Topline
A slew of former Disney Channel actors, reality TV darlings and other Hollywood stars who got their start on screen as children are set to talk about their experiences with fame from a young age in a Hulu documentary airing next month that will also serve as Demi Lovato’s directorial debut.
Demi Lavato attends The 2024 Met Gala Celebrating “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”
Key Facts
“ Child Star” will be released on the streaming service Sept. 17 and feature interviews with many whose big breaks came before they reached double digit ages—and the impacts early stardom had on their careers, development and life later on.
Famous rom-com actress Drew Barrymore, who had her breakout role in “E.T.” at 7 and has said she was partying in Hollywood by the age of 10, will share her story, which is similar to those that have been told by Lovato and Christina Ricci, who will also participate in the documentary.
Others expected to be interviewed include former Nickelodeon star Kenan Thompson, JoJo Siwa of “Dance Moms” fame and former Disney Channel actresses Raven-Symoné and Alyson Stoner, the later of whom has said the industry is set up to “watch young lives tragically implode.”
Lovato, who also started on Disney before pivoting to a solo music career that has been defined by stints in rehab and a bipolar disorder diagnosis, told The Hollywood Reporter she “didn’t realize that child stardom could be traumatic.”
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Crucial Quote
“It’s not an exposé, but it is quite blunt,” said “Child Star” co-director Nicola March.
News Peg
Lovato opened up to The Hollywood Reporter in an in-depth interview Wednesday sharing what to expect from the upcoming documentary and how it differs from others recent projects on similar subjects, particularly in that it doesn’t focus on experiences with a specific company or person.
Key Background
A number of former child stars over the last decade have decided to speak up about the trauma of their early experiences with fame, and several documentaries and docuseries have been made on the topic. The show “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” went viral earlier this year for its multi-part exposéon the culture fostered under former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider. The show, which has five episodes, featured actors Drake Bell (“Drake & Josh”), Alexa Nikolas (“Zoey 101”) and others talking about a work environment on set that allegedly included pornographic imagery, sexual abuse and harassment. Schneider later sued the show’s networks and producers for defamation, calling the show a “hit job.” The suit remains in litigation. A 2020 documentary called ” Showbiz Kids” featured interviews with Cameron Boyce, Todd Bridges and Jada Pinkett Smith. Stoner, who has largely backed away from her work in Hollywood, has been open about the impact child stardom had on her life, attributing it to eating disorders, depression and anxiety, and several years ago penned an essay called “The Toddler to Trainwreck Industrial Complex.” Barrymore has used her talk show, “The Drew Barrymore Show,” to sporadically share looks into her own past and former Disney star Christy Carlson Romano has spoken up about her experience and advocates for mental health care on sets that include children.
Tangent
Lovato, now 31, got her start on “Barney & Friends” as a young girl and shot to fame as the star of the Disney Channel original movie “Camp Rock” as a teenager in 2008. She released her first solo album the same year and has since released seven others. She tried cocaine for the first time when she was 17, she said in the YouTube documentary ” Simply Complicated,” and went to rehab for the first time when she was 18. She relapsed and entered rehab again several times before announcing she was celebrating five years of sobriety in 2017. Her 2018 song “Sober” revealed another relapse and later that year she was hospitalized for an apparent overdose. She said she gave up all drugs and alcohol in 2021.
Section Title
Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes reporter who covers breaking news with a frequent focus on the entertainment industry, streaming, sports news, publishing, pop culture and climate change. She joined Forbes in 2023 and lives in Dallas. She’s covered Netflix’s hottest documentaries, a surge of assaults reported on social media, the most popular books of the year and how climate change stands to impact the way we eat. Roeloffs was included on Editor & Publisher Magazine’s “ 25 Under 30” list in 2023 and worked covering local news in the greater Boston area from 2017 to 2023. She graduated with a double major in political science and journalism from Northeastern University. Follow Roeloffs for continued coverage of streaming wars, pop culture news and trending topics.
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