Celebrities open up to Demi Lovato about impact of fame in ‘Child Star’ documentary

Pop star Demi Lovato is asking her fellow former child stars a tough question: Is the price of fame worth your childhood?

In “Child Star,” which debuted Tuesday on Hulu, Lovato interviews fellow celebrities who grew up in the limelight about the highs and lows of fame at a young age. Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, Kenan Thompson, JoJo Siwa, Alyson Stoner and Raven-Symoné all open up to Lovato about how their early fame has affected them as adults.

The film is the latest non-scripted program to offer a glimpse at the child entertainment industry, which has become the subject of scrutiny and criticism from many in the months since the release of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.” The explosive docuseries detailed allegations of toxic environments on producer Dan Schneider’s hit Nickelodeon shows. Many viewers felt there needed to be more protections for children in entertainment. 

“Child Star” also promises an “intimate look” at child stardom.” Here’s what the actors said about how fame affected them.

Lovato looked at her success as her ‘self-worth'

The documentary is Lovato’s directorial debut. She co-directed alongside Nicola Marsh, who is known for her work on the Apple TV+ docuseries “Omnivore” and the Showtime docuseries “The 12th Victim.”

But Lovato — who got her start on “Barney & Friends” — also appears in front of the camera for much of the documentary, interviewing fellow actors and opening up herself about her career trajectory. 

As a teenager, Lovato catapulted to stardom in the Disney Channel movie “Camp Rock” and starred in the network’s show “Sonny With a Chance.” 

“I looked at my success as my self-worth,” Lovato said in the documentary. “I had a really hard time differentiating the two, and I dealt with a lot of need for external validation.” 

“Child Star” marks Demi Lovato’s directorial debut. Disney / Disney

Lovato described her grueling schedule working at the Disney Channel and her experience with burnout. 

“Nobody really knew how to stop the machine,” she said. “The train just kept moving. There were never any pauses.”

She said she filmed “Camp Rock,” recorded her first album, went on tour, filmed the first season of “Sonny With a Chance,” filmed the movie “Princess Protection Program,” recorded a new album, toured again, filmed “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” recorded another album and toured again without a break.

She described dissociating at times during some projects because of how difficult the environment was. She also described herself as being “difficult” to work with and apologized to her former colleagues Stoner and Raven-Symoné for her behavior toward them on various projects. 

The actors were both compassionate toward Lovato, who they noted had also been experiencing a lot of pressure. Stoner said they felt like they were “walking on eggshells” around Lovato during the filming of “Camp Rock 2.” Raven-Symoné said she noticed Lovato’s “glaze over the eyes.”

“I didn’t hold it against you. I was just, like, something’s going on there,” Raven-Symoné said.

Lovato has made several documentaries over the years detailing her experience with addiction, self-harm, mental health issues and the pressure of fame, including “Stay Strong” in 2012, “Simply Complicated” in 2017 and “Dancing With the Devil” in 2021.

Thompson says childhood fame is ‘not a normal existence’ 

Thompson, who has been a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” since 2003, rose to fame on Nickelodeon. He starred in several of the network’s popular shows and movies in the 1990s, including “All That,” “Good Burger” and “Kenan & Kel.” 

He said it’s important for child actors and their families to understand what kind of life they’re signing up for.

“It’s not a normal existence to have somebody in your family be famous,” Thompson said. 

He said it’s helpful to have a mentor who can help navigate the experience. He said that it was difficult at times to deal with rejection but that it kept him humble.

Toward the end of his Nickelodeon days, Thompson said, a financial adviser had stolen his earnings. He discovered the theft when he tried to buy a house and his adviser didn’t show up to help close the deal.

“It’s crazy going from rags to riches and back to rags,” Thompson said. 

Ricci describes her child acting experience as isolating

Ricci, who landed roles in movies like “The Addams Family” and “Casper” as a child, said she viewed acting as an escape from her dysfunctional home life.

“For me, there was this refuge of emotional safety,” Ricci said of being on set. 

Ricci, who stars in “Yellowjackets,” said she was lucky to be surrounded by strong women early in her career, including Cher on the set of “Mermaids” in 1990. 

She described child acting as an isolating experience because she didn’t feel like she could talk about her work with other kids. She also said the amount of work child actors get can depend on how “easy” children and their parents appear. 

“The idea of agency … it didn’t even occur to me,” she said. 

Ricci said she turned to drugs and alcohol as a teenager because she felt she needed substances to be happy.

“If you felt like you had absolutely no control, it’s one of the few things you had control over,” she said.

Barrymore says she struggled with boundary-setting 

Barrymore, who went to rehab for addiction as a child, comes from a famous family of actors, and she described being “born into” entertainment. Her first job was a commercial when she was 11 months old. 

“E.T.: The Extraterrestrial,” which Barrymore starred in at 7 years old, was a “life-changing” experience, she said, praising director Steven Spielberg.

“He was also the first person I felt embarrassed in front of if I behaved badly or was caught drinking,” said Barrymore, who now hosts her own talk show. “There was no authority in my life, so I loved every boundary he set to me. It didn’t hit me until I was an adult. Oh, that’s how parents are supposed to make you feel.” 

Barrymore said that as a young star, she struggled with boundaries because child stars are expected to “open yourself up to everything.”

“When you turn yourself into a commodity, you’re talking about validation, you’re talking about feeling less than, you’re talking about losing people, gaining people,” Barrymore said. “That’s a serious mental gain that you need to have intact in order to handle it all.”

Stoner opens up about self-esteem issues

Stoner became famous as a child dancer in Missy Elliott’s “Work It” music video. The former child star, who uses they and them pronouns, then snagged various roles on the Disney Channel, including on “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” “Camp Rock” (alongside Lovato) and “Phineas and Ferb.”

Speaking with Lovato, Stoner said one of the toughest parts of childhood fame was seeing their pictures edited and airbrushed in teen magazines, which affected their self-esteem. 

“I didn’t know that those things were wrong with me before,” they said. 

They said they felt “terrified” about their appearance as a teen and struggled with an eating disorder promoting “Camp Rock” in Europe.

“People in my surrounding network had been taking money without me knowing for years,” Stoner said. 

Stoner has been outspoken about the impact of child stardom in the past. They created a podcast called “Dear Hollywood” analyzing the effect of fame on child development.

Raven-Symoné says she felt a lot of pressure to support her family

Raven-Symoné said that, as early as her role on “The Cosby Show” at 3 years old, she was aware of how she was financially supporting her family.

“I understood that this was a job,” said Raven-Symoné, who began acting at 16 months old. “If you lose it, you don’t make the money.”

She was one of the youngest Black women to have a show named after her when she starred in “That’s So Raven” on the Disney Channel. She said she felt a lot of pressure in the role.

“Sometimes, though, the parents’ dreams might bleed into the child’s,” she said. “And you get so enmeshed. Parents forget that children, young kids, are performing for their parents. They’re performing for their parents’ love and affection.” 

Siwa says coming out changed how she was viewed

Siwa, the dancer-actor-singer who rose to fame as a tween phenom on “Dance Moms,” was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Her public profile began to rise with the launch of her YouTube channel in early 2015. 

She said it was strange to have her likeness used as a character on Nickelodeon shows like “The J-Team” and “The JoJo & BowBow Show Show,” on which she played herself.

“It was weird being produced as an animation, almost,” Siwa said of marketing her image as a character.

Siwa said that when she came out as part of the LGBTQ community as a teen, Nickelodeon started to treat her differently.

“Everything after I came out was changed,” she said. “The way they communicated with me changed, the way they worked with me changed, the way they developed my work changed.”

A spokesperson for Nickelodeon said in an email statement, “We are unaware of the incident JoJo is referencing and she was certainly not blackballed by Nickelodeon. We have valued and supported JoJo throughout our incredibly successful partnership, which included a JoJo-themed Pride collection at a major national retailer among our many collaborations together. We continue to cheer her on and wish her nothing but the best.”