IG post from Hudson that doesn’t feature his beloved Gibson), it’s tough to believe he started with an entirely different instrument.

“My whole musical journey began when I played the cello in a kids orchestra in kindergarten,” Hudson remembers. “I wish I could say I had a tiny cello, but it was literally about double the size of my body.”

Guitar came later, during the COVID-19 lockdown, when he vowed to learn “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol—one of his mom’s favorite tunes—as a Mother’s Day gift (“You can’t really sing that with a cello”).

That’s also around the time that he formed his group, The Rookie5, which began as “a bunch of little kids playing songs with masks on” (and btw, those “little kids” are now sharing a bill with the likes of Lorde and Sombr). Rookie5 is where Hudson really learned how to shred, via ’90s/2000s pop-punk covers of Green Day and Weezer.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this, but at that point, I’d never had any aspirations to become an actor,” he remembers. “I was music, all the way. But when I got sent the audition for Camp Rock, I was like, ‘I have to do it. This is *the* movie of my childhood.’”

Hudson’s first audition was for Fletch (CR3’s bad boy who’ll be played by Malachi Barton of Zombies 4). Then, the production team asked to see him read for Cliff (aka the drummer that’s now Casey Trotter’s role). Finally, he was brought in to test for Desi, where he sang his heart out to Harry Styles’ “Falling.”

“I was so convinced by then that it wasn’t going to be me. I was like, ‘I don’t even know how to act yet,’” Hudson admits. “But two weeks after I did that Desi test, I was in Vancouver filming, which blew my mind.”

Despite how quickly everything went down, Hudson had no trouble snapping into character. “Desi is so similar to me in real life,” he reveals. “He’s a laid-back, easygoing songwriter. But then he learns he wants to step into the spotlight more. It’s a little bit of a ‘This Is Me’ moment for him.”

Luckily, neither Desi (nor Hudson) had to take center stage alone. Disney darling and Descendants: Wicked Wonderland standout Liamani Segura plays Sage, Desi’s determined sister.

The majority of Hudson’s scenes in the movie are shared with Liamani (“Lia” as Hudson affectionately calls her), so the two grew tight very quickly. “We got best friend-level close. We could talk about anything,” he says. “And we got to tap into that teasing, sibling type of banter while shooting, which was really fun.”

All that silly energy stuck around even when the cameras cut. “When Lia and I would go out for dinner, we’d tell them that we were twins and that it was our birthday to get a free dessert,” he laughs. For the record, they’re actually around three years apart in age…so their performance must’ve been Oscar-worthy.

Months of fruitful friendships (or maybe it was all those comped slices of cheesecake?) left Hudson feeling motivated, even after Camp Rock 3 wrapped. He signed with Hollywood Records earlier this year—the same label that once launched the Jonas Brothers into stardom—and hasn’t stopped hustling since.

“I got home and, I kid you not, I’ve been recording in the studio almost every single day. I definitely have enough for a full album,” he shares. The deets on that are still under wraps, but his debut single “Overthinker” dropped earlier this summer.

When asked to reflect on the long hours and late nights, Hudson says he’s grateful for every moment of shooting, strumming and songwriting, even if he’s still a tad wide-eyed about where it’s all led: “I’m doing what I love around the coolest, most interesting people on the entire planet. How did I get here?”

Hey, girl! Just to let you know, this originally ran in our June/July 2026 issue. Read our print mag for *free* today when you click HERE!

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