#child actors

[shewhotellsstories]

People tend to treat child stars having breakdowns as amusing, but realizing just how many of these children were abused makes their mental health struggles feel like, "of course, they struggled, adults they trusted violated them."

[bodhrancomedy]

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that child actors should have to take stage names. 

Like, I don’t think they should do interviews, I don’t think they should do red carpets, I don’t think we should bring them into celebrity culture at ALL.

I know it doesn’t avoid all of the problems with it but - as much as I dreamed of being discovered as an actor as a young child - as an adult with minor internet fame and a few roles under my belt, I am so FUCKING grateful I never was.

Having people see me and recognise me and approach me in public with my deadname and my skinny, vulnerable seven-year-old tomboy self, or that spotty, chubby, awkward teenage phase, or even the first few years of university would have destroyed me. 

I’m barely famous by any metric and it weirds me out completely now, let alone when I was stupid and sixteen. I had someone casually comment on a Live (which I don’t know why I do them, because I hate doing them) that they’d overheard me outside what they assumed to be my place of work - a place I was about to apply to work - talking about how I hated having to be watching myself constantly and be aware that sometimes people now know who I am and it was very disturbing. 

And I chose this. I didn’t go into this blind - and while I never imagined it getting to this stage - I had some idea of what this would entail. 

Some wide-eyed nine year old doesn’t. 

Fake names for child actors is the minimum. 

[flanaganfilm]

I’m curious what the challenges are to working with kids- such as in both Haunting series. All the child actors did a fantastic job but I can imagine it can be harder to direct kids vs adults.

The biggest challenge I've had working with kids is just logistical - they are not permitted to work nearly as many hours as their adult co-stars. And they have strictly regimented breaks between work periods that must be used for school. On projects where a younger actor needs to be in the majority of scenes (like Oculus or Before I Wake) it can create an enormous scheduling puzzle. Also, in a lot of markets they cannot work past a certain hour of night. We call it "pumpkining." So we'll need scramble to get all of their scenes done before they "pumpkin" and have to go home, leaving us with nothing to shoot - but with hours left on our day.

When it comes to the actual acting, I have spent my career being pleasantly surprised (if not downright shocked) by how prepared, professional, and precise they are. I've been very lucky, as well - I have worked with some of the absolute best young actors in the entire business. Jacob Tremblay, Lulu Wilson, Kyliegh Curran, McKenna Grace, Julian Hilliard, Violet McGraw, Annalise Basso, Garrett Ryan, Amelie Smith, Ben Ainsworth, Paxton Singleton - I mean these really are the A-team. Jacob Tremblay was 7 years old when we shot Before I Wake and he had to carry almost the whole movie. Not only did Jake show up completely prepared with his scene work every day (and delivered a heartbreaking performance), he also was prepared for his scene partners - I distinctly remember a few times Thomas Jane forgot his lines, and Jake casually reminded him what they were. That can sometimes create friction with actors on set, but because it was little Jake feeding him the lines, Tom just smiled and thanked him. I was very nervous when we were filming episode 6 of Hill House, which consists of several very long, unbroken takes. The second of these shots was a 10 minute take through Hill House that involved all five of my youngest actors. In that episode, if someone forgot a line, missed a mark, or didn't land in precisely the right place at precisely the right moment, we'd have to scrap everything we'd shot so far and start over. It was insanely difficult. I was very nervous that the kids (the youngest of which was 6) would not be up to the challenge. But when we filmed episode 6 of Hill House, the only actor in the entire cast who ever forgot a line during filming was the seasoned, established Oscar winner. The kids were PERFECT.

I've been very lucky in my career. I think I've worked with some of the absolute best young actors in the business. I have had challenges and intense difficulties with actors on my sets, but each and every one of those difficult people were grownups.

[cocukoyuncunasilolunur]

Çocuk Oyuncu Olmanın İlk Adımı: Yetenek Ajansları

Birçok çocuk oyuncu, kariyerine yetenek ajanslarına kaydolarak başlar. Ancak bu süreçte dikkatli olmalısınız. Güvenilir ve sektörde bilinen bir ajansla çalışmak, doğru projelere ulaşmanızda kritik rol oynar. Çocuk oyuncu nasıl olunur sorusunun cevabı, büyük ölçüde ajans seçimiyle başlar. Ajanslar, çocuğunuzu doğru projelere yönlendirebilir ve deneme çekimlerine katılmasını sağlar. Ancak, unutmayın ki burada başarıyı yakalamak zaman alabilir.

[antoniathetigerrusso88]

Remembering Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936- Nov. 7. 2021). May his beauty and talent live on for all of the ages to see!

[oldshowbiz]

Michael Cera: Child Actor

[writingtraumaforever]

Minor Sonic Movie related vent but it actually has more to do with the actors and every time I see anything with Tom and Sonic, I just get the ick because of this, and it sucks—

If you don’t want to have the character/actor potentially ruined for you too, I don’t recommend reading this. Bask in blissful ignorance.

But this is for the sake of awareness.

TW IN TAGS.

So forever ago, I watched the documentary about child stars who grew up on the Nickelodeon channel called ‘Quiet On Set’. In this documentary, Drake Bell comes forward and tell his story on severe SA and r*pe and grooming that was done to him for YEARS, ending when he was about 15 years old if I’m recalling correctly.

I’m not going to talk about the Drake Bell allegations and such, that’s not why I’m making this.

I’m making this because during his story, he talks about standing in court as a CHILD and looking at all the A-list stars and celebrities that were there defending his abuser. How so many wrote letters to the judge defending his abuser’s character and persona in an attempt to get his sentence reduced or the case dropped altogether.

Let me clarify. What this abuser did to Drake was absolutely and unequivocally one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever heard in my life, and it’s not for the weak hearted. As someone who was kidnapped and r*ped as a child, it was extremely triggering for me and frankly struck a nerve.

The celebrities that defended this abuser were listed and named. One of which was James Marsden, the man who plays ‘Tom Wachowski’ in the Sonic franchise.

Now. I know there’s nothing wrong with Tom. He’s a character. A beloved one that most of the fandom has accepted with wide arms. But I just wanted to let everyone know�� James Marsden sucks. Like. S u c k s. Anyone who would defend such vile acts against a child has no business being in a children’s movie, and in my opinion, it wouldn’t be shocking if he likely supports and has committed similar acts in the past.

I had REEEEALLY been hoping Shadow would just kill him in this last movie. But sadly, it didn’t happen.

All this to say, continue loving Tom. I myself write fanfictions with Tom in them. But just—

Be aware.

We all need to be wary with James Marsden.

[bitchypuppystarlight]

Early on in my career a well-known actor from a show on Nickelodeon cried to me for over an hour because they no longer made enough in active or residual pay to qualify for insurance and they didn’t know what they were going to do.

Fans came up to them everyday asking for autographs and talking about how great it must have been to be famous and the whole time they couldn’t afford their medication.

I’ve never forgotten them and I sincerely hope they’re alright.

[lifenconcepts]

I HEADCANON ALL CHILDREN IN MEDIA AS ASEXUAL.

[gone2soon-rip]

CLAUDE JARMAN JR (1934-Died January 12th 2025,at 90).American actor, businessman, executive director of the San Francisco International Film Festival, and director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Francisco. He won an Academy Juvenile Award for his role as a child as Jody Baxter in The Yearling (1946).Claude Jarman Jr. - Wikipedia

[koxhii]

Mary Tudor in The Spanish Princess (2019)

[cocukoyuncunasilolunur]

Aile Desteği: En Önemli Güç Kaynağı

Çocuk oyunculuk sürecinde ailelerin rolü büyüktür. Çocuğunuzun kariyerinde ona en büyük destekçi siz olacaksınız. Çocuk oyuncu nasıl olunur sorusunun belki de en duygusal cevabı budur: Destek ve sevgi. Onu her adımda cesaretlendirmek, zorluklarla karşılaştığında yanında olmak çok önemlidir. Unutmayın, bu bir ekip işi!

[antoniathetigerrusso88]

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Dean Stockwell-

[oldshowbiz]

Ark II (1976) starring Helen Hunt

[hislittleraincloud]

Jenna Ortega is SO FUCKING BEATIFUL❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤!!!!!!

SHE'S SUCH A GODDESS, I LOVE HER!!!!

I don't like this photo of her

I don't think it's at all flattering, and the photographer is nothing special. I dislike it when I feel like I'm being gaslit into thinking something/someone is hot.

There are better pictures of her, but y'all are eating up this heroin chic set and I can't figure out why. Because of the 90s throwback? Psst: We didn't care much for it back then either, at least I didn't.

She's an actress who chose to go into the business that she complains about. We all knew how the internet was back in 2014, yet her parents let her post inappropriate waif pics like this on her Facebook and then wondered why she got dick picks

Dude she is 12 here. (And look at the Jesus Beating tags.) We've known since she was born that you don't post such pics of your kids online. In 2002 it was Emma Watson and the Olsen Twins. And then we all had to endure Toddlers n' Tiaras a little bit later. We knew. We knew.

ETA 2: This is the third time I'm trying to save and post this. This had longer commentary. I can't be bothered to try again even though I know the words.

Trying just a shortened version: She built her career/image on kittenhood from the beginning, so since that's clearly what she wants to continue to be atm, have at it. Kittenhood isn't necessarily bad, it's just that whole

(Come on man, re: R pic, her tits weren't that big, her ass isn't that big, what're you doin' to a 16yo girl.)

Blah blah blah I don't hate her, I have great criticism of the grotesque nature of celebrityhood and celebrity worship, whoring young girls out to the industry eye, etc. whatever the fuck I wrote before this shit app didn't save it. I know I said something about how fascinating it is that she doesn't look like she did when she was 16/17, yet I keep seeing newly made TikToks centered around all of that old stuff/her old Lives (amongst all the glamour/premiere and intrusive amateur pap vids). Hardly any of the newer direct interviews, save for when they lit her appropriately on Fallon (Fallon always seems to have flattering lighting for his set, even if she was a bit sweaty looking in this appearance).

[etteraths]

As fun as it is to poke and prod at everything going on with Jojo Siwa, I think we're forgetting something critical here.

Time and time again, we have had this cycle happen of watching a young child actor grow up and be lambasted for them trying to change their brand or acting erratically, or just overall trying new things and failing at them.

Years later, though, we get stories from people like Amanda Bynes or Britney Spears, and we go through the same loop of, "poor Amanda" "Britney didn't deserve that treatment", so on and so forth. We feel bad for them when we find out what happened, but rarely do we ever support them when they're going through it - despite everyone knowing how terrible Hollywood, Nickelodeon, and other various titans of entertainment treat their actors.

There has always, ALWAYS been issue with how these corporations handle the safety of their workers, and especially those of child actors.

Even IF we were to suppose that Jojo Siwa (who was only 13 years old when she first got her show at Nickelodeon, prior to being on Dance Moms which we don't even need to touch with a 50 foot pole) was not mistreated in any way - the fact is, she didn't have a normal childhood. She was most likely confined to maintain her hyperfemme aesthetic up until she was presumably 18. She most likely did not have proper autonomy to express herself fully up until recently.

This isn't me saying that Jojo Siwa is exempt from criticism - far, far from it. But I think we as a society need to seriously reflect on how we perceive former child stars' actions following them becoming an adult.