The supernatural teen comedy Darby and the Dead follows high schooler Darby Harper (Riele Downs), as she juggles the ability to see dead people with trying to live her own life. Helping lonely spirits clear up their unfinished business can be challenging to juggle with homework or explain to friends, so Darby has become an introvert who’s unconcerned with popularity. But then, Queen Bee Capri (Auli’i Cravalho) dies in a most unexpected freak hair straightening accident, making it her mission from the other side to force Darby to really start living again.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Asher Angel (who plays Capri’s boyfriend James, an aspiring singer who’s all up in his feelings about the sudden loss) and Chosen Jacobs (who plays Alex, a transfer student who’s charmed by Darby) talked about what it was like for Jacobs to find his inner Douglas the Donut, what they connected to with this movie, how they’d react if they were able to see dead people, what it was like for Angel to get to do some singing, shooting in Cape Town, South Africa, and their hope for a sequel.

Collider: Chosen, how did you feel about your donut costume? How did you find your inner Douglas the Donut?

CHOSEN JACOBS: Man, it was epic. I tell everyone that a big part of me being a part of this film was to find out that I got to be the donut mascot. We had a great team – a great gymnast and great dancing coaches – and we just tried to put together a very epic mascot routine. It was truly a pleasure to play the legendary donut.

When having to wear something like that, is it fun? Do you love it, or would you rather just burn it at the end and never see it again?

JACOBS: I had so much fun. I left public high school after freshman year, so there are certain things I didn’t get to do. I felt like I was living out the rest of my high school experience in this movie, being the mascot and somebody seen at the high school, so I had a great time. I would love to do it again, if we get the pleasure of doing Darby and the Dead 2.

When you guys first read this script, what did each of you connect with most overall? With so many different elements to this story, what was it about your character, specifically, or was it the story itself that you find yourself drawn to?

ASHER ANGEL: I was just drawn to it because it seemed different than your stereotypical teenage high school movie, so that’s one of the main reasons why I fell in love with it. It’s Mean Girls meets Sixth Sense meets Clueless, and all the movies we grew up watching and are still our favorite movies today. I feel like Darby and the Dead will give them a new spin on a combination of all of our favorite classics. It’s very unique and different, so I think they’ll really like that.

JACOBS: This movie was epic, even on the pages of the script. I felt like it was really refreshing to see how it had those classic themes of movies, like Clueless and Mean Girls, that we loved, but it was a refreshing spin on it, where you have the paranormal aspect. On top of that, these characters are very well-thought-out and layered and leveled, which is something that we can definitely add to the genre. These characters aren’t just one thing. [Asher’s character] is more of the popular guy, but he’s shy. My character is the outsider, but he’s really confident and gains popularity by being himself. I just had a great time. I knew it would be epic. And we had a great cast and great director, so I knew I was gonna have fun.

High school is hard enough for anyone to get through, but Darby has the added complicated issue of seeing dead people. How do you guys think each of you would react, if you suddenly found yourselves in that situation? Would you want to help the ghosts? Would you want it to stop? Would you hope there was someone else out there who also saw them that could help you?

ANGEL: We’d both be running from it. I would want to extract myself from that situation.

JACOBS: Honestly, I feel like I would be really scared, but then I would think, “Okay, this must have happened for a reason. I can see them again. What is that reason?” Through that, I’d be like, “Okay, how can I help? How can I use this ability to the best of my ability?” And I definitely would be looking on Google search for people who see dead people, trying to find people.

ANGEL: You would essentially become a medium.

JACOBS: Yeah, exactly. I’d be like, “Oh, I need to find people who see dead people.”

ANGEL: You would help people.

JACOBS: I’d start a Facebook friend group of people who see dead people.

ANGEL: Chosen, the medium.

Asher, you also got to do a little bit of singing in this. As someone who is a singer, and who performs in music videos, is it a different experience to sing for film?

ANGEL: Yeah, for sure. For me, in the songwriting and the music, I’m speaking of myself and my personal experiences, and things that I’ve gone through. With James, I was stepping into a character and portraying that aspect of it. That’s the difference-maker. It was weird, secluding myself from my own music and the way I perform, and embodying this other guy and figuring out how to do that, but I really enjoyed it.

When you have to do several takes of it, do you get sick of it, if it’s a song that’s not yours, or do you get more sick of it when it’s your own music, and you just don’t want to hear yourself anymore?

ANGEL: I’m not very overly critical about the things that I do. When I watch my work, I’m not super critical. Yeah, it can be like that sometimes, of course, on set. Before I went in, I actually pre-recorded the song, so on the day that I was supposed to shoot it, I was just going to lip-sync it because it would be the best quality for the film. I ended up singing it live on the day, 20 times. I knew it was gonna be like that, so I had no problem doing it. It was fun.

JACOBS: It was great to hear, just so you know.

ANGEL: It was a really fun experience. I was super fortunate to be able to portray James, for sure.

Asher, your character is definitely all up in his feelings, after the death of Capri. Do you feel like James really saw her in a way that was different from everyone else who really only saw the superficial, or was he just dazzled by it all?

ANGEL: Oh, my God, this guy, James. I hate to say it, but I feel like he might have been oblivious to the whole situation. Maybe, deep down, he saw different qualities and different things about her that made her different. Maybe he sees things when he’s with her that other people don’t. He definitely saw something in her that others didn’t see.

It’s absolutely wild that you shot a movie set in California, in Cape Town, South Africa. Did you have any most memorable experiences shooting there?

JACOBS: Man, there were so many great experiences. For one, the best gym I’ve ever been to in life is in South Africa. It’s called Virgin Active Gym. It’s the most excellent gym that I’ve ever seen. The gym smells better than any other gym in the world.

ANGEL: It did smell good. It’s a futuristic gym.

JACOBS: It’s crazy. It’s the best gym that I’ve ever been to.

ANGEL: The safaris were beautiful. The beaches were amazing. I had a lot of good food out there. Shout out to Cousins, which is a nice Italian spot out there. And I met a lot of cool people. I made some lifelong relationships out there. I’m telling you, you can find a girl out there to fall in love with.

JACOBS: There are a lot of great people.

ANGEL: A lot of great people.

Chosen, what did you think of Alex’s character reveal at the end? When you were reading the script, did you see that coming? Did it freak you out? Did you have any idea?

JACOBS: I am so excited for people to see where this film ends off. I love the ending. I think the ending is super cool, and you don’t expect it. I look very forward for everybody to be able to experience that and to get everybody’s responses. It leaves off on a cliffhanger. It’s opening it up for Darby and the Dead 2.

Darby and the Dead is available to stream at Hulu.