When we meet at the close of summer, Meg Donnelly is still riding off the high of a busy year. She kicked off the year competing on the thirteenth season of The Masked Singer, where she became the youngest finalist in the show’s history at twenty-four years old. A few months later, she released her sophomore EP dying art, and reprised her role as Addison Wells in the Disney movie series Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires. It’s the kind of whirlwind that would leave most exhausted, but the energy radiating off of Donnelly feels buoyant. “Things have just been crazy busy, but [that’s] really good because I like being busy,” she says as she flashes her signature smile.
For Donnelly, The Masked Singer was more than just a TV appearance. It marked the start of a year of reinvention. As her anonymous stage persona, Coral, she rediscovered what performing meant to her — despite the mental and physical challenges. “Performing was really nerve-wracking, but the fact that no one knew it was me until the end was just really freeing,” she recalls. “It was really hard to perform in the costume. It weighed so much plus being in those big heels. But now that I’ve done that, I’m like okay, I could do anything.”
After her final performance on the show, Donnelly surprised fans by announcing the release date for her upcoming EP, dying art, alongside the single “dancin’ around.” As a part of the rollout, Donnelly had been sharing vignettes on social media for each single in which she portrays the personification of the song auditioning to be on the EP. While the videos are comedic, they show off the different styles and sounds of each track. Her character for “dancing’ around” comes out in a crochet top with sequins and is ready to party. Conversely, the audition for “strangers” featured a less-confident Donnelly over-sharing her stream of consciousness in a plain white t-shirt and jeans.
When the EP released in June, Donnelly also shared a behind-the-scenes video explaining her moodboard for the project. In it, she walked fans through the collage of images, colors, and references that guided her vision. “Blue is kind of a key thing throughout all of my music, and spirals because I feel like it represents life and also spiraling thought,” she explains. The board features icons like Aaliyah and SZA alongside nods of NYC grit, and Los Angeles glamour. “It’s kind of like old Hollywood meets hip-hop. I grew up a theater kid, but in New York, you know? It’s this dichotomy I have going,” she says.
The eclectic mix of Donnelly’s influences are reflected across the nine tracks of dying art. The EP leans into myriad of different genres, thanks in part to the variety of collaborators, such as Grammy Award nominees Tenroc and Jon Bellion who helped write and produce “close 2 me.” Donnelly’s artist-curated playlists on Spotify feature a wide variety of artists and genres from Yacht Rock hits by Toto and The Doobie Brothers to A Tribe Called Quest. “It’s all of my music tastes in one EP and showing people the different genres I love and who I am as an artist and as a person,” she explains.
But for Donnelly, letting the audience get to know her also means revealing some of her insecurities: “For a really long time I’ve held myself back with music…I feel like I always get in thought spirals of not being good enough or not wanting to put myself out there because it is so scary. But I’m starting to get over that now.” The second half dying art reflects her self-doubts, most poignantly on the EP’s interlude, in which Donnelly contemplates her place in the music industry by presenting her own internal monologue as questions for listeners. Like many of her peers, Donnelly’s artistry is entangled with the demands of social media.
Her lead single, “In My Bag”, gained traction on social media; however, she still wrestles with authenticity in online spaces. “Even if you share your most authentic self on social media, it’s never fully going to be you. There’s always a part of you that is going to be putting on,” she says. “But I’m slowly starting to let go of that, or at least trying to, and just trying to be more of myself.”
The title track of dying art addresses the changing music landscape and the expectations for creating and promoting music with lyrics like “Gotta be seen, do as they please / Tell me whose dream is coming true.” Donnelly admits that it’s still something she struggles with. “For a lot of music labels, it’s all about TikTok and going viral. But sometimes it can be a lot of sharing,” she adds. “I really should just be hitting post but I think it’s more of a mental game than anything, putting yourself out there.”
“Even if you share your most authentic self on social media, it’s never fully going to be you.”
By mid-summer, Donnelly was back in familiar territory: the Zombies franchise. Zombies 4 premiered on Disney Channel in July 2025 and was quickly released on Disney+, where it gained nearly 10 million views in its first ten days. The Zombies series began in 2018 with the story of Donnelly’s character, Addison Wells, a high school cheerleader who falls in love with a zombie played by Milo Manheim. The series tackles themes of identity and acceptance, particularly relevant now, but through humor and song. Donnelly is still trying to wrap her head around the series’ impact. “Just the fact that Zombies are movies where, for kids, you get to be a part of their childhood — I think that’s really really hard to comprehend.”
“The biggest theme of all four Zombies movies is acceptance and to treat others the way you want to be treated,” she explains. Fans often write to her about how the films encouraged them to stand up to bullies or make new friends — stories that remind her of the series’ deeper impact.
The cultural weight of the Zombies franchise hit home in August when Donnelly and Manheim, surprised a packed stadium at UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY for the Disney Descendants / Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour. While not a part of the standard tour cast, the duo sang “Someday”, a song from the first Zombies film, with the thousands of attendees joining in. “A whole stadium of people singing along, we’ve never ever experienced anything like that,” she says. “It just reminds you that it’s not just yours — everybody is experiencing it.” “Someday,” from the Zombies movie soundtrack currently has over 125 millions streams on leading streaming channel Spotify.
Weeks later, Donnelly still feels the thrill of performing “Someday.” With her own music, she admits that the thought of performing it live is both daunting and exhilarating. “As soon as I went on stage, I was like, oh my God, yeah, this is what I was meant to do.”
“As soon as I went on stage, I was like, oh my God, yeah, this is what I was meant to do.”
Behind the scenes of Zombies 4, Donnelly also stepped up as a mentor. With affection, she speaks about her friendship with new cast member Freya Skye: “Everything that I went through feels like it was for a reason so I could be there for her in this time. I really wish I had somebody who was in a similar position as me to give me advice.” The finale of Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires suggests that Addison is passing the torch onto Skye’s character, Nova.
But even if the next chapter of the franchise shifts to new leads, Donnelly is clear she’ll remain involved. “Regardless of whatever that looks like, Milo and I will 100% be involved and behind the camera the entire time.” At this time, Disney has not confirmed any plans but Donnelly seems confident in the future success of the franchise.
Donnelly is still balancing the legacy of Zombies with the uncharted territory of her music career, but the throughline is clear: connection. Now she’s focused on building a career that reflects both where she’s been and where she’s headed. “With music, I’m not starting from the beginning because I have an amazing fan base that’s followed me throughout Zombies but I’m definitely not starting from a place that I would in acting. It’s going to be challenging but I’m locking in,” she says. And locked in she has, visitors to New York can see Donnelly now on Broadway in Moulin Rouge.
Photographer: Taurat Hossain; Beauty by Dre Campos; styled by Abid Haque; assistants Audrey Wong (Styling) and Denver Nelson (Photography)
A version of this story appears in the Winter issue of gvMag.
