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I haven't heard many positive stories from former child actors who talk about their experiences. The stories usually involve parents abusing their authority ove

by Kye 5y ago

I haven't heard many positive stories from former child actors who talk about their experiences. The stories usually involve parents abusing their authority over the kid to make them chase fame for the parent's benefit. There should at least be more protections to ensure kids used in media aren't left with nothing other than jokes about that thing they did as a kid from strangers.

IMTDb 5y ago
Selection bias ? How many child actors play in a few TV episodes, probably have a bit of fun and earn a bit of money, then disappear from the spotlight. You never hear from those because there is nothing to say.
- nitrogen 5y ago
  That's selection bias. You never hear from them because they weren't famous enough to hear from. I know someone who modeled/acted a couple of times as a kid, not remotely famous, and yeah, it wasn't good for them. But you'll never hear their story, because they weren't famous.
judge2020 5y ago
To add support, this is basically Jennette McCurdy's story, although she doesn't blame her parents for it. https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/why-isnt-sam-in-the-icarly-reboot-jennette-mccurdy-quit-acting https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/why-isnt-sam-in-the-ica...
fastball 5y ago
A short list of child actors who are doing just fine: - Jessica Alba - Leo DiCaprio - Ben Afleck - Ryan Reynolds - Selena Gomez - Ryan Gosling - Justin Timberlake - Julia Stiles - Elijah Wood - Lacey Chabert - Emma Watson - Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Neil Patrick Harris - Natalie Portman - Hayden Christensen - Ethan Hawke - Anna Paquin - Fergie - Kenan Thomson - Nick Canon - Scarlett Johansson - Jodie Foster - Christian Bale
- Kye 5y ago
  This supports my point. I haven't googled all of them, but a random sample all wanted to go into acting, or at least don't recount the experience in a way that suggests the kind of pressure I'm talking about. IMDB lists 31.4 million actors and 20.3 million actresses. I don't think your short list of actors says much about the whole range of experiences.
  - fastball 5y ago
    > I don't think your short list of actors says much about the whole range of experiences. And you think your even more anecdotal and even more vague "I haven't heard many positive stories from former child actors who talk about their experiences" does?

by Kye 5y ago

IMTDb 5y ago

Selection bias ? How many child actors play in a few TV episodes, probably have a bit of fun and earn a bit of money, then disappear from the spotlight. You never hear from those because there is nothing to say.

nitrogen 5y ago
That's selection bias. You never hear from them because they weren't famous enough to hear from. I know someone who modeled/acted a couple of times as a kid, not remotely famous, and yeah, it wasn't good for them. But you'll never hear their story, because they weren't famous.

judge2020 5y ago

To add support, this is basically Jennette McCurdy's story, although she doesn't blame her parents for it. https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/why-isnt-sam-in-the-icarly-reboot-jennette-mccurdy-quit-acting https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/why-isnt-sam-in-the-ica...

fastball 5y ago

A short list of child actors who are doing just fine: - Jessica Alba - Leo DiCaprio - Ben Afleck - Ryan Reynolds - Selena Gomez - Ryan Gosling - Justin Timberlake - Julia Stiles - Elijah Wood - Lacey Chabert - Emma Watson - Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Neil Patrick Harris - Natalie Portman - Hayden Christensen - Ethan Hawke - Anna Paquin - Fergie - Kenan Thomson - Nick Canon - Scarlett Johansson - Jodie Foster - Christian Bale

Kye 5y ago
This supports my point. I haven't googled all of them, but a random sample all wanted to go into acting, or at least don't recount the experience in a way that suggests the kind of pressure I'm talking about. IMDB lists 31.4 million actors and 20.3 million actresses. I don't think your short list of actors says much about the whole range of experiences.
- fastball 5y ago
  > I don't think your short list of actors says much about the whole range of experiences. And you think your even more anecdotal and even more vague "I haven't heard many positive stories from former child actors who talk about their experiences" does?