Former Child Stars Talk Fame’s Toll

Published: January 8, 2025

Former Child Stars Talk Fame’s Toll

By Movieguide® Contributor

Former Disney Channel star Kyla Pratt explained how she believes child stardom impacted her and why some child stars turn out the way they do.

“I think, you know, being in a business environment as a child matures you very early and puts you in situations where you have to deal with certain things before a normal natural flow of childhood would,” Pratt told Fox News Digital. “So I think we just have a resilience in us.”

The experience child stars have vary wildly depending on how protective their parents were and who they worked with on set. Unfortunately, many stars had extremely negative experiences which has greatly impacted their adult lives.

Zendaya, another former child star who rose to fame on Disney, said she’s seen child fame “be detrimental to people.”

“I wouldn’t change it, but there are things that I wish I lived out privately, you know?” she added, reflecting on her experience with it. “Because you’re figuring out who you are in front of the world. And you’re like, ‘I’m trying to do this right. I want to make everyone happy, but I don’t really know who I am yet. I have no idea what I’m doing.'”

Beyond that, many children feel the pressure of making money for their family, which takes a toll on them even if they are having a positive experience on set.

“Also just the mentality of being a child that works, that’s making money, that’s supporting their family. That’s also a stressful kind of thing that you don’t expect to experience as a child,” said former child star Keke Palmer. “[Adults on set] want to be able to have this inappropriate dynamic with children, where they’re speaking to you like you’re an adult and want you to feel like you have this very equal relationship. At the same time, they’re absolutely being controlling of you and saying, ‘stay in a child’s place.’”

For this reason, Pratt feels for all the former stars who ended up broken and scarred because she realizes that she could be in the same place if she had gotten unlucky with her work.

“As a child to be around and deal with and go through [that stuff]. I tell people all the time because they’re like [to me], ‘you’re so regular. Like, you’re good,’ and I am like, ‘yeah, but I feel for the ones that had to experience a different journey,’” Pratt said.