Several celebrities have spoken out about their harsh experiences when they were in the acting industry as children.
Many of these stories, from celebrities such as Jennette McCurdy, Miley Cyrus, and Jake Lloyd, follow the same narrative. These actors were exploited and abused during their childhood on the sets of their television shows or movies.
Daniel Gordon, a professor and chair of theatre and dance at Winthrop, said it is important for there to be boundaries when working with child actors.
“We all understand the importance of having limits imposed at a young age, and when a child wields too much power, in any profession, it can be damaging,” Gordon said.
In a podcast interview on Insider with Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, McCurdy said that during her time playing the character Sam on the Nickelodeon show “iCarly,” she “was deeply unhappy.” Because of this unhappiness, she has decided to step away from acting.
In the same interview, McCurdy explained that she was pushed into the acting field at the age of six years old by her mother because they were in a tight financial situation.
“I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played, and I didn’t like the projects that I was a part of,” McCurdy said.
Sandra Neels, an associate professor of dance at Winthrop, said, “Many professionals have come from poverty, and I think that the less a person has, the more creative they are and are more motivated to do well.”
Much like McCurdy, Miley Cyrus has spoken out about her experience with being in the industry for most of her life. In an interview with Kevin Hart, she discussed the issues she had separating her identity between herself and Hannah Montana.
She explained that because she was also Miley on the show Hannah Montana, she was never really given the opportunity to just be herself. Once she separated herself from Disney, she was able to begin making decisions on her appearance and her style of songs.
Where many people saw her music video of “Wrecking Ball” as her breaking down, it was really the point where she was able to break out of a toxic environment and begin building her new image.
These narratives from celebrities are not just a recent trend in the media. Stories from celebrities go back years. Jake Lloyd, the child who played the young Anakin Skywalker in the 1999 film “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” spoke out about his experience after the release of the film.
According to Daily Mail, Lloyd explained that kids at his school would make fun of his performance in the movie and would make lightsaber noises towards him. Now, Lloyd has still not escaped the bullying from peers.
Now that many of these child actors are speaking out on their mental health problems and talking about how unhappy they were during their time, it shows the damage that stress can cause to the development of a child.
“I think there needs to be more laws or policies in place to protect children in the industry because it’s a harsh environment, and children don’t get a say,” said Kelli McAlhany, sophomore mass communication major.
The few stories that have been in the news are most likely not the only ones that will be told in the years to come. As more actors come forward, hopefully, the industry will begin to work towards a more positive environment for their child actors.
