‘Child Star’ Documentary To Reveal Trauma Of Disney Child Stars

Within the wake of ID’s docuseries, “Quiet On Set: The Darkish Facet Of Youngsters TV,” extra former youngster stars are spilling the tea on their time with Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. The explosive sequence featured Drake Bell, Alexa Nikolas, Kyle Sullivan, and extra, with many accusing Dan Schneider and Brian Peck of abuse.

After its debut, stars like Ariana Grande, Josh Peck, and Victoria Justice additionally chimed in, sharing their very own tales and reacting to the docuseries.

Whereas “Quiet On Set” primarily dragged Nickelodeon into the highlight, 90s and 2000s youngsters are actually itching to listen to from Disney Channel alums about their behind-the-scenes experiences at Nickelodeon’s massive rival–and it appears followers will get their want as Demi Lovato is about to direct “Little one Star,” an upcoming docuseries that may function candid conversations with different former youngster stars, akin to Drew Barrymore and JoJo Siwa.

The almost 90-minute challenge delves into the private and sophisticated world of early fame and its many challenges.

Alongside her personal narrative, Demi Lovato, who’s directing the challenge, had candid conversations with different former youngster stars, akin to Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, JoJo Siwa, and Kenan Thompson. Regardless of their numerous skills and experiences, their tales collectively paint an image of trauma and instability, highlighting themes of rejection, betrayal, and fixed stress.

Whereas it will not place blame on anyone individual, akin to former Nickelodeon stars did in ID’s “Quiet on Set: The Darkish Facet of Youngsters TV,” it’ll give attention to youngster stardom.

“From Shirley Temple to TikTok,” producer Michael D. Ratner mentioned, per The Hollywood Reporter, the docuseries will present what occurs if you “give a very severe job to a very younger child and instantly they’re making far more cash than their mother and father,” veteran filmmaker Nicola Marsh added.

“Your entire household ecosystem turns into depending on that child working that onerous, and, I consider it’s Raven-Symoné who says it, they’ll milk the sunshine out of you as a result of there’s cash to be made,” Marsh mentioned.

Initially, Demi Lovato had no plans to launch “Little one Star” on a Disney-owned streaming service because it was initially slated for YouTube Originals, the identical platform that hosted her 2021 doc, “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Satan,” however when YouTube Originals instantly shut down in early 2022, Hulu swooped in to seize the challenge.

For Disney TV Group president Craig Erwich, the mixture of a “very private story round a really public story” was a no brainer for his streaming service.

Nonetheless, the elephant within the room needed to be addressed: the potential awkwardness of an organization that performed a significant function within the youngster stardom recreation now airing a tell-all doc on the exact same subject. “It could have been loopy to pursue it with out speaking about that,” Ratner mentioned, including that Hulu gave the workforce the inexperienced gentle to discover the tales and topic actually.

“They have been like, ‘Yeah, go for it.’ Like, ‘Lean into it as a result of should you attempt to keep away from it, it appears to be like worse,’ ” Marsh added. “And it’s not an exposé, however it’s fairly blunt, and it’s a credit score to Hulu that they didn’t get chilly ft — or perhaps they did, however they definitely didn’t inform us.”

Whereas Demi Lovato has overtly shared her story over time, not everybody was keen or keen to revisit their very own pasts and experiences with Disney and Nickelodeon.

Whereas a few of the names have been saved beneath wraps, veteran filmmaker Nicola Marsh revealed that Keenan Thompson will seem as he was keen to share how he went “from rags to riches to rags” when a person posing as an accountant took almost all of his Nickelodeon earnings.

“The honesty with which they got here to the desk was extraordinary,” Marsh mentioned of the upcoming challenge.

Alyson Stoner, who makes use of “they/them” pronouns, is the one considered one of Lovato’s “Camp Rock” co-stars who agreed to take part within the documentary. “My concern was that it might fall beneath the umbrella of sensationalized E! True Hollywood tales that then truly perpetuated what I name the toddler-to-train wreck pipeline,” Stoner mentioned.

Raven-Symoné, who starred as Raven Baxter on Disney Channel’s “That is So Raven,” was the primary recorded interview for the upcoming docuseries.

Prior to now, the actress opened up about her expertise working with the community on her present, revealing one of many pivitol conversations she had with execs. “They have been like, would you like Raven to be homosexual? I mentioned, why? Since you are. I mentioned, unhealthy, unhealthy cause. That is a foul cause,” Evie Magazine reported. “Raven Baxter by no means exhibited any sort of sexual id state of affairs within the priors. I am not being myself on this present; I am being a personality. Raven Baxter’s not homosexual.”

“It doesn’t matter what the primary 4 seasons seemed like with me and Chelsea sleeping in the identical room, and us elevating a household collectively, okay?” she joked. “That is not the case. We’re associates. We simply sleep in the identical room.”

The emotional toll of getting their teenage our bodies photoshopped in magazines and the fixed stress to remain “on-brand” as a Disney child weighed closely on each Demi Lovato and Alyson Stoner. Lovato overtly admitted to feeling envious of the Nickelodeon stars, as that community was identified for its edgier and extra irreverent picture.

“At Disney, you turned this instantaneous function mannequin, whether or not you preferred it or not,” she recalled. “And since Disney Channel was so massive on the time, there was additionally this unstated stress that should you did make a mistake, you knew that there have been tens of millions of individuals simply ready to take your spot.”

“Little one Star” might be launched on Hulu on September 17.